Senator Blumenthal to Deliver Remarks On Veterans Health Care Challenges at Yale Law School Event

Senator Richard Blumenthal ’73 will speak at Yale Law School on April 2 during an event about the crisis and reform efforts surrounding the Veterans Health Administration.

The event, which is sponsored by the Yale Health Law & Policy Society and Yale Law Veterans Association, will take place at 2:10 pm in Room 120.

In 2014, news outlets reported that military veterans were dying as they waited for care from Veterans Health Administration facilities across the country. Internal and external investigations later found that VA staff systematically misrepresented the number of veterans in need of care and the average wait times for appointments, according to reports. The investigations found that some of these veterans died before ever seeing a doctor.

In a letter to President Obama, U.S. Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner described “a troubling pattern of deficient patient care at VA facilities nationwide, and continued resistance by the VA, and [the VA’s Office of the Medical Inspector (OMI)] in most cases, to recognize and address the impact on the health and safety of veterans.”

As Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Senator Blumenthal has been deeply involved in Congressional oversight and reform efforts following this scandal. At Yale Law School, the Senator will discuss the changes that have occurred to date and what still needs to be done to improve access to and quality of health care within the VA.

Following the Senator’s address, there will be a panel of experts to discuss these issues in more depth and to examine broader questions about effective reform in large federal bureaucracies.

“The Veteran’s Health Administration can and should demonstrate the best of what the American health care system can offer,” said Christine Monahan ’16. “It has been a leader in adopting electronic health records and enabling the sharing of health information across providers, which can help improve patient care while lowering health care costs. Yet these advancements go to waste when our nation’s veterans can’t even make it through the door of their health care facilities.”

“Systemic problems in large agencies like VA can easily frustrate reform efforts and overwhelm and disillusion the populations that they serve, such as our nation’s veterans,” added Ashley Anderson, YLS ’16. “As we consider how best to craft our legal careers and implement effective change, we are incredibly fortunate to be hosting an event presenting valuable insights into these formidable challenges from established experts in the policy, legislation, litigation, and agency realms.”

Senator Blumenthal will be introduced by Michael Wishnie, William O. Douglas Clinical Professor of Law and Deputy Dean for Experiential Education at Yale Law School. Professor Wishnie was instrumental in forming the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School and he regularly leads the clinic in representing Connecticut veterans before administrative agencies and courts, helping veterans procure benefits and discharge upgrades. Professor Wishnie and his students also perform advocacy related to veterans’ legal needs on behalf of institutional clients.

Panelists will include Carolyn Clancy, MD, Interim Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans Affairs (by video conference); Ashish Jha, MD, MPH, Professor of Health Policy, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Heather Sandler, MSW, Senior Constituent Liaison, Office of Senator Richard Blumenthal; and Bart Stichman, JD, LLM, Joint Executive Director, National Veterans Legal Services Program.

The Yale Health Law and Policy Society (YHeLPS) serves as a central hub for health-related programming at the Yale Law School. YHeLPS invites speakers, plans career info sessions and networking events, organizes experiential learning opportunities like the medical-legal partnerships, and coordinates with other health organizations throughout Yale University.

The Yale Law Veterans Association is a non-partisan group seeking to promote discussion on military and national security related issues that impact the Yale community.