WASHINGTON, July 26 (UPI) -- A presidential commission said the U.S. system for caring for wounded troops needs "fundamental changes," a published report says.
The changes should streamline the military's complex current healthcare system and revamp the nation's outdated veterans disability system, said the commission, led by former senator Robert Dole, R-Kan., and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
The two leaders met Wednesday with President Bush at the White House to brief the president on the commission's findings, the Post report said.
"We left there feeling the ball's in their court now," said Dole in the report.
The commission issued a number of recommendations for fixing military healthcare, including:
-- creating "recovery coordinators" who would help each seriously injured service member navigate the complexities of care, rehabilitation and disability;
-- giving the Department of Veterans Affairs sole responsibility for determining payments for wounded veterans;
-- taking aggressive steps to prevent and treat post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
