By Sean Libby, CEO, BeneLynk
Last week, the VA Fargo Health Care System shared a story about a Veteran who manages his own care through the Veteran-Directed Care program that was both inspirational and an illustration of why we are working to help more people access Veteran-Directed Care.
Brian Boland is a Veteran who works with the VA Fargo Health Care System to direct his own care. This summer, he traveled to Detroit to compete in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, representing Team Minneapolis in three events. He came home with two gold medals — one from a Ford history knowledge event at the Ford Science Museum, and one from a Motor Rally, where he navigated a timed obstacle course of sharp turns, ramps, and tight parking maneuvers with precision. But just as impressive as the medals is the commitment Brian and his caregivers showed to compete. They drove 17 hours each way to get to the games!
I love this story because it captures something that's hard to explain. Veteran-Directed Care isn't a benefits program in the way most people think about benefits programs. It's not a check that arrives, or a service that gets delivered to you. It's a tool that hands a Veteran the budget and the authority to build a life… and then gets out of the way.
Brian didn't get to Detroit because a case manager scheduled it for him. He got there because he wanted to and because VDC gave him the flexibility to direct his own care in a way that made room for training, for travel, for competition, for a 17-hour drive with the caregivers he chose. That's the basis of self-direction. The Veteran knows what a good life looks like better than any of us do. Our job is to make sure the money, the paperwork, and the logistics never get in the way of that.
This is exactly why BeneLynk is building Veterans Choose.
We aren’t adapting an existing Medicaid fiscal management product for Veterans. We’re building Veterans Choose from the ground up around how VDC actually works — because the Veterans in this program deserve a partner that understands the world of Veterans benefits. Every budget we manage, every timesheet we process, every hour we save a Veteran or a caregiver on paperwork, is time and headspace that goes back to the Veteran — time that might go toward a training season, a road trip to Detroit, or just an ordinary Tuesday spent living independently at home instead of in a facility.
Stories like Brian's are why we're so energized about expanding Veterans Choose to more Veterans, more caregivers, and more VA facilities across the country. Every VAMC and Aging and Disability Network Agency we partner with means more Veterans have the chance to direct their own care the way Brian has.
Congratulations to Brian on two gold medals, and thank you to the team at VA Fargo Health Care System for sharing his story. We hope to see more Veterans on that podium in Florida next year — and we're honored to be part of the infrastructure that helps make it possible.
Want to learn more about our Veterans Choose FMS services for agencies offering VDC? Contact Kelsey@VeteransChoose.com.