Veterans Affairs

At 0800 hours yesterday, the lobby of the Veterans Affairs Baltimore Medical Center was filled with dozens of soldiers recently back from Iraq, dressed in their combat fatigues and reporting for yet another one of their duties - to be sure they are holding up both physically and mentally from what they went through in the war zone. About 100 Maryland National Guard troops who returned from missions in Iraq in February and March had time to sit down with medical professionals - doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants - to discuss any enduring aches and pains, any war-related stress they might have.

Oooops! When Congress and the White House put together the recent bipartisan $150 billion economic stimulus package, they raised the maximum mortgage limits in high-cost areas for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. But lawmakers neglected to include a similar increase for the government's primary home purchase program for veterans -- VA-backed loans. While the limits of the other three programs now extend to $729,500 in the highest-cost areas -- at least through Dec. 31 -- VA loans remain capped at $417,000.

Arecent report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness found that while veterans constitute about 11 percent of the civilian population 18 and older, they represent about 26 percent of homeless people. That proportion is lower than in the 1990s, when veterans were an estimated one-third of the homeless population, but the findings are disturbing nonetheless. Veterans are more likely to be educated and employed and less likely to be poor than the general population. As more veterans return from Iraq and Afghanistan, the problem of homeless veterans is likely to get worse.

When Marine Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey returned from his tour of duty in Iraq, he looked like a kid who lucked out. No visible wounds. But looks aren't everything. He had nightmares and nausea, drank heavily and showed other signs of depression. He threw his dog tags at his sister and called himself a "murderer." He told his sister he had "a rope and tree picked out" behind the family home. Then, in June 2004, a few months after his return, he went to the basement of his parents' home in Belchertown, Mass.

Jim Nicholson's resignation last week after 2 1/2 years as secretary of veterans affairs was described as abrupt, but the wonder is that he lasted so long. A former real estate developer, Republican Party chairman and ambassador to the Vatican, Mr. Nicholson was overwhelmed by a hidebound bureaucracy unable to cope with the sheer size and complexity of its rapidly expanding client load. And he was no match for White House political bosses trying to hide the true cost of the Iraq war by shorting veterans' care.

Dr. Nathan Carliner, a cardiologist and University of Maryland School of Medicine professor who practiced at the downtown Veterans Affairs Medical Center, died of bone cancer Tuesday at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Cross Keys resident was 66. Born in Baltimore and raised on South Road in Mount Washington, known as "Pill Hill" for the many medical professionals who lived there, he was the son of Dr. Paul Carliner, who in 1947 co-discovered Dramamine. "My father died of a heart attack at age 46 in 1956.

Gov. Martin O'Malley will announce tomorrow that James A. Adkins, a veteran of the Army and National Guard, will serve as secretary of the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs, according to sources close to the administration. "While I'm honored to serve Maryland veterans, I'm also fully aware of the responsibility that comes with the job," said Adkins, who worked previously as the department's deputy secretary. A Cambridge native and resident, Adkins, 52, said he will take over for Secretary George W. Owings III in June.

WASHINGTON -- Moved by reports of shoddy outpatient conditions and tangled bureaucracy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other facilities, House lawmakers lined up yesterday to unanimously support a bill that promises to improve medical care for the nation's service members and veterans. The bipartisan measure, known as the Wounded Warriors Assistance Act, rocketed through the House of Representatives after its introduction two weeks ago. Of the 435 House members, 426 were on hand to support the bill, with some scrambling at the last minute to be counted in support of the troops.

CHICAGO -- When he was alive, the U.S. government had no trouble finding a place for Patrick Stewart, never mind his unconventional beliefs. It inducted him into the Army National Guard, issued him dog tags giving his religion as "Wiccan," and deployed him to Afghanistan. He died there in 2005 when Taliban forces shot down his helicopter. It was only later that Uncle Sam had second thoughts. Sergeant Stewart was buried in a veterans cemetery in Nevada, and his widow asked that his memorial plaque include the encircled five-pointed star of Wicca, a religion based on nature worship.

WASHINGTON -- With millions of seniors facing premium increases for their Medicare prescription plans, Democrats say they have a solution: Use the government's buying power to bargain for rock-bottom drug prices. The Department of Veterans Affairs does it for 5 million patients, they point out, so why not Medicare with its 43 million? Medicare sets rates for hospitals, doctors and medical equipment such as power wheelchairs -- as well as drugs administered in doctors' offices. It was only the Republicans' ideological commitment to the private sector that led them to bar the government from negotiating discounts with drug companies, Democrats contend.