The Department of Veterans Affairs is facing a shock over helping pay millions of dollars to medical providers who treat illegal immigrants while they are in federal custody — while hundreds of thousands of claims from veterans have mounted.
The Austin, Texas-based Financial Services Center (FSC) has been contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since 2002 to process reimbursement claims by providers who offer services to detained immigrants.
In fiscal year 2022, which ended on September 30 of that year, the FSC processed 161,538 such claims, with the ICE Health Services Corps (IHSC) paying an average of $584 — a total of $94.3 million in taxpayer money, according to a July 2023 Department of Homeland Security Report on the “Cost of Care Health for Non-Citizens in Detention.”
In the previous fiscal year, 2021, ICE’s health care arm budgeted more than $74 million for the VA’s FSC to help with “external referral care” and “medical claims processing,” according to a report from July 2022.
Meanwhile, the backlog of benefit claims by veterans and their families awaiting adjudication has grown to 417,855, according to the VA’s own website — up from about 150,000 at the end of 2022.
Migrants who cross the Rio Grande into the US surrender to Border Patrol before being transferred to an immigration facility for processing. James Keivom
When contacted by The Post, the VA insisted that the veterans’ claims were backlogged and that the millions of dollars funneled to migrant health care providers were unrelated.
“The VA does not provide or fund any health care to ICE detainees,” VA spokesman Terrence Hayes told The Post.
“This involves no more than 10 employees and is fully funded by ICE. This has no effect [on] care or veterans services,” Hayes added. “At no time were VA health care professionals or VA funds used for this purpose.”
‘Should shock the American taxpayer’
A handful of Republican lawmakers ripped the VA for working with ICE to pay for the medical care of people they say shouldn’t be in the US at all.
“I am a disabled veteran and get 100% of my health care through the Veterans Affairs system,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), a retired Navy SEAL who sits on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, told the Post.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden has long been outspoken about the VA. CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images
“It is deeply insulting to our veterans who put our lives on the line defending this country, and it should shock the American taxpayer that the Biden administration is using VA resources to provide health care to illegal immigrants,” he said.
Van Orden added that the VA’s work with ICE is “abhorrent and needs to stop immediately,” noting that “many veterans have to travel hours and wait weeks to be seen at a VA facility.”
The office of Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) accused the Biden administration of “playing on words.”
“They cannot deny that they are using Community Care Network providers for illegals. By definition, that means worse options for our veterans,” the senator’s spokeswoman told The Post, referring to non-VA practitioners who offer services to veterans such as urgent care, surgery and dialysis.
Tommy Tuberville has supported legislation to prevent the VA from allocating resources to ICE. Getty Images
“This program grew rapidly under President Trump, but President Biden is now actively withdrawing community care options for our heroes. This giveaway to illegal immigrants is a slap in the face to our veterans and it’s a slap in the face to taxpayers.”
Last month, Tuberville and Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee, introduced legislation that would prevent the VA from “using its resources to provide health care or engage in claims processing for undocumented immigrants. .”
“Biden’s bureaucratic backlog at the VA grows as they bubble bath on the taxpayer dime. Not another second — or dollar meant for veterans — should be wasted on Biden’s Band-Aid border crisis,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told The Post.
Joni Ernst slams VA over contract with ICE. AP
“No call from anyone who has served our country should go unanswered, but the Biden administration has made its priorities clear by wasting valuable VA resources on processing illegal immigrants. Our veterans deserve better,” added Ernst, an Army veteran who, like Tuberville, sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
‘Disgraceful’
Other prominent veterans expressed similar outrage.
Mark Geist, a former Marine who was part of the extra security forces that fought in Benghazi in 2012, recalls how he founded the Shadow Warriors Project to “address a critical gap” in veteran care.
“To learn that the Biden administration is reallocating funds from the VA and giving them to illegal immigrants, who are not serving this country, is not just disappointing; it’s downright embarrassing,” he said.
“As a Marine, I am disappointed, it is a blatant betrayal of those who sacrificed for this country.”
Another former Marine, Chad Robichaux, who helped lead one of the largest civilian evacuation efforts from Afghanistan and founded the Mighty Oaks Foundation, a veterans support organization, bemoaned the VA backlog while the veteran suicide rate hovers at an all-time high.
Chad Robichaux has long been a proponent of policies to help veterans. Marine Corps Installation West
“To see millions of taxpayer dollars taken from our veterans to incentivize and guard against illegal immigration is a huge blow to America and the military community,” he said.
“Every time we think this administration has hit rock bottom, they dig deeper.”
Kate Monroe, also a Marine veteran and CEO of Vetcomms.us, which provides disability benefits claims services for veterans, criticized the VA’s work with ICE.
“Not only are veterans sidelined behind immigrants at the VA, they are also homeless because the VA HUD VASH program is also earmarked for immigrants,” he complained.
“Never let a veteran be left out for anyone, let alone a non-citizen who entered our country illegally,” he added. “It is sad to see VA resources being stretched to help non-Americans when those who put their lives on the line for this country are already suffering.”
Last month, the advocacy group Concerned Veterans for America overturned the VA’s policy and petitioned Congress to enact legislation barring the department from its contract with ICE.
The White House has assisted in Senate negotiations for a package to address border security. AP
“The VA was created to serve veterans, the brave men and women who serve and sacrifice for our freedom. Right now, under the Biden administration, the VA is failing our nation’s heroes,” the group said in a statement.
“No more veterans should lose their lives waiting for care while the VA focuses on priorities outside of its core mission.”
During fiscal year 2023, the VA claims it will provide more than 116 million appointments to veterans, breaking the previous record.
In response to the objection, the department claimed to The Post that its goal remains “to deliver the best health outcomes to Veterans, whether at the VA or in the community through one of our partners.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
