Pacific Magazine > Daily News

Veterans Administration To Pay For Veterans' Care In American Samoa

By Pacific Magazine
Tuesday: September 30, 2008

American Samoa Congress Delegate Faleomavaega Eni today said the U.S. Veterans Administration has agreed to reimburse the territorial medical center for services offered to U.S. military veterans who have service-related illnesses or disabilities.

Faleomavaega said the VA’s change of policy effectively gives veterans in the territory the same no-charge medical services that other retirees get in locations with a Veterans Administration hospital or clinic.

“For too long, our veterans have had to pay for part of their medical care at LBJ for service-connected illnesses and disabilities, and this was simply wrong,” Faleomavaega said in a statement released today.

He credited Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka, who chairs the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, with making the change possible. Akaka sent a senior committee staffer to American Samoa last year to investigate the issue.

“Senator Akaka is chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee and has always supported what is best for our veterans and played an instrumental role in helping me with the establishment of a VA clinic in American Samoa that provides about $3 million in services for our veterans,” Faleomavaega said.

“When the local VA clinic is not able to provide the care or services needed, our veterans may be referred to LBJ if the care or services can be provided by (the LBJ Medical Center in American Samoa).  In such cases, VA and not the veteran should be responsible for the cost of care provided by LBJ and, thanks to the support of the Senate Veterans Committee, this will soon be the case.”