U.S. vets seek fail-safe medical benefits

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. veterans' groups seeking fail-safe medical benefits say they want Congress to approve the Veterans Administration's annual budget a year in advance.

They say this would protect the VA from political wrangling that delays funding and forces the administration to freeze hiring, cut back services and extend waiting-room time to the point that some veterans simply go home, The Christian Science Monitor reports. ....