Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the need for VA media outreach. 

I am the Policy Director for and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the country’s first and largest  nonpartisan and

veterans’ group. As a civilian who has worked with this population for almost four years now, I’ve seen firsthand the tremendous gap between the VA and the veterans they are seeking to help.  There are millions of veterans who qualify for VA benefits and services but do not use them, simply because they don’t know the programs exist, they don’t know they qualify, or they don’t know how to apply.  There are millions of veterans across the country who could be getting a college education, buying their own home, or getting quality health care when they are sick – but they are not, because they don’t think they can afford it, and the VA hasn’t told them otherwise.

Because the VA doesn’t advertise their services, veterans of all generations are missing out on benefits they have earned.

Health Care

At least 1.8 million veterans lack health insurance.[i]  About half of those veterans actually qualify for VA care, but have not sought it out.  That’s almost a million veterans without regular access to health care – a million veterans that the VA could be serving.  For some of those vets, VA hospitals are too far away, or co-pays are too high to make VA care practical – but some are just not enrolled.  These veterans, like the other 45 million uninsured Americans, are avoiding getting their health problems treated, or are relying on expensive emergency room care. 

We have a short window of opportunity, in the next few years, to ensure that and

veterans do not join these 1.8 million uninsured veterans.  Right now, less than half of the and

veterans who are eligible for VA health care have signed up.  The rest, about half a million people, have a five years to get in the door at the VA, or risk getting labeled “Priority 8” and losing access altogether.  The VA needs to take steps now to reach these veterans, before it’s too late.

What makes this a particular shame is that VA health care is universally recognized to be some of the best care you can get in this country.   The VA regularly outperforms many of America’s best private hospitals.  The American Legion calls the VA “the health care model others in the health care field should emulate.”[ii]  Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, and Paralyzed Veterans of America, agree that VA health care is “equivalent to, or better than, care in any private or public health-care system.”[iii]

A concerted effort by the VA to advertise their health care services could give an estimated 1.5 million veterans access to this high-quality health care.

Education

Veterans also qualify for tens of thousands of dollars in education benefits.  In fact, the new GI Bill that became law only a few weeks ago entitles and

veterans to free tuition up to the cost of the most expensive in-state public university.   The new GI Bill also includes a living stipend, a book stipend, and a new program to encourage expensive private schools to offer scholarships to new veterans.  This program will give hundreds of thousands of and

veterans the chance to build a brighter future for themselves and their families.

But we know from history that millions of veterans do not take advantage of their GI Bill. In fact, under the old Montgomery GI Bill, “only 8% of veterans use their whole benefit and 30% of veterans don’t use their GI Bill at all.” [iv] 

A VA advertising campaign would ensure that this generation of veterans takes full advantage of the historic educational opportunities the new GI Bill affords.

Housing

Military towns are ground zero for the subprime mortgage crisis; foreclosure rates in military towns are increasing at four times the national average.[v]  While troops and veterans were being bombarded with advertising for subprime mortgages with hidden fees, teaser rates, and penalties for prepaying, they heard no advertising at all regarding safe and reliable VA home loans.  As the marketing of subprime mortgages skyrocketed, the VA Home Loan Program has been underutilized.  The number of new VA loans has declined every year between 2004 and 2007, and “in 2006, at the peak of US subprime lending, the number of VA loans fell to barely a third of the level two years earlier.” 

This is especially unfortunate because veterans using the VA Home Loans program get a much safer mortgage, and the support of VA financial counseling if they need it.  And VA-backed mortgages aren’t going into foreclosure like subprime loans are.  Even though 90% of current VA-backed home loans were given without no down payment,[vi] the share of VA mortgages in foreclosure was only slightly higher than the share for “prime borrowers,” those with the highest credit scores. 

Part of the reason VA loans lost popularity is because soaring housing prices have made VA loans less relevant to many home buyers in expensive areas.  But because the VA doesn’t advertise, many troops and veterans who could have used a VA home loan are now suffering with a subprime mortgage, and are at risk of losing their homes altogether.

As the mortgage crisis continues to unfold, the VA needs to do more to promote their excellent home loan program, and to encourage veterans facing housing problems to contact a VA financial counseling center.

IAVA and Ad Council

With 1.7 million veterans coming home from and

, we have to do a better job of informing veterans about their benefits.  For this generation, the time is now for the VA to conduct a coordinated, national and local outreach campaign. 

Knowing that nonprofit advocacy organizations can often respond faster than the government, IAVA has partnered with the Ad Council to conduct a multiyear Public Service Announcement campaign to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health care and to ensure veterans seeking access to care and benefits, and particularly those who need treatment for their psychological injuries, get the support they need.

We are proud to be partnering with Ad Council, who are responsible for many of the nation’s most iconic PSA campaigns in history, including “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires,” “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste,” and “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk.”  Thanks to their rigorous research model and focus-group testing process, the Ad Council has shown great success.  For example, as a result of the Ad Council’s Big Brother/Big Sister campaign, applications for Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors soared from 90,000 to 620,000 in nine months.  “Ready.gov,” the Department of Homeland Security outreach site, received more than 18 million unique visitors within the first ten months of its campaign launch.  We’re hoping to see the same kind of success in our campaign.

The IAVA-Ad Council PSAs will exist on television, radio, in print, outdoors and online, and will be rolling out in November of this year.  Over the last two months, IAVA has met with the VA on three occasions to discuss our upcoming campaign, and we are hopeful that the VA will be able to prepare for any increase in demand our campaign generates.  But our PSA campaign will in no way eliminate the need for the VA to plan its own outreach and advertising campaign.  Only a concerted effort on the part of the VA will ensure that veterans finally have easy access to the many benefits the VA has to offer. 

Above all, our veterans earned these benefits defending our country, and should not have to fight for them when they come home.  Thank you for your time.

Respectfully submitted,.

[i] Testimony of Stephanie J. Woolhandler,

Harvard

Medical

School , based on data from the Census Bureau and the Department of Health and Human Services. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing, June 20, 2007.

[ii] American Legion, “A System Worth Saving,” 2006. 

[iii]  FY2008 Independent Budget, pg. 35.

[iv] Elizabeth Farrell, “GI Blues,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 13, 2005.

[v] Kathleen M. Howley, “Foreclosures in Military Towns Surge at Four Times

Rate,” Bloomberg News, May 27, 2008.

[vi] VA Press Release, “VA Reaching Out to Vets with Mortgage Problems,” June 12, 2008.