President Barack Obama sought to make amends with veterans on Tuesday by promising to improve access to mental health care, having greater accountability, and creating an initiative with financial firms to lower home loan costs for military families, Reuters reported.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that the Department of Veterans Affairs had been covering up lengthy delays in providing healthcare to former military personnel.
Having campaigned on a pledge to improve services for the surge of veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Veterans Affairs scandal had undermined public confidence in the president.
But speaking to members of the American Legion's national convention in Charlotte, N.C. on Tuesday, the largest veterans service organization, Obama said he's committed to taking action to "regain the trust" of the nation's veterans by making their health-care system work, Bloomberg reported.
"We're focused on this at the highest levels," Obama said at the 2.3 million-member Legion's 96th annual national convention. "We're going to get to the bottom of these problems. We're going to do right by you and do right by your families."
To help members of the military, banks including Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and Quicken Loans, are taking steps to make it easier for them to refinance their mortgages at lower interest rates. "We're going to help more of our military troops and their families own their own home without a crushing debt," he said.
"The White House said the initiative, in which mortgage servicers will actively seek out people eligible for lower-cost refinancing rather than waiting for applicants, will help tens of thousands of military families save money by reducing their mortgage interest rates," according to Reuters.
In addition, steps to improve availability of mental health care for military personnel as they move to civilian life and expand research into post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide were also announced by Obama, who added that efforts to improve veteran healthcare would continue. "Misconduct we've seen at too many facilities with long wait times and folks cooking the books is outrageous and inexcusable," he said. "What I want you to know directly from me, is we are going to get to the bottom of these problems, we are going to fix what is wrong, we are going to do right by your families."
Earlier this month, a bill, passed by Congress, was signed into law by Obama. It created 27 department medical facilities and expanded care for veterans at non-VA hospitals and clinics, allowing the VA secretary greater power to fire senior agency executives.
Meanwhile, "the VA this week will unveil a new recruiting campaign aimed at attracting 'the best and the brightest medical professionals' to work for the agency, according to a fact sheet released before the speech," Bloomberg reported.
