States File Brief in Lawsuit to Force VA to Cover Gender Affirming Surgery

Doctors performing surgery

A group of states filed a friend of the court brief supporting a transgender veterans group that filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeking gender-confirmation surgery for 163,000 transgender veterans.

The Transgender American Veterans Association lawsuit, filed last month, seeks an order that the Department of Veterans Affairs act on the group’s 2016 rule-making petition for gender-confirmation surgery.

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Despite Backlog of Veterans’ Claims, VA Using Resources to Help Illegal Immigrants

With hundreds of thousands of veterans’ healthcare claims on backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), top Republicans in the House and Senate are hoping to prevent VA resources from being used to process claims for medical care of illegal immigrants.

According to a July report from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency contracts with the VA to process medical claims reimbursements involving illegal immigrants even though they did not serve in the U.S. military. Medical professionals treat illegal immigrants detained by ICE on site, but when specialized or emergency care is required, they are transported to private providers, according to Fox News. The arrangement between ICE and the VA was outlined in a 2020 memo during the Trump administration, Fox News reported.

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Despite Backlog of Claims, Department of Veterans Affairs Using Resources to Help Illegal Immigrants

At a press conference on immigration reform earlier this month, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., criticized President Biden for putting the needs of illegal immigrants over those of America’s veterans. “Veterans have a hard enough time getting the care that they need and now they have to compete with illegal immigrants? This will not fix the border crisis. Biden’s border crisis puts illegal immigrants first, it puts our veterans last,” Daines said.

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The Biden Administration’s Record of Caring for Veterans Raises Alarm

Early in the debt ceiling crisis, the Biden administration tried to scare veterans into believing Republicans might cut their benefits, which did not happen. But the administration’s own treatment of the nation’s warriors suffers from glaring failures ranging from lax security to benefits delayed by unwarranted tests.

The failures were laid bare in a series of reports and memos made public by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ internal watchdog, the Office of Inspector General, shortly before Memorial Day and reviewed by Just the News.

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VA Error Leaves Potentially Thousands of Student Veterans Without Rent Payments

Thousands of student veterans will have their housing stipends delayed past April 1 after an error in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) processing system for GI Bill benefits blocked payments, Military Times reported.

Millions of dollars in housing stipends for U.S. military veterans and their dependents expected to receive Friday will instead take several days to transmit and may not arrive until April 3, VA officials said late Thursday, according to Military Times. Officials did not explain what caused the error, which could cause financial problems for individuals dependent on VA compensation to make rent payments that are typically due on the first of the month.

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Veterans Affairs Department Botches Drug Return Program, Resulting in $14.6 Million in Losses

This week’s Golden Horseshoe is awarded to the Department of Veterans Affairs for its botched oversight of a drug-return program that has resulted in $14.6 million in taxpayer losses, according to the agency watchdog.

A recently released audit by the VA’s Office of Inspector General found the agency mismanaged the program and did not communicate with medical facility pharmacy chiefs to ensure the program’s protocols were followed.

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States Dole Out Millions for Illegal Aliens While Veterans Struggle: Study

Many states and the federal government are spending millions in taxpayer dollars on illegal aliens while veterans across the country still face a slew of issues like homelessness and long waits for primary care, a newly-released study found.

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Federal Civil Service Abuses Bigger Than Just the Department of Veterans Affairs

By Natalia Castro   When news broke of employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) putting the lives of veterans at risk with waiting lists to die, the country was outraged. When it became clear that these employees were not being terminated for their failures and mismanagement, Florida Senator Marco…

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