DeLauro Announces 10 CT Veterans Will Stay At Seacrest and HighVue Retirement Homes with Benefits
NEW HAVEN, CT—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) announced today US Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert A. McDonald is extending benefits for 10 Connecticut veterans to stay at Seacrest Retirement Home and HighVue Manor for an additional year. Without Secretary McDonald’s intervention they would have lost their benefits that allowed them to stay at the facilities.
“This is great news for the 10 Connecticut veterans and I applaud Secretary McDonald for using the authorities I urged him to use,” DeLauro said. “Forcing these veterans to lose their benefits because of an error that was not their fault would have been wrong, and in some cases may not have been in the best interest of their mental or physical well-being.
“These veterans and their families now have additional time to think about what the best course of action is for them. I will continue to work with them to ensure they are able to get the care they desire and deserve. I will also work with my colleagues in Congress to find a legislative remedy so that they do not have to go through this uncertainty year after year. Our men and women who sacrifice so much for our freedoms deserve better.”
Lewis Bower, Seacrest owner, stated that “this has come as a welcome and well deserved relief to the gentlemen who reside at Seacrest. The commitment that Rosa has shown and demonstrated in working so tirelessly in advocating for the veterans who served our country is clearly established. Rosa has once again has eased the pain of those who served us so well, when no one else would listen to them.”
Last year 23 veterans at the Seacrest Retirement Home in West Haven, HighVue Manor in Hamden, and Mattatuck Health Care in Waterbury were notified by the VA Connecticut Healthcare System that, due to a VA error, care in these homes has been erroneously covered. The 10 who are being granted another year at Seacrest and HighVue are part of that original group of 23. DeLauro has been working with the VA to ensure that the veterans who would like to stay at Seacrest and HighVue are able to do so.
###