| JUNE 2010
Agent Orange Retro Claims Allowed
About 86,000 Vietnam War veterans, their surviving spouses or estates,
will be eligible for retroactive disability compensation from the
Department of Veterans Affairs—an average of 11.4 years for veterans and
9.6 years for survivors—under a draft VA rule to be expanded by three
the number of diseases presumed caused by herbicide exposure in the war.
The 86,000 are beneficiaries who can reopen denied claims for these
conditions: ischemic heart disease, Parkinson’s disease and chronic cell
blood cancers including hairy cell leukemia. Another 29,000 claims are
expected to be approved this year for Vietnam Veterans suffering from
these diseases but applying for benefits for the first time. VA plans to
hire 1772 new claims processors, starting in October of 2010, to be able
to handle these claims. When the final rule is published on April 26,
2010, VA claim offices across the country can begin making payments. To
file claims on line visit:
http://vabenefits.vba.gov/vonapp/main.asp. Veterans without
computers can call a toll free hot line at 800-749-8387.
House Votes to Give Caregivers of Veterans Financial Support
The House has approved new benefits and financial support for the
primary live in caregivers of seriously wounded veterans who served in
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This aid to caregivers is part of a
more comprehensive legislation that would permit the Department of
Veterans Affairs to expand its assistance to family members of veterans
generally. Among other things, the bill calls for seven days of post
delivery care for female veterans’ newborns and more accessible health
care for veterans living in rural areas. Under a compromise between the
House and Senate, caregivers of veterans from more recent wars would be
eligible for health care benefits and a monthly stipend to be determined
by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs that would be commensurate with
commercial rates for home caregivers. Provisions are also made for these
caregivers to receive training, education and mental health services.
Arrangements can also be made for supplementary care aid for up to 24
hours if the primary caregiver needs to take a break from caring for
veterans who would not be able to live at home unassisted. Care givers
of veterans from other eras would be eligible for a more limited range
of benefits for now, but Congress could vote to cover them with similar
assistance within the next two years.
VA Is Working To Fix Glitches in the New GI Bill
Veterans trying to get an education under the new GI Bill face delayed
checks, erroneous payments and uncertainty about what their actual
benefits are. The Post 9/11 GI Bill has added a number of incentives,
among them; certain service members can transfer their educational
benefits to a spouse or child. Members of the armed services are
automatically enrolled in the Montgomery GI Bill and must take an extra
step to opt into the benefits of the Post 9/11 bill, which took effect
on August 1, 2009.
Priority Group 8 Beneficiaries
Up to 266,000 veterans from Priority Group 8 those with lower to middle
incomes and no service related medical conditions became eligible to
enroll in the VA healthcare system on June 15, 2009 when the qualifying
income threshold was raised by 10 percent. The new national means
threshold became $32,342 for a veteran with no dependents and $38,812
with one. For four dependents the benefit is $45,478.
FYI
There is a very useful government web site that can be of interest to
all our members. It is USA.gov. The site contains information on
benefits and grants, consumer guides, environment, energy and
agriculture, health and nutrition, jobs and education and many other
topics of current interest. There is also a U.S. Military and Veterans
link that contains information for active duty military, family support
and veterans benefits. It also contains a veteran’s link that outlines
many of the benefits that I have previously mentioned. Take a look at
this site. I believe that there is something here of interest to
everyone.
Veterans Saluting the Flag: Section 594 of the National Defense
Authorization Act, which was signed by President George W. Bush, allows
veterans out of uniform to salute the flag.
Please keep out troops in your prayers. God
Bless America. |
