I read a post on another blog a few days ago that might be good fodder for our friend Brandon Friedman as he begins his new career in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Even if it's not particularly applicable to his new office, it's a story that needs wider exposure, imho.
Some of you may have already heard of Leslie Kammerdiener. She began blogging her story on Day 1: June 3, 2008, three days after her son Kevin, a 19-year-old Marine, lost 40% of his brain to an IED in Afghanistan.
Leslie has posted daily updates about the everyday joys, frustrations, and struggles that she, her daughter Brianna, and Kevin have encountered since Kevin's multiple injuries and surgeries and during his ongoing rehabilitation. This little lady from western Pennsylvania has more tenacity, grit, and optimism than any three average folks.
I've become an avid reader of her blog (Disclaimer: I neither have nor seek a personal relationship with her or her family) and she recently make a heartbreaking post about her plight as a caregiver. Believe me, if her normal tone was woeful, this might sound like something she would--and rightfully could--write about daily. But because Leslie's tone is usually pragmatic and indefatigable, this
post from a couple days ago broke my heart.
I first need to ask again for y'all to write your senators and congressmen about the caregivers bill. It is so important because that is one of the major reasons that I am not sleeping. Money. (Doesn't it always come down to this in the end?) I also want to stress that this post is not me asking anyone for money - it is just an explanation into the true financial situation of a wounded soldier's caregiver so that more and more people will help get this bill passed.
Anyway, y'all know that I lost my job. What many of you don't realize is that although I have no income because I have to take care of Kevin - Kevin is not allowed to spend one cent on my needs. It is 100% against the law.
(snip)
But...
This means that if I need food - that's too bad. If I need clothing - that's also too bad. The same with a haircut, my phone bill, my shampoo and conditioner, gas for the car and every other thing you can think of.
Leslie had to quit her job in Pennsylvania to move to Florida to be near her wounded son's rehabilitation hospital. She flies back and forth with him for weeks at a time to San Antonio for burn surgeries. Kevin, while recovering well given his injuries, needs constant attention. At this point in his recovery, she can't even begin to think about even a flexible part-time job.
Given the tribulations her family has gone through, Leslie has notably few complaints about the care and compensation her son will receive. Though it is not extravagant, it is allowing Kevin to purchase and outfit a home as well as take care of his regular needs.
As I see it, a permanently disabled soldier deserves the benefit of being among his willing and able family instead of in a group home.
And the family member who undertakes the full-time responsibility for living with and providing care to our country's wounded veteran deserves the dignity of being able to cover his/her personal expenses. Especially when, as Leslie points out, she is probably SAVING our country money by doing the morally, ethically, emotionally correct thing by being with her son.
But what are our options? Seriously? We, as caregivers of our own wounded soldiers, can either lose everything to take care of our loved ones or we can put our loved ones into a facility - allowing us to maintain some semblance of a normal financial lifestyle. What a choice, huh?
I guess the Army knows that most of us are going to lose everything to take care of our sons/daughters. Matter of fact - I would lay odds that they bank on it. Saves them a ton of money, doesn't it? I think I read it costs $27,000 a month to put someone like Kevin into a facility. Wouldn't the military/VA system be crippled if we all put our loved ones into a home just so we could buy a hamburger for dinner?
(snip)
So anyway - please! Please! I beg all of you to help us get the word out about this bill. It's Senate Bill S801.
Leslie is right. Word needs to get out. But it appears that help may be on the way...
After a little research, Senate bill S.801 sailed through markup by the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs on May 21, 2009.
Prior to the markup hearings, Ralph Ibson of the Wounded Warrior Project testified in support of the bill:
Under S. 801, an individual who, with the veteran’s assent, agrees to serve as the veteran’s Primary Personal Care Attendant, and who successfully undergoes training and achieves certification, would be provided the support and services needed to sustain that role. This support and these services would include counseling and needed mental health services; technical support, including access to a Web portal linked to a wide range of nationwide family caregiver support services; 30 days of annual respite care; CHAMPVA health care coverage; and a modest monthly allowance. Other family members can also receive basic family caregiver training, and, upon certification, have access to counseling and technical assistance.
This sounds like the kind of common-sense help that is so desperately needed by dedicated caregivers like Leslie. It's also the kind of legislation that theoretically shouldn't engender much, if any, opposition.
The press release from the Committee on Veterans Affairs markup session states, "The bills approved today will be reported to the full Senate for consideration." So, I guess this isn't much of an action diary as long as S.801 gets approved on the floor of the full Senate soon.
Honestly, I was only moved to write this due to the conjunction of reading Leslie's plea in the same night as I read of Brandon's new position in the V.A.
I hope that the passage of S.801 will make a good p.r. story for the Department of Veterans Affairs. More than that, I hope that this bill becomes a law that provides aid and relief to Leslie and the thousands who share her misfortune as our damaged soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan.