The US Department of Justice is arguing that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have no right to specific types of medical care and that Congress and veterans don’t have any say in the matter.

The Administration’s argument comes in response to a lawsuit filed by Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Truth which alleges that veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are being denied access to critical services. The veterans organizations argue that:

• vets are arbitrarily denied access to mental health and other services,
• vets are kept waiting for months or years for treatment or compensation benefits, and 
• vets are denied fair procedures for appealing denials of their claims.

To support their argument, the veterans organizations cite the VA’s backlog of 600,000 disability claims and that “120 veterans commit suicide each week.”

Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are supposed to be provided five years of VA health care from the date of their discharge, but the Government is arguing that the law does not create an entitlement to any particular medical service.

Furthermore, DOJ lawyers are arguing that the VA should only provide needed medical services to the extent that funds are available.

There will be more arguments in this case on March 7, 2008. Stay tuned.