CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — National veterans groups have created an independent commission to look for innovative, long-term strategies to ensure that veterans of the Iraq war and other 21st century conflicts receive medical care and other benefits.

The Commission on the Future for America’s Veterans plans a multistate tour to gather input from veterans, state officials, labor and business leaders and the public. The tour kicks off in Charleston on Tuesday with a town hall-style meeting at the state Capitol.

West Virginia is the first stop because it has one of the highest concentrations of veterans in the nation. Other stops include Tampa, Fla., in March and San Diego in May, the commission said.

Issues to be addressed include health care, benefits, transition from military to civilian life, catastrophic disabilities and the needs of National Guard members and reservists. The commission said it will release its long-term plan by the spring of 2008.

“We’re going to hear veterans, we’re going to see veterans , we’re going to see facilities,'’ said Managing Commissioner Harry N. Walters, who served as administrator of the federal veterans agency from 1982 to 1986.

Walters said today’s Department of Veterans Affairs provides high-quality, low-cost health care but is ill-prepared to deal with the needs of 21st century veterans. “They have no vision for the future,'’ Walters said Monday. “This era of veterans has unique calls for medical services and benefits.'’

Iraq veterans, for example, are surviving amputations, head trauma and other catastrophic injuries that their predecessors in the Vietnam War did not, due to improvements in technology. That will strain not only the VA’s health care system but its disability programs, Walters said.

National Guard members and reservists serving in Iraq or other conflicts also will need help returning to civilian life, he said. “They come out of their jobs and businesses, then they get thrust back into it. The system isn’t used to dealing with these people,'’ he said. Public-private partnerships, perhaps dealing with facilities or research, could be part of the solution, he said.

“We need new bold ideas,'’ said Commission Executive Director David Sevier. “The budget won’t allow for the incremental increases that will be needed over the next 20 years.'’ Sevier said several hundred thousand claims for benefits are pending but that simply hiring more claims processors is not the answer. He said a long-term strategy for providing benefits is needed. “It doesn’t need to be adversarial,'’ he said.

The commission was created by the Veterans Coalition, whose members are the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and Paralyzed Veterans of America. Walters said the commission is independent and those groups do not participate in its discussions.