Brig. Gen. Carol Ann Fausone\u00a0 (ret.)<\/p>\n
As I have traveled the country helping veterans, one group that is underserved are Native Americans.\u00a0 My friends in western State Veterans Affairs departments have told me of the issues these Native American veterans face.\u00a0 So it is with some pleasure that I learned the VA<\/a> is going to focus on these veterans.<\/p>\n Native Americans have the highest rates of enlistment into the armed services and that there are well over 500 sovereign tribes. The VA has\u00a0initiatives\u00a0 such as the 2010 VA-IHS Memorandum of Understanding<\/a> in which the VA and Indian Health Service<\/a> (IHS); the 2011 Tribal Consultation Policy<\/a> in which the VA continues their discussion with tribes; and the 2012 Reimbursement Agreement<\/a>, in which the VA more easily reimburses IHS facilities for the benefit of Native vets.<\/p>\n No veteran should be left behind.\u00a0 Our Native American veterans deserve all the benefits to which they are entitled.<\/p>\n