UPI Poll: Veterans lack needed healthcare

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Nearly two-thirds of UPI-Zogby International poll respondents said the United States doesn’t provide adequate healthcare for its Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Almost since the 2003 start of the war in Iraq there have been reports of problems for U.S. veterans seeking healthcare. More than 20,000 U.S. service personnel have been wounded in the fighting and some of the injuries demand extensive care once the injured people return to the United States.

Poll participants were asked whether they agree with the statement that the “U.S. government provides adequate healthcare for veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The wide plurality answer was “strongly disagree” at 44.5 percent. Another 19.9 percent said they somewhat disagreed with the statement. There were 15.9 percent who said they somewhat agreed and 10.2 percent said they strongly agreed.

The Zogby interactive poll was conducted Aug. 17-20 and had 6,711 U.S. residents as participants, giving the data a margin of error or 1.2 percentage points.