Posts about "VA"
Days before President Barack Obama and the First Lady host a White House dinner in honor of Iraq War veterans, top veterans' organization officials are instead calling for a more public celebrations.
According to Paul Rieckhoff, Founder of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the White House dinner is “a wonderful gesture from the First Family and an incredible honor for the few invited to attend.”
Looking at the numbers generated by our veterans is shocking for many reasons.
First, the number of living veterans from all of the 20th century wars into our current conflicts is amazing. They are strong and resilient. These brave men and women keep the memory of their service alive.
Beginning on October 1st, President Obama’s $3.73 trillion dollar budget for the 2012 fiscal year will kick in. One of the first things I wondered as a veteran was, how will this new budget impact veterans and members of the military? I decided to consult a great article put out by the NY Times and break it down by agency.
The Department of Defense (DoD) has been allotted $727 billion in spending money for 2012 – that’s an increase of almost 6%. The new budget calls forover $117 billion dollars just to address costs stemming from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but that happens to be a decrease of about $43 billion from the 2011 budget. Note that, in 2012, the government plans on spending the least amount of money on international wars since 2006.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 25th, President Obama made a point to let veterans know that they “can now downloadtheir electronic medical records with a click of the mouse.”
His announcement follows “two years” of “getting rid of waste” and technological developments by his administration. But, not two days later, a groupcalled the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, or IAVA, posted a response to the President’s statement on their website, stating that the President was guilty of “mischaracterizing” the new electronic medical records system designed by the VA.
The VA says it will be creating "Veterans Health Benefits Handbooks" for all veterans in the Washington D.C. and Cleveland, Ohio areas that are enrolled with the VA and currently receiving benefits in an effort to "give veterans everything they need to know and leave out everything that doesn't apply to them," according to Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki.
Previously, some vets had complained that materials distributed by the VA outlining each vet's benefits were difficult to understand and contained unnecessary information. The idea behind the new booklets is to only give the veteran information that pertains to them and the benefits they are eligible to receive.
On September 21st, the Department of Veterans Affairs released a statement in which they promised that “21st century technology will improve service.” A new, multi-year program called Veterans Relationship Management, or VRM, pledges to “greatly improve veterans’ access to health care and benefits information.”
VA Secretary Erik Shineski believes that the VRM will definitely enhance the way that today’s veterans access health and other benefits information through the use of technology.
With the approaching flu season almost underway, the VA will offer any veteran 65 years or older, or those with chronic respiratory problems the high-dose flu vaccine. This particular vaccine will include three strains of the flu, including the H1N1.The high-dose vaccine will reduce the number of elderly patients sickened or killed by influenza this year.
Dr. Marvin Bittner, acting chief of infectious diseases for the VA’s Nebraska-Western Iowa regions said, “he and other physicians in the region this year considered what would best protect senior citizens against the flu. Our answer was high-dose.”
The Dept. of Veterans Affairs has confirmed that it has sent 10,000 letters to the beneficiaries of military members with life insurance policies in an effort to clear up confusion surrounding a number of issues, including death benefits provided through what is called an “Alliance Account.”
In addition, the VA is creating a group of experts who will be responsible for reviewing the current life insurance program. Prudential Financial, Inc. covers the program, which includes accounts similar to money-market accounts that are put in place to help surviving family members of deceased military men and women cover funeral and other costs.
The Dept. of Veteran Affairs has released additional information for veterans with Gulf War Illness, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Gulf War. For those vets who served but do not yet receive the Gulf War Review newsletter [download it here], here’s some important information:
Almost 700,000 men and women participated in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm between 1990 and 1991, during the Gulf War. Since their return, a quarter of these vets have developed illnesses believed to be related to toxic exposures sustained during the Gulf War conflict. The VA calls these diseases “Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses.”
Veterans being treated with medical marijuana no longer need to worry about being cut from veteran benefit plans. The change comes from a departmental directive from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs stating that veterans prescribed medical marijuana in the 14 states where the practice is legal may not lose eligibility for VA health plans.
The new policy does outline several limitations. VA physicians may not prescribe the drug to be used in VA facilities, and the Veterans Association will not pay for the marijuana.
A friend of the veterans’ blog wanted me to share this important information with veterans in the Houston County area of Minnesota.
Rob Gross, Director of Houston County Veteran Services, says that a large number of vets are eligible to receive hearing aids and eye glasses through a VA medical center. Those eligible must meet at least one of the following requirements:
Six-year army veteran Willie Holmes, 25, was granted $2,751 for housing through the G.I. Bill when he decided to pursue a graduate degree in health service administration at Fort Hamilton Army Base in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Yet when Holmes ventured to New York City for eight days to apartment hunt he encountered several problems.
Holmes was repeatedly told that Harlem was the most practical neighborhood for him given its low rent housing. Yet with school being in Brooklyn and Holmes hoping to continue his modeling career in Manhattan, Holmes decided against the area. With his list of requirements in hand, Holmes set off to find a new home one of the boroughs.
Colonel Jack Mosher and Major Jay Brock of Augusta, Maine are both members of the Maine Army National Guard. Both men have served in the Middle East. And both men are running 13.1 miles a day in an effort to raise awareness for military personnel.
Mosher and Brock have decided to run from Kittery, Maine to Washington D.C. as a way to encourage other veterans to take responsibility for their health. The men began their trek May 8 and have run 13.1 miles each day. Their combined distances have the men running a marathon a day. After 21 days, the men plan to reach the gates of Arlington National Cemetery in D.C., having completed 21 marathons total. They have named their quest the “Resiliency Run.”
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