Wheelchairs for veterans

OPINION:

Many Americans are familiar with the military creed of never leaving a fallen comrade behind, a commitment that has served as the real-life inspiration for Hollywood movies chronicling daring rescue operations under impossible odds of injured or captured service members.

However, many Americans would be dismayed to learn that returning wounded soldiers, sailors and Marines are indeed being left behind — not on the battlefield — but right here on our own soil.

Through an unfortunate mix of bad regulation, poor oversight and complicated government red tape, many wounded warriors have faced unreasonable delays or complete barriers to obtaining powered wheelchairs through the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Many veterans have been forced to turn to various nonprofit organizations to obtain powered wheelchairs that fit their medical and lifestyle needs; wheelchairs that might have been expected to be available through the VA itself.

Consider the case of Army Spc. Jack Zimmerman. During a deployment to Afghanistan, Spc. Zimmerman lost both legs as a result of severe injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device. After he began his lengthy rehabilitation, the VA provided Spc. Zimmerman with a series of less-than-adequate wheelchairs. Aside from mechanical issues, his VA-issued powered wheelchairs were unstable on uneven terrain and constantly at risk of tipping over. As a life-long lover of the outdoors, Spc. Zimmerman’s wheelchairs were proving to be a roadblock to his resuming a normal life.

Spc. Zimmerman had heard about off-road powered-track wheelchairs — picture a wheelchair on tank treads — and how these mobility devices could safely navigate a variety of outdoor terrains that would otherwise be dangerous for traditional powered wheelchairs. Spc. Zimmerman repeatedly contacted the VA to acquire an off-road powered-track chair and waited months without success.

Unknown to Spc. Zimmerman, his wife had submitted an application for a powered-track wheelchair to the Independence Fund, an organization which provides powered wheelchairs to severely injured veterans. Due to his service-connected injuries, his application was approved, and the Independence Fund provided him a track wheelchair at no cost.

While private and nonprofit organizations are to be congratulated for stepping forward to help our wounded veterans, there is only so much they can do. The VA is supposed to be there for our veterans and should be the first to support those who sacrifice life and limb defending our country. Federal law allows veterans requiring care for a service-connected disability to receive comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation through the VA, including the provision of powered wheelchairs.

While VA guidelines allow powered mobility for veterans to accomplish the necessary tasks of daily living in ordinary home and community environments, the VA does not approve powered wheelchairs based on a veteran’s lifestyle needs.

Most Americans would agree that the nation’s duty to wounded veterans requires more than half-measures. A veteran with a significant service-connected disability should be issued an available device that restores the maximum achievable mobility, personal independence, and to allow them to live as normal a life as possible.

The VA’s current “eligibility guidelines” only requires the agency to consider rather than to accommodate a veteran’s lifestyle requirements when making determinations for powered wheelchairs. These guidelines should be reformed to require the agency to accommodate the individual veteran’s needs whenever possible.

In addition, the VA should streamline its process for making such specialized wheelchairs available. If costly medical device approvals are impediments to getting injured veterans appropriate wheelchairs, then the VA, the Food and Drug Administration, and Congress should work together to streamline the approval process.

Should the VA be unable to make these changes, Congress and the president should change the law to allow veterans with significant service-connected disabilities the option to obtain a wheelchair outside the VA system at no cost to the veteran.

Veterans could, for example, receive a VA-funded Choice Card that would allow them to obtain a powered wheelchair from nonprofit organizations that specialize in providing them to veterans.

Doing right by our veterans should not be bogged down by politics as usual. Instead of finger-pointing, the president, his administration and Congress should work together to solve this issue. Providing an appropriate wheelchair will make transformational and measurable impacts on the lives of our wounded warriors without breaking the bank.

Service members commit to ensuring that fellow comrades are never left behind on the battlefield. In return, we must ensure that no injured veteran is left behind on American soil and commit to helping those, like Army Spc. Jack Zimmerman, who have sacrificed so much for our country.

• David R. Meister is the founder of Make a Difference America.