Shoddy patient care and bureaucratic delays at top military hospital Walter Reed Army Medical Center and throughout the veterans health care system are the targets of a commission appointed by President George W. Bush. Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, a Republican, and Donna Shalala, who was health secretary under Democratic former President Bill Clinton, head the Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, holding its first meeting Saturday, according to AP. The commission was being briefed by Defense Department officials, health experts and veterans on the state of health care for veterans. Bush said at the time he named Dole and Shalala to head the panel that the nation has «a moral obligation to provide the best possible care and treatment to the men and women who served our country.» In recent days, an independent review found that money problems and Pentagon neglect could be blamed for numerous problems found at Walter Reed, including poor outpatient care and haphazard follow-up. Another panel has raised questions about whether injured soldiers might be shortchanged by the system used for rating their disabilities. Critics say the Pentagon has a strong incentive to assign ratings so the military will not have to pay disability benefits. -- SPA
