WASHINGTON — All branches of military service now are mandated to set up special units to investigate allegations of sexual assault crimes, which will go through a dedicated court-martial process.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military continues to use improper processes to diagnose significant numbers of servicemembers with pre-existing personality disorders (PD) and then discharge them, according to government documents obtained by an advocacy group.

WASHINGTON — Proposed increases to TRICARE fees are drawing fire once again from beneficiary groups and members of Congress.

WASHINGTON — VA is known for going beyond deadline and over budget on hospital building projects, leaving patients and medical staffers wondering when they will get the modern medical center they were promised.

SAN FRANCISCO — New VA research suggests that lifetime exposure to stressful events, such as those which cause PTSD, is linked to greater levels of inflammation in patients with cardiovascular (CV) disease. Higher inflammation generally leads to worse outcomes for patients.

WASHINGTON--Many of the VA-funded providers of housing and services to homeless veterans  fail to meet even the basic needs of the population they are meant to service, according to an audit by VA’s Office of Inspector General (IG).

WASHINGTON — Popularity of dietary supplements among servicemembers and the lack of formal policy on their sale or use has led to a potentially dangerous situation in the U.S. military, with two soldiers dying last year of heart attacks after ingesting a performance-enhancing product.

WASHINGTON — Will VA’s inability to correctly estimate savings from cost-cutting measures mean the agency ultimately will have to make difficult trade-offs? And will those trafe-offs include fewer financial resources than anticipated for healthcare services?  Those are  frequently expressed concerns for legislators and veteran service organizations (VSOs) as VA’s FY 2013 and advance FY 2014 budget proposals are shopped around Capitol Hill. Such worries are backed up by a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

WASHINGTON — Faced with growing pressure to consolidate medical services to control skyrocketing costs, DoD has endorsed a middle-ground measure that moves the department toward greater consolidation without dramatically changing the structure within the military services.

WASHINGTON — As more medical services are moved to veterans at VA’s outpatient clinics, the need for increased space in those facilities has become critical. For some communities, however, the realities of real estate and construction is that the process is plagued by delays.