Panetta, Shinseki Acknowledge Frustration in Streamling Military Health Care

Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki acknowledged Wednesday that they have been frustrated by departmental bureaucracy in their attempts to streamline military health care for severely wounded service members. At a rare joint appearance before the House Armed Services and House Veterans Affairs committees, the secretaries pointed to what they called unprecedented cooperation between their two departments in battling some of their most pressing problems, including the high rate of military suicide and the huge backlog of disability claims.

But they have been unable to consolidate separate VA and Department of Defense programs to coordinate the long-term recovery of seriously wounded service members, despite warnings from the Government Accountability Office that the proliferation of programs might increase red tape. “Secretary Shinseki and I share the same frustration,” Panetta said in response to questioning from Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.) “We’ve been working on this, and frankly, we’ve been pushing, to try to say why can’t we get faster results, why can’t we get this done on a faster track. “Bottom line is, frankly, we’re just going to have to kick ass and try to make it happen, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Shinseki said the separate VA and defense programs “don’t quite harmonize” and that the issue remains under study, as it was last year. He said the departments hope to report back to Congress in several months on their efforts to eliminate duplication...