Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. Her office notes:
(Washington,
D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the Senate
Veterans' Affairs Committee, joined with Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services,
in sending a letter to the VA and DoD Deputy Secretaries requesting
that the Departments work more closely together, as true partners and
with greater involvement from senior leaders, to improve the IDES
process. The letter also calls on the Departments to set a definitive
timeline for completing the review in order to implement meaningful
changes. The requests stem from issues identified during GAO's
recently completed investigation into IDES.
"I
am not convinced the Departments have implemented a disability
evaluation process that is truly transparent, consistent, or
expeditious. Getting this right is a big challenge – but it's one that
we must overcome," said Senator Murray. "I've seen the impacts of a
broken system – whether it's from a wrong diagnosis, an improper
decision, or never-ending wait times. When the system doesn't work
accurately and quickly, or when servicemembers can't get a proper mental
health evaluation or diagnosis, it means they are not getting the care
they need and they are not moving on to civilian life. While DoD and VA
are at a critical juncture, I am confident that by working as true
partners and committing to real, meaningful changes, the Departments can
improve the system for the thousands of men and women who will be
transitioning in the next couple of years."
"I
am convinced that the DoD/VA Integrated Disability Evaluation System
can be improved to better address the needs of our wounded, ill, and
injured service members," said Senator Levin. "This system is too
complex, takes far too long, and still has an adversarial aspect that
our service members should not have to endure. It will take a concerted
effort by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans
Affairs, working together, to bring about needed improvements."
The full text of the letters follows:
October 4, 2012
The Honorable Ashton B. Carter
Deputy Secretary of Defense
1010 Defense Pentagon, 3E944
Washington, DC 20301
The Honorable W. Scott Gould
Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20420
Dear Secretary Carter and Secretary Gould:
Essential
to the effort of improving the transition process for separating
servicemembers is overcoming the challenges confronting the Integrated
Disability Evaluation System (IDES). Earlier this year, as part of our
Committees' ongoing oversight of IDES, the Veterans' Affairs Committee
held a hearing examining the multiple challenges servicemembers still
face while navigating this joint program. As was made very clear at that
hearing, real improvements could only happen with the "total
engagement, cooperation and support of all senior leaders at both
Departments …"
Indeed,
the ongoing dialogue and Secretary Carter's July 2, 2012, letter to
Chairman Murray underscored this very point, affirming the Department of
Defense's commitment "to work closely with the Department of Veterans
Affairs to examine ways to improve timeliness and effectiveness of the
system …" Yet despite the importance of this work, and the Departments'
repeated assurances of promising results and progress made, reality has
yet to match rhetoric.
It
is because of this clear and urgent need for total engagement,
cooperation, and true partnership between the Departments that we write
to you regarding the recently released GAO report, Military Disability
System, Improved Monitoring Needed to Better Track and Manage
Performance. Discussing how to overcome the challenges facing the
system, GAO recommended that VA and DoD "work together to develop
timeframes for completing the IDES business process review and
implementing any resulting recommendations."
A
timely business process review has the potential to help the
Departments analyze each phase of the disability evaluation review
process and identify areas where greater coordination and integration
between the Departments is appropriate. Such a review can only be
successful if the Departments undertake it in a truly collaborative way,
evaluating their respective business processes in the context of what
is necessary for an integrated system. Further, any such effort must
have clear goals and timelines. So while both Departments concurred with
the GAO recommendation, the response from the Department of Veterans
Affairs was particularly troubling:
Although
the Department of Defense (DoD) has been leading the business process
review efforts described in this report, the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) has provided input and support to promote these efforts and
will continue to do so to the extent possible. At this time, the full
scope or current status of these efforts has not been disclosed to VA.
As such, VA recommends that developing timeframes for completion of
these efforts should be deferred to DoD.
This
response makes clear that true collaboration between the Departments on
the business process review has yet to occur. Surely, then, the answer
cannot be to drive the Departments further apart by deferring all
planning to the Department of Defense. Therefore, we are writing to
request from you not only a timeline for completion of the review and
implementation of any recommendations, but also that you make this
review a truly joint, collaborative effort to improve a broken system.
We also ask that you detail the steps you will take to personally ensure
the Departments work together as partners in reforming this system and
in addressing other joint challenges. As the Deputy Secretaries of your
Departments, your leadership is critical in order to create meaningful
change for our servicemembers and veterans.
We
remain committed to working with you to address the challenges
confronting this system, but further delay and a lack of meaningful
cooperation is unacceptable and risks jeopardizing the Departments'
ability to achieve a truly integrated disability evaluation system that
works. Thank you for your attention to this letter and for all that you
do on behalf of our servicemembers and veterans.
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Kathryn Robertson
Specialty Media Coordinator
Specialty Media Coordinator
Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray
448 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510
202-224-2834
