Sanders sees hiring vets to process claims as part of backlog solution
By Rick Maze

Hiring veterans to process claims could be part of the solution to eliminating the backlog of disability claims, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman believes.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent who became the veterans’ committee chairman in January, sees hiring veterans for claims processing and adjudication positions as one step among many that are needed to improve the timeliness and accuracy of claims.

Sanders noted that the Veterans Affairs Department lost about 6 percent of its claims staff in fiscal 2012. This created openings that could be filled by veterans to “create a generation of adjudicators throughout VA who can identify with the experiences of the population they serve,” he said in a statement.

Sanders introduced a bill May 9 that calls for creation of a working group within VA that would look at how to hire veterans and also look at how to evaluate employees who work on claims.

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The Ed Show is back on MSNBC and Ed’s first guest on Saturday was Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Watch Bernie and Ed discuss the president’s budget and the proposed use of chained CPI to cut cost of living adjustments for seniors and disabled veterans.

Primary physician shortage calls for intervention
By Senator Bernie Sanders

The American approach to primary health care is one of the more glaring failures of a dysfunctional health care system that costs almost twice as much per capita as that of any other major country — often with worse results.

Tragically, some 45,000 Americans die each year because they don’t see a doctor until it’s too late. Many others unnecessarily end up in hospitals at great cost and suffering because their illnesses were not diagnosed and treated at the appropriate time. Every day, tens of thousands of men, women and children who lack a primary care medical home flood emergency rooms across the country for nonemergency care at 10 times the cost of a visit to a primary-care facility.

Instituting major reforms in primary care and enabling people to see a doctor when they need one will save lives, ease suffering and save billions of dollars in wasteful health care costs. What should we do?

First, we need to substantially increase the number of primary-care practitioners. In most countries, about 70 percent of doctors practice primary care while 30 percent are specialists. We have it backward. Only 30 percent of doctors in America practice primary care. According to the Health Resources and Service Administration, we need 16,000 more primary-care practitioners to fill gaps in care that exist today. That number will significantly increase in the years to come, beginning next year when 30 million more Americans get insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

Second, we must implement a major change in the culture of our medical schools. Some medical schools do an excellent job educating primary-care physicians, but too many do too little and some — believe it or not — do nothing at all. In 2011, about 17,000 doctors graduated from American medical schools. Only 7 percent of those graduates chose a primary-care career. A big reason is the way American doctors are paid. We must change the reimbursement rates which create incentives for medical students with high debt to go into the well-paid specialties rather than primary care. We also must address the absurdity of Medicare providing $10 billion a year to teaching hospitals — with no demands that they increase the number of primary-care physicians we desperately need. Dr. George Rust at the National Center for Primary Care asked the right question: “Why pay to train doctors we don’t need to practice in places they are not needed?”

Third, we need to greatly expand the Federally Qualified Health Center program which today provides high quality and affordable health care, dental care, mental health treatment and low-cost prescription drugs to 22 million Americans, regardless of income. This is a program that provides some of the most cost-effective health care in the country and serves as a medical home for millions with nowhere else to go. Today, there are more than 1,200 community health centers located in every state in the country. This excellent program has been expanded in recent years, but much more needs to be done. The goal should be a federally supported community health center everywhere in America that is medically underserved.

Finally, we should greatly expand the National Health Service Corps, which provides loan-forgiveness and scholarships to students who are prepared to provide medical, dental and mental health care in underserved areas. Like the community health center program, the health service corps has expanded in recent years. In 2012, the corps provided financial help to nearly 10,000 clinicians, nearly three times more than in 2008. That’s a good step forward, but nowhere near enough. Because of inadequate funding, thousands of medical school students who would like to go into primary care do not receive the financial support they need to be able to make that choice.

The bottom line is that we need a revolution in primary health care services and accessibility. Providing all Americans access to health care when they need it will keep people healthier and substantially reduce health care costs. It’s a win-win proposition that we should embrace.

Sen. Bernie Sanders ‘troubled’ by FCC pick’s lobbying past
By Brendan Sasso

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is expressing concern about President Obama’s nominee to head the Federal Communications Commission due to his ties to the industries he would be in charge of regulating.

Tom Wheeler, announced as the president’s nominee on Wednesday, was the top lobbyist for the cable and cellphone industries before he became a venture capitalist.

In a statement on Wednesday, Sanders said he is “troubled” that the president would nominate the head of two major lobbying groups to regulate the industry.

“The head of the FCC should be looking out first and foremost for the public interest and may have to stand up to some of our nation’s biggest media and telecom companies,” Sanders said.

White House press secretary Jay Carney defended Wheeler’s past as a lobbyist during a briefing on Wednesday, noting that he worked for the wireless industry nearly a decade ago and the cable industry nearly three decades ago. He argued that when Wheeler was the top wireless lobbyist, the cellphone carriers were disruptive upstarts rather than the established giants they are today.

“He’s an experienced telecommunications leader who shares the president’s commitment to protecting consumers, promoting innovation, enhancing competition and encouraging investment,” Carney said.

Sanders argued that the next FCC chairman should prevent further consolidation of media companies.

“I agree with the overwhelming majority of Americans who oppose more media consolidation because it would result in less local control, fewer outlets offering differing viewpoints and less ownership diversity,” Sanders said.

He added that he looks forward to hearing Wheeler’s position on the issue of media consolidation, calling it a “matter of enormous consequence.”

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Bernie Sanders Proposes Bill to Help End Veteran Homelessness By 2015
By: Jason Easley

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) along with Republican Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) introduced a bill today that would end homelessness among military veterans by 2015.

The bill titled the Homeless Veterans Prevention Act of 2013 is an impressive piece of legislation. Despite the fact that veteran homelessness has declined by 17% since 2009, there are still 62,000 homeless veterans in the United States. The bill deals with expanding homelessness prevention programs, increasing the availability of legal services to homeless vets, keeping homeless veteran families together by allowing the VA to house children of homeless vets in transitional housing programs, reauthorization of employment and housing programs, and it expands eligibility for the homeless veterans dental program.

Sen Sanders said, “We must continue to invest in the progress that has been made and remove any remaining barriers to housing for veterans.” Sen. Burr added, “Our veterans served our country with honor and they should not be forgotten when they return home. Helping homeless veterans get off the street and back on their feet is our obligation, and this legislation is an important step in that direction.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs has established the goal of eliminating veteran homelessness by 2015, and the Sanders/Burr bill is designed to give them the resources needed to meet that goal.

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Harkin, Sanders introduce resolution opposing chained CPI
By Ramsey Cox

Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced a joint resolution Wednesday in opposition to using a chained consumer price index (CPI) for Social Security payments.

“The time has come for the United States Senate to send a very loud and clear message to the American people,” Sanders said on the Senate floor. “We are not going to balance the budget on the backs of the elderly and disabled veterans. … That is morally unacceptable.”

President Obama’s 2014 budget includes a GOP suggestion that Social Security payments be calculated with a chained CPI, which would lower the cost of living estimates for beneficiaries over time. Sanders said he would vigorously oppose the “misguided” proposal.

Harkin said making any changes to Social Security benefits would send the wrong message to young people.

“This chained CPI sends the wrong message to young people. It exacerbates this concern of young people that say Social Security won’t exist when they retire,” Harkin said. “Young people need to be able to trust it and trust it will be there for them. The best way to ruin that trust of young people is to move to a chained CPI.”

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Watch Senator Bernie Sanders on PBS. See more from Tavis Smiley.

Whatch Bernie’s interview with PBS’ Tavis Smiley where they discuss the president’s proposed budget as well as this week’s tragedy in Boston, Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to China, and gun control legislation.

In discussing the budget, Bernie said “I think the president has made a huge mistake in terms of public policy … I think politically, it’s even worse. Because, for the average American … Social Security has been … the pillar of the social safety net. It’s what the Democratic Party, historically, has been most proud of. And when you surrender that, when you give in to the Republican desire to cut Social Security … what you are doing is surrendering to the Republican ideology rather than standing up and doing, in fact, what the vast majority of the American people want.”

Watch Bernie’s recent interview where he discusses the current debate in Washington over the budget and the proposed use of “chained CPI,” which would cut benefits for disabled vets and Social Security recipients.

“When Social Security is funded by the payroll tax, it is not responsible for the deficit in any way. So we want to deal with the long-term solvency of Social Security, but not through the context of deficit reduction.”

The ‘Hoax’
By Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

I support Gina McCarthy to be the next Environmental Protection Agency administrator. When her Senate confirmation hearing was held on Thursday, the debate among senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee wasn’t really about her qualifications. It was about global warming. It was about whether or not we are going to listen to the leading scientists of this country who tell us we’re facing a planetary crisis.

It was clear at the hearing that Senator John Barrasso, from coal-producing Wyoming, does not want the EPA to address the global warming crisis. What he wants is for us to continue doing as little as possible as we see extreme weather disturbances: super storms, floods and heat waves all over the world.

It was clear at the hearing that Senator Jim Inhofe, from oil-producing Oklahoma, does not want the EPA to curb climate change. What Senator Inhofe has written and talked about is his belief that global warming is one of the major hoaxes ever perpetrated on the American people. He blames Al Gore, the United Nations, and the Hollywood elite. He didn’t dispute that at the hearing. In fact, when I asked him about it, his conspiracy theory thickened. “I would add to that list MoveOn.org, George Soros, Michael Moore, and a few others,” he said.

So that is the issue. Do we agree with Senator Inhofe that global warming is a “hoax” and that we do not want the EPA, the Department of Energy or any other agency of the federal government to address that issue? Or do we agree with the overwhelming majority of scientists who tell us that that we must act boldly and aggressively to protect the future of this planet?

That’s the real issue at stake in this debate and that’s the reason I’m supporting Gina McCarthy. That is why I want the EPA to be vigorous in protecting our children and future generations from the horrendous crisis that we face from global warming. That is why I have introduced legislation to tax carbon and methane greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, 2012 was the warmest year ever recorded for the continental United States. More than 24,000 new record highs were set in the U.S. alone. It was the hottest year in recorded history in New York; Washington, DC; Louisville, Kentucky; even my home city of Burlington, Vt., and other cities across the country.

Last year’s drought – affecting two-thirds of the United States – was the worst in half a century, contributing to extraordinary wildfires burning more than 9 million acres of land, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Heat waves and droughts are not limited to the U.S. Australia, for instance, experienced a four-month heat wave with severe wildfires, record temperatures, and torrential rains and floods causing $2.4 billion in damages, according to The New York Times.
Global warming is also resulting in extreme weather disturbances of all kinds. NOAA’s Climate Extremes Index tracks extreme temperatures, drought, precipitation and tropical storms. It reported that 2012 set yet another distressing record for the most extreme climate conditions recorded.

Ronald Prinn, director of MIT’s Center for Global Change Science, concluded that what we have heard recently from scientists is that their earlier projections regarding global warming were wrong. That in fact they underestimated the problem and that the conditions that they were worried about will likely be worse than what they had originally thought. “There is significantly more risk than we previously estimated … [which] increases the urgency for significant policy action.”

Global warming is real. It is not a hoax. It is a planetary crisis but one that we have the knowledge and technology to address.

Bernie Sanders on frontline for veterans
By Steve Vogel

As an antiwar activist who never served in the military and the first self-proclaimed socialist in the U.S. Senate, Bernard Sanders is at initial glance an unusual choice to chair the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

But Sanders, the tousled-haired 71-year-old Vermont independent who took over the committee in January, has embraced the role with a populist gusto that has won him staunch backing from veterans groups.

“That is odd,” said Peter Gaytan, executive director of the American Legion, whose members gave Sanders a warm reception at the organization’s Washington conference in February. “If you look at his leanings, you wouldn’t think he could care so much about veterans, but he does.”

“He’s very passionate about the issues,” said Bob Wallace, executive director of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “I think he’s going to be very good for veterans.”

Angered that the 2014 budget proposed by the Obama adminstration includes changes in how annual cost-of-living adjustments are calculated, potentially reducing future compensation payments for 3.2 million disabled veterans, Sanders joined in a demonstration Tuesday outside the White House and denounced the plan as “nuts.”

Sanders does not see his political background — including his outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq and his reputation as a skeptic on defense spending — as inconsistent with his role as an advocate for veterans.

“I’m going to fight for them — I think they know it,” Sanders said during a recent interview in his Capitol Hill office.

“What most people don’t understand is the high cost of war,” Sanders said. “When we send people to war, we have to understand that it’s not just the guns and planes and ammunition. It means taking care of the people who come back.”

Sanders asked Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) for the post after Sen. Patty Murray(D-Wash.) decided to relinquish it to lead the Senate Budget Committee.

Although he began his political career denouncing the war in Vietnam, Sanders said his opposition was not directed at those in uniform.

“It never occurred to me to blame the soldiers,” he said. “Do I know a little bit more about it than I did then? I should think so. I should hope so.”

“This country has come a long way from Vietnam,” Sanders added. “People can and should have disagreements about foreign policy. That’s called democracy.”

The Brooklyn-born Sanders — the son of a Polish immigrant paint salesman who struggled to make ends meet — graduated from the University of Chicago in 1964 and lived for a time on an Israeli kibbutz before moving to Vermont in 1968. After trying his hand at carpentry and other jobs, Sanders was drawn to politics, running for the Senate in 1972 as the socialist Liberty Union candidate. After several more failed campaigns, Sanders was elected mayor of Burlington, Vt., in 1981.

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