VA Secretary pushes for more rural, Native veteran support

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - In the 1930s then-president Herbert Hoover created an executive order for the development of the Veterans Administration. Fast forward to today and various improvements have been made to what is now known as the Department of Veterans Affairs.

These developments are what brought new programs to the forefront such as the PACT Act, which now helps thousands of people nationwide. These advancements in veteran health care are not stopping anytime soon.

The Biden administration hit a milestone with 1 million claims awarded to US veterans because of the PACT Act that went into effect in August 2022. The impact of that law can be seen in South Dakota, with a little more than 3,740 of those claims pertaining to the state alone.

“That means $22 million in earned benefits for those PACT Act-influenced veterans,” explained US Secretary of Veteran Affairs Denis McDonough.

McDonough said this is also about 2,400 new enrollees in veteran health care in South Dakota alone.

Those numbers are just the start of helping veterans in the Mount Rushmore state. McDonough wants to add a focus on Native American veterans by working with Indian Health Service and plans to even have resources housed nearby, saving on costs and providing easier access to those resources for those vets.

“So we can get them access to mental health care, we can get them access to other specialty services, and we can do that right there in a shared facility. What will that do: Increase access points for Native veterans, but it will also reduce costs for American taxpayers,” said McDonough.

Another big player in those talks is Health and Human Services and their role helping expand programs already in place.

“To ensure that we have culturally competent traditional healing practices available to our Native veterans in crisis,” explained McDonough.

Veterans Affairs Black Hills Health Care said these partnerships are critical for the continued development of the programs made available in the Black Hills and around the nation.

“This is going to be a large focus for us is partnering with IHS, partnering with the State of South Dakota working with our congressional partners to enhance access to care for our rural, highly rural, and tribal veterans,” said Veterans Affairs Black Hills spokesperson Tom Johnson.

Other Veterans Affairs programs that have had an increase in users are the Community Care Act and the VA’s Oncology services such as TeleOncology and Closer to Me Cancer Care Program.

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