James Clifton

Lock Haven

The recent LTE “Cuts will impact Medicaid/SNAP recipients and Veterans in Clinton County” contains an outright lie (or misprint/mistake): “Clinton County has the largest number of veterans of any county in Pennsylvania.” A two minute search engine check reveals Clinton County has 2,665 veterans, while Allegheny County has 65,677. (Source: www.va.gov/vetdata/Veteran_Population.asp)

Even by percentage of population, Clinton County is nowhere near being the largest. Example: Warren County, which is similar in population size to Clinton County — total population 38,174, Veteran Population 3,380. (8.9% of total population). Clinton County, using total population 37,707, has a 7% Veteran rate.

It was also stated “they must travel to Williamsport or Altoona for VA Care.” Fact: There is a VA Medical Clinic located in Williamsport (If services not available then travel to the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center could be required). There is also a VA Medical Clinic in State College (If services not available then travel to the James E. Van Zandt Veterans’ Administration Medical Center may be required). The VA also has the option to provide funds for local “Community Care.”

Are the other statistics used in the LTE correct? They also state “Services are being reduced.” As a person who has been enrolled in VA Health care for more than a decade, I have not noticed any recent reduced services. (I did notice reduced services three years ago). The writer of the LTE is trying to scare veterans and their families with lies, rumor and innuendo.

PS: Other interesting facts per PA Dept of Labor & Industry: In 2023 Clinton County Veterans had a median income of $40,974, Median Non-Veteran Income was $31,126. Also in 2023 Veterans had an unemployment rate of 2.8%. The Non-Veteran unemployment rate was 6%. (Source www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/dli/documents/cwia/products/county-profiles/combined%20county.pdf)

Editor’s note: We apologize for not catching this error and clarifying before publication. We reached out to the author of the letter in question, and she provided the following correction to her sentence: “It should say Clinton County has the highest percentage of veterans with VA claims in the Commonwealth.”

For additional context: “There’s 67 counties in Pennsylvania and Clinton County has 40 percent, or 1,027, of our veterans have a disability rating with the Veterans Administration,” [Todd] Warner said. “That’s the highest rating of any county.” (Source: www.clintoncountypa.gov/Home/Components/News/News/517/15)