Ask Both of Your Senators to Vote Against Kussman to Run VA Hospitals

Disturbing facts keep pouring in regarding President George W. Bush’s highly controversial nomination of Michael Kussman to become Under Secretary of Health.  If confirmed by the Senate, he would lead 1,400 medical facilities operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for a four year term lasting through the Summer of 2011. 

Kussman's confirmation hearing is May 16th before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. 

First, allow me to say that no one has questioned Kussman’s personal integrity or his medical qualifications.  Nonetheless, his confirmation remains in doubt.  Senator John Kerry denounced Kussman’s nomination.  And several other Senate offices have contacted Veterans for Common Sense for more information about Kussman.

The issue facing us today regarding Kussman is the type of leadership VA needs now.  VA must repair their deeply tarnished reputation at the top after six years of scandals.

Please read this devastating news article about VA and Kussman by Chris Adams, an investigative reporter for McClatchy Newspapers (remember, they were very accurate in their reporting about the rush to start the Iraq War). 

After the Walter Reed debacle, Bush and VA Secretary Jim Nicholson should have known better than to promote Kussman — he’s been at the center of VA’s crisis since he became co-chair of former VA Secretary Anthony Principi’s Seamless Transition Task Force in 2003.

When reading the list of Kussman’s failures shown here, please ask yourself, where was Kussman?

Where are the veterans’ military records?

After dozens of Government Accountability Office reports over more than a decade, and after five years of escalating war, VA still doesn’t get complete electronic copies of military medical records and service records from the Department of Defense (DoD).  A lack of DoD records means more costs for VA to re-test veterans for conditions treated by the military. A lack of records means VA spends months or even years tracking down information to process disability compensation claims.  Fixing this problem would reduce VA red tape considerably and speed up delivery of healthcare and disability payments.

Why was VA short $3 billion in 2005?

After Nicholson repeatedly told Congress that it had enough money to treat the flood of traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder patients from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, VA found itself $3 billion short in 2005.  VA’s lame excuse?  It relied on data from 2002 to forecast VA medical expenditures while Kussman was VA’s number two medical leader.  However, Principi’s Seamless Transition Task Force recommended in 2004 that VA needed better data collection, analysis, and cost reports for the Iraq and Afghanistan war.

Where is the desperately needed bureaucratic reform?

Bush was forced to apologize for the unconscionable treatment of our wounded, injured and ill at Walter Reed Army Medical Center a few months ago.  However, as early as August 2003, the Wall Street Journal reported terrible bureaucratic problems at Walter Reed – that’s why Principi formed his task force and put Kussman in charge.  Furthermore, in November 2004, VA survey experts provided Kussman a detailed focus group study documenting the frustration and anger among the service members crawling through endless military and VA red tape at Walter Reed.  What makes this scandal all the worse is that Kussman once served as the commander of Walter Reed, and he could have done so much for veterans, according to Salon Magazine, which broke the Walter Reed scandal two years before the Washington Post discovered the problems plaguing the hospital.  Veterans still must complete a 26-page form to obtain benefits - and then wait six months - that's an outrage.

What about TBI and PTSD?

In 2005, VA required a “second signature” to approve PTSD claims for a 100 percent rating.  That misguided policy was suspended only after veterans groups expressed outrage.  In 2005, VA tried to re-adjudicate 72,000 already approved PTSD claims, a cruel form of double jeopardy. That was stopped cold by Congress.  Yet VA kept searching for ways to reduce government assistance for mental health conditions for combat veterans and rape victims.  In one contract with the Institute of Medicine (IOM), VA tried to narrow the definition of PTSD and thus reduce the number of veterans who qualify for PTSD medical care and disability payments.  In an another VA-IOM contract, VA tried to reduce payment amounts for PTSD.  In both contracts, IOM harshly criticized VA and called for more healthcare and better claims evaluations.  All four VA actions regarding PTSD sent a stern anti-veteran message: VA will fight veterans rather than help us.

Where is VA’s war plan?

When the United States military went to war on September 11, 2001, President Bush ordered hundreds of thousands of Reserve and National Guard soldiers to active duty to improve our warfighting capabilities.  However, VA failed to draft or to implement any plan to provide more medical care to casualties as well as the flood of accompanying claims paperwork.  Instead of increasing capacity by hiring more doctors and claims processors, VA locked the door and blocked veterans from receiving what they earned with sweat and blood.  The first policy to deny healthcare and disability benefits veterans care actually began in July 2002, when VA’s Laura Miller ordered a halt to VA outreach programs.

My View: Reject Kussman. 

Ask yourself, where was Kussman when hundreds of thousands of veterans were turned away for medical care?  Where was Kussman when VA needed medical records? Where was Kussman when VA needed more doctors to help with the hundreds of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who’ll need medical care for PTSD and TBI?

Our Nation’s 24 million veterans and their families deserve better.  VA’s more than 200,000 hard-working employees deserve better.

The string of Bush – Nicholson – Kussman failures at VA must not be rewarded with a promotion for Kussman.  The ball is in the hands of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.  After serving in war, we know what to do to assist our fellow veterans -- Please call and e-mail your two senators today and demand that senators reject Bush’s promotion for Kussman.