In May, President Barack Obama signed a new law that promised — for the first time in history — to pay family members and others who care for severely wounded soldiers at home. To qualify, soldiers had to be injured after Sept. 11, 2001.
But the VA missed a Jan. 30 deadline to get the program up and running. That's angering many families of wounded veterans and many members of Congress, who are accusing the Obama administration of dragging its feet.
On Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, gave a public scolding to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, telling him the VA isn't complying with the law.
Murray told Shinseki that the plan as designed by the VA doesn't even resemble what Congress had in mind and that delaying the program was unacceptable. According to Murray, Congress wanted the law to serve at least 3,500 caregivers, at a cost of $1.7 billion over five years. The VA's plan, which calls for covering only 840 caregivers, "is simply not good enough," she said.
Shinseki expressed regrets for the delay and said he understands the frustration, but he said that implementing the program has taken longer than planned. He said benefit checks should be going out by early summer.
Shinseki said the program is starting small but added: "We expect that this program will grow."
"We have an obligation to get this right," he told Murray.
Veterans groups are impatient, too.
