VA Management of Health Care and Benefits for Returning War Veterans (posted 10/10/07)
Department of Veterans Affairs
The Academy has been asked to conduct an independent study of the effectiveness of the organizational structure, management, and coordination processes, including seamless transition, utilized by VA to provide health care and benefits to active duty personnel and veterans, including returning Iraq and Afghan war veterans. Attention has focused especially on the need to ensure coordinated and effective services for those who return to civilian life having been severely injured while in combat.
The study will help VA and others assess: whether health care and benefits are provided in a way that is seamless, effective, efficient, and equitable; whether coordination is sufficient between VA and the Department of Defense; whether VA’s management, staffing and other resources, and management policies and processes are adequate for this purpose; what performance measures are appropriate for managing and determining the effectiveness of VA’s efforts to provide a seamless transition; the roles of service providers such as nursing and social work organizations in transition; and unique conditions or issues applicable to returning national guard and reservists.
The Academy’s work is designed to complement the findings and recommendations of recent task force and commission reports and ongoing reviews by VA and others of these issues. It will do so by addressing practical questions of administrative capacity and management that influence how effectively VA is able to implement its current programs as well as new or planned initiatives to improve care for returning war veterans.
Steve Redburn
The Academy has appointed the following individuals to a Panel to oversee and direct the study. The public may send comments on the composition of the panel for a period of seven (7) days after the posted date to mditmeyer@napawash.org.
William G. Hamm (Chair)*—Managing Director, LECG (formerly Law & Economics Consulting Group). Former Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco; Vice President, World Savings and Loan Association; Legislative Analyst, State of California; Deputy Associate Director, Housing, Veterans, and Labor Division, U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Virginia T. Betts*—Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities. Former Director for Health Policy and Professor of Nursing, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center; Senior Advisor on Nursing and Policy to the Secretary and Assistant Secretary of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; President, American Nurses Association; Consultant on mental health, Commonwealth of Australia; Military Health Care Advisory Council; President, Tennessee Nurses Association.
Dennis M. Duffy—Former Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning and Preparedness, Department of Veterans Affairs; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy & Planning, Department of Veterans Affairs; Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning, Department of Veterans Affairs; Acting Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative, Department of Veterans Affairs; Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs; Director of Congressional Relations; Department of Veterans Affairs; Veterans Benefits Administration Regional Office, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Edinboro University of Pennsylvania; Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh.
Frank A. Fairbanks*—City Manager, City of Phoenix, Arizona; Former positions with Phoenix City Manager’s Office: Management Assistant, Executive Assistant to the City Manager, Assistant City Manager; Peace Corps Volunteer, Costa Rica.
Thomas L. Garthwaite—Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Catholic Health East, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Former Director and Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health Services, County of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Undersecretary for Health, Department of Veterans Affairs; Deputy Undersecretary for Health, Department of Veterans Affairs; Chief of Staff and Associate Dean, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Internal Medicine Residency, Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals; Endocrinology and Metabolism Fellowship, Medical College of Wisconsin, Veterans Medical Center.
Donald F. Kettl*—Professor of Political Science, Stanley Sheen Endowed Term Chair in Social Sciences, Director, Fels Center of Government, University of Pennsylvania. Former Professor of Public Affairs and Political Science and Director, Robert M. LaFollette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Associate Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow, Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies, Vanderbilt University; Assistant Professor of Government and Associate Professor of Government, University of Virginia.
Bernard D. Rostker*—Senior Fellow, The RAND Corporation. Former Under Secretary (Personnel and Readiness), U.S. Department of Defense; Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Gulf War Illnesses, Medical Readiness and Military Deployment; Under Secretary of the Army. Former positions with Department of the Navy: Assistant Secretary for Manpower and Reserve Affairs; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Manpower and Reserve Affairs; Economist, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Analysis. Former positions with RAND Corporation: Director, Defense Manpower Research Center, National Defense Research Institute; Program Director, Force Development and Employment Program; Associate Director, Arroyo Center.
Daniel L. Skoler*—Consultant and Contract Adjudicator. Former Vice President for Policy and Advocacy, National Council on Aging; Associate Commissioner, Office of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration; Director, Division of Continuing Education and Training, Federal Judicial Center; Deputy Associate Commissioner, Social Security Administration; Chairman, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and Deputy Assistant Commissioner, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; Director, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, U.S. Department of Justice; Executive Director, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges; Director of Public Service Activities, American Bar Association.
* Academy Fellow
Meeting 1: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - 9:30 am (Meeting open)
Meeting 2: Thursday, March 20, 2008 - 9:30 am (Meeting open)
Meeting 3: Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 9:30 am (Meeting open)
For further information, contact Marty Ditmeyer at (202) 347-3190, or at MDitmeyer@napawash.org.
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