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RAO Bulletin Update
1 August 2007


THIS BULLETIN UPDATE CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES:

-- NDAA 2008 [06] ................................. (In Limbo)
-- VA Suicide Call Center [01] .................. (Help a Call Away)
-- Vet Cemetery Alabama ............................. (Land Purchased)
-- VA Data Breach [36] ................... (53 Computers Lost)
-- Medicare Hospice Care .............................. (How it Works)
-- Veteran Federal Employment [04] ......... (RC Vet Preference)
-- Wounded Warrior Assistance [03] …..... (Senate Passes Bill)
-- Mobilized Reserve 25 July 07 ................ (Net Increase 3640)
-- WRAMC [11] .............................. (President’s Panel Report)
-- Military Spouse Friendly Workplaces …..... (USAA Tops List)
-- VA Health Care Funding [10] ...........................(No Cure-all)
-- Medicine Bought Online .......................... (What to Look For)
-- Camp Lejeune Toxic Exposure ……....... (Notification Policy)
-- VA Claim Backlog [09] ....... (H.R.3047 Automation Mandate)
-- VA Claim Backlog [10] .......... (Trial Approach Endorsement)
-- VA Lawsuit [Religious Discrimination] ..... (VA Denies Guilt)
-- VA Lawsuit [Lack of Care] ................... (Health Care Delays)
-- VA Lawsuit [Wrongful Death] ................. (Vet Turned Away)
-- West Virginia Veterans Homes [01] ...................... (Opening)
-- Prosthetic Limbs ...................... (Medical Innovations)
-- Florida Veterans Homes [02] .................... (Ongoing Dispute)
-- Veterans Benefits Act 2007 ……....... (S. 1326 Improvements)
-- VDBC [19] ................ (SBP/TERA/CRSC Recommendations)
-- VA Rural Access [02] .................. (S.1147 Support)
-- Filipino Vet Inequities [03] ............ (H.R.760 Funding Issue)
-- Filipino Vet Inequities [04] ............ (Pensions Protested)
-- Common Access Card (CAC) ...... (H.R.3046 & 3128 Impact)
-- Selective Service System (Draft) [05] ..... (Not Recommended)
-- VA Vet Centers [02] ........................... (Ahead of Schedule)
-- DoD Disability Evaluation System [04] ........... (Joint System)
-- USERRA [02] ........................... (Know Your rights)
-- Vet Cemetery Maryland ................. (Crownsville Expansion)
-- Tricare Data Breach .................. (Systemic Problems)
-- SDVOSB program .......................... (Disabled Vet Contracts)
-- Federal Student Aid [01] ................ (Interest Suspension Bill)
-- SBA Vet Issues [05] ........... (Patriot Express Loans)
-- Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia [01] .............. (VA Must Pay)
-- Medicare Advantage Plans [01] ..... (Illegal/Unethical Tactics)
-- Medicare Advantage Plans [02] ................ (Delayed Refunds)
-- Medicare Extra Help Program [01] ............. (Under Utilized)
-- Medicare Deductibles ............................ (How They Apply)
-- VA Comp Payment Disparity [08] ......... (IDA Report Results)
-- Horatio Alger Scholarship ................... (Military Veterans)
-- House Veterans' Affairs Committee ............ (What it is)
-- HVAC [01] .................................... (5 Bills Passed)
-- TSA Data Breach ................. (Privacy officials meet)
-- Car Key Alarm ............................... (Security Tip)
-- VA Secretary [01] ....................... (Nicholson Resigns)
-- Veteran Charities Review [01] ............. (Where Donations Go)
-- Veteran Legislation Status 13 JUL 07 -------- (Where We Stand)


Editor’s Note 1:  Attached is a listing of veteran legislation with
 current cosponsor status that has been introduced in the 110th Congress.
  To see any of these bills passed into law representatives need input
 from their veteran constituents to instruct them on how to vote.
 

NDAA 2008 UPDATE 06:  After several days of debate, including an
 all-night session, on amendments to start a troop pullout or redeployment
 from Iraq (all of which failed), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
 stopped completion of H.R. 1585, the 2008 National Defense
 Authorization Act, dead in its tracks.  This ends progress on the bill until the
 Majority Leader reconsiders while the overall defense bill remains in
 limbo with more than 300 amendments pending.  Congress will be in recess
 from 6 AUG to 31 AUG 07 and will not return until after Labor Day.
  Although Reid has made no announcements about what will happen next, the
 Senate is not expected to return to work on the bill until September,
 after the U.S. Central Command issues a report on the effectiveness of the
 temporary surge of U.S. troops designed to improve security and enable
 political and economic progress by the Iraqi government.  [Source:
 Various Jul 07 ++]

 
VA SUICIDE CALL CENTER UPDATE 01:   To ensure veterans with emotional
 crises have round-the-clock access to trained professionals, the
 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has begun operation of a national suicide
 prevention hot line for veterans.  Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim
 Nicholson said, “Veterans need to know these VA professionals are
 literally a phone call away. All service members who experience the stresses
 of combat can have wounds on their minds as well as their bodies.
  Veterans should see mental health services as another benefit they have
 earned, which the men and women of VA are honored to provide.” The
 toll-free hot line number is 1(800) 273-TALK (8255).  VA’s hot line will be
 staffed by mental health professionals in Canandaigua, N.Y.  They will
 take toll-free calls from across the country and work closely with local
 VA mental health providers to help callers.

     To operate the national hot line, VA is partnering with the
 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the Department
 of Health and Human Services (HHS). The suicide hot line is among
 several enhancements to mental health care that Nicholson has announced this
 year.  In mid July, the Department’s top mental health professionals
 convened in the Washington, D.C., area to review the services provided to
 veterans of the Global War on Terror. VA is the largest provider of
 mental health care in the nation.  This year, the Department will spent
 about $3 billion for mental health.  More than 9,000 mental health
 professionals, backed up by primary care physicians and other health
 professionals in every VA medical center and outpatient clinic, provide mental
 health care to about 1 million veterans each year.  [Source: VA Press
 Release 30 Jul 07 ++]


VET CEMETERY ALABAMA:   Rep. Spencer Bachus [R-AL-06] helped secure $8
 million to purchase land in Montevallo AL for a National Veterans
 Cemetery. The 479-acre parcel of land was bought by the Department of
 Veterans Affairs. The cemetery will be next to American Village in Shelby
 County and is expected to open in the fall of 2008. Bachus worked to have
 $18 million for the cemetery project included in President Bush's
 budget request for fiscal year 2008. The VA also awarded a contract for
 field testing and topographic work that will lead to a final design for the
 cemetery. A full design contract is expected to be awarded in the fall
 and actual construction is projected to begin in the spring of 2008.
 According to the VA, the first phase of the project will provide 9,100
 full casket gravesites, a 2,700 unit columbarium for urns and 3,100
 in-ground spaces for cremated remains. The acreage at the cemetery will
 accommodate burials for 40 to 50 years.  In 2003, Congress directed the VA
 to establish a new cemetery in the Birmingham area, which has a
 population of more than 210,000 veterans who do not have access to a burial
 option in a national cemetery. [Source: Birmingham Business Journal
 Jimmy DeButts article 26 Jul 07 ++]


VA DATA BREACH UPDATE 36:  Last year, the personal information of over
 26 million veterans and active-duty personnel was lost when a VA laptop
 was stolen from the Maryland home of a VA analyst. As part of their
 investigation the GAO audited three VA medical facilities and VA
 headquarters in MAR 07.  They found that officials at the Washington, D.C., VA
 medical center did not know the location of 28% of their information
 technology inventory.  Six percent of the IT inventory was missing from
 the Indianapolis medical center, 10% from the San Diego center and 11%
 from D.C. headquarters.  On 24 JUL GAO McCoy Williams, director of
 financial management and assurance in a hearing of the House Veterans
 Affairs oversight and investigations subcommittee said, “The four locations
 we audited put IT equipment at risk of theft, loss and misappropriation
 and pose continuing security vulnerability to our nation’s veterans
 with regard to sensitive data maintained on the equipment.”  The audit
 also found that used hard drives waiting to be cleared were stored in
 unsecured bins at the facilities, even though many of them contained
 sensitive data. Rooms where potentially sensitive data was stored also lacked
 required security, auditors said. In addition to the items that are
 currently missing, GAO disclosed the audited VA locations reported a
 total of 2,400 missing IT items valued at $6.4 million over 2005 and 2006.

     VA does not know who was using the computers before they went
 missing or what information was stored on them and acknowledged the
 possibility exists for information to be stolen.  VA officials cautioned that
 missing laptops do not necessarily equal stolen information but
 nevertheless said the chance for a security breach still exists. They are
 working to put in place better safeguards to keep tabs on where equipment
 goes and who has it. Towards this they have put together a handbook for
 tracking equipment and will soon put in place new tracking software.
 Officials said that since the investigation was concluded, 1,457 of the
 1,900 items missing from headquarters have been recovered. That leaves
 443 items that are simply lost and likely will never be recovered. Rep.
 Tim Walz (D-MN) an Iraq veteran said the effects of data insecurity
 extend beyond potential loss. He said the carelessness of VA is
 demoralizing to veterans. “It has a very corrosive effect in trusting the VA in
 general,” Walz said. “Each of the [committee] members are sensing the
 frustration among constituents and veterans that this is one of the
 issues we speak of often and see very little movement on.” [Source:  Air
 Force Times Amy Doolittle article 35 Jul 07 ++]


MEDICARE HOSPICE CARE:  Introduced in the United States as a grassroots
 movement more than 30 years ago and added as a Medicare entitlement in
 1983, hospice care is now considered part of mainstream medicine, as
 evidenced by growing patient enrollment and Medicare expenditures. In
 2005, more than 1.2 million Americans received hospice care.  Medicare is
 the primary payer for hospice care in approximately 80% of cases, with
 care most often provided in the patient's home. After enrollment, a
 plan of care is developed in accordance with the needs and wishes of the
 patient and family, often tempered by the presence or absence of
 caregivers to participate in day-to-day care. The primary goal is to ensure
 that pain and such symptoms as insomnia, dyspnea, depression,
 constipation, agitation, nausea, and emotional and spiritual distress are
 aggressively addressed. Most clinical care is provided by a hospice nurse, and
 the vast majority of patients are not seen by a physician. Hospice
 emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to care. In most cases, at least
 once every other week, the hospice team — nurses, social workers, a
 pastoral counselor, the bereavement coordinator, and the medical director
 — meet to discuss the needs of the patient and family. In the interim,
 nurses call attending physicians with their recommendations.  As a
 patient's disease progresses, the hospice plan shifts to accommodate
 decreasing independence, alterations in symptoms, and changing psychosocial
 needs.

     Commercial insurers also provide hospice benefits, but the
 specifics of coverage vary. Under Medicare, most expenses related to the
 terminal diagnosis are paid in full, including all medication and equipment
 and all visits by hospice nurses and home health aides. Expenses
 related to other diagnoses remain covered by the patient's primary insurance
 provider.  Hospice services include intensive emotional and spiritual
 counseling, 24-hour crisis management, and bereavement support for at
 least one year after the patient's death. This care can successfully
 address the critical end-of-life concerns that have been identified in
 numerous studies: dying with dignity, dying at home and without unnecessary
 pain, and reducing the burden placed on family caregivers. Evaluation
 studies reveal consistently high family satisfaction, with 98% of
 family members willing to recommend hospice care to others in need.  The
 extensive expertise of physicians specializing in hospice and palliative
 medicine was recognized in 2006, when the field was accredited as a
 fully independent medical subspecialty. To determine eligibility, the
 attending physician and hospice medical director must certify that to the
 best of their judgment, the patient is more likely than not to die within
 6 months. Responsibility for determining ongoing eligibility rests
 with the director. To assist physicians in prognosticating, Medicare
 provides broad guidelines for many medical conditions but these guidelines
 do not represent hard-and-fast requirements. Coexisting conditions or a
 particularly rapid functional decline can outweigh strict adherence to
 written requirements.  [Source: New England Journal of Medicine article
 26 Jul 07 ++]


VETERAN FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT UPDATE 04:  The Office of Personnel
 Management (OPM) is issuing interim regulations to implement a change to the
 definition of “active duty” contained in Sec.  211.102(f) of title 5,
 Code of Federal Regulations in response to a Merit System Protection Board
 (MSPB) decision that affects eligibility for veterans’ preference
 based on a service-connected disability. This action will conform OPM’s
 regulations with MSPB’s decision. Under existing regulations there is a
 possibility that Reservists or National Guard members with a
 service-connected disability who are released or discharged from active duty may be
 denied veterans’ preference based upon the current language in
regulations. The revised language in this interim regulation will
 ensure service-connected disabled individuals discharged or released from
 active duty in the armed forces receive the veterans’ preference. Vets
 who are disabled or who served during certain periods have preference in
 federal jobs. 

     Veterans preference is designed to provide an additional 5 or 10
 points to an applicant’s test score to give  first consideration for
 certain jobs, and preference in job retention dependent upon the
 experience of the applicant  For example: If an applicant scores 80 points then
 their veterans’ preference will be added to that total.  Within that
 score, say 85 points, veterans must be placed above all other candidates
 of the same score.  Then out of those scores, the 3 highest scores (out
 of 100) are advanced to the selection process.  Preference is also
 provided for:
1) Unremarried widows(ers) of deceased vets.
2) Mothers of military personnel who died in service.
3) Spouses of service-connected disabled vets who are no longer able to
 work in their usual occupations.
4) Mothers of vets who have permanent and total service-connected
 disabilities.
[Source:  Federal Register: July 27, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 144) ++]


WOUNDED WARRIOR ASSISTANCE UPDATE 03:   By voice vote, the full Senate
 passed S.1283, the Senate version of HR 1585, the Wounded Warrior Act,
 after amending it to include authorization for a 3.5% pay increase
 effective 1 JAN 07. The House Appropriations Committee did something
 similar moments earlier, quickly approving by voice vote a $463.1 billion
 defense funding bill for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. That includes
 $2.2 billion to fully cover the cost of the 3.5% military raise
 pending in Congress, despite Bush administration objections. The Senate’s
 wounded warrior package would:
- Provide three years of post-service military medical care to
 combat-injured veterans;
- Order the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department to develop a
 common disability assessment system by 1 JAN 08;
- Make it more difficult for the services to blame mental health
 problems on alleged pre-service conditions; and
- Order a minimum severance pay for disabled service members of at
 least six months of basic pay for noncombat disabilities and one year of
 basic pay for combat-related disabilities.

Both the pay raise and the package for injured combat veterans had been
 tangled up in a Senate’s squabble over Iraq policy. Senate Majority
 Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he didn’t want to delay legislation to help
 wounded troops, and he didn’t want troops and their families to have
 any doubts about the fate of the proposed 3.5% raise. The legislation,
 among other things, seeks to end inconsistencies in disability pay by
 providing for a special review of cases in which service members received
 low ratings of their level of disability. The aim is to determine
 whether they were shortchanged. It also would boost severance pay and
 provide $50 million for improved diagnosis of veterans with traumatic brain
 injury or post-traumatic stress disorder. Differences between the House
 and Senate bills will have to be worked out in negotiations that could
 start as early as next week.  [Source:  NavyTimes Rick Maze article 26
 Jul 07 ++]


MOBILIZED RESERVE 25 JULY 07:  The Army, Air Force and Marine Corps
 announced the current number of reservists on active duty as of 25 July 07
 in support of the partial mobilization. The net collective result is
 3,640 more reservists mobilized than last reported on 13 JUN 07. At any
 given time, services may mobilize some units and individuals while
 demobilizing others, making it possible for these figures to either
 increase or decrease. The total number currently on active duty in support of
 the partial mobilization for the Army National Guard and Army Reserve
 is 78,653; Navy Reserve, 5,002; Air National Guard and Air Force
 Reserve, 5,753; Marine Corps Reserve, 5,915; and the Coast Guard Reserve, 301.
 This brings the total National Guard and Reserve personnel who have
 been mobilized to 95,624, including both units and individual augmentees.
  A cumulative roster of all National Guard and Reserve personnel, who
 are currently mobilized, can be found at
 http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2007/d20070725ngr.pdf. [Source: DoD
 News Release 25 Jul 07 ++]


WRAMC UPDATE 11:   The President’s Commission on Care for America’s
 Returning Wounded Warriors which he commissioned on 6 MAR to investigate
 veterans' care has  recommended an overhaul of the military health care
 system.  Seriously wounded troops returning from the war should have a
 patient-centered recovery plan that will smoothly and seamlessly guide
 them and their families through the recovery process. The New York
 Times said the panel’s conclusion was spurred by a series of embarrassing
 news reports about the substandard treatment returning soldiers received
 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Yet even as it called for change,
 the report avoided harsh assessment of the Administration's handling of
 the military and veterans health care systems. Instead, it portrayed
 many of the problems as resulting from advances in modern medicine that
 have allowed soldiers to survive injuries that would have killed them
 in previous wars.  President Bush met 25 JUL with the panel’s
 co-chairmen, former Sen. Bob Dole and former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, to
 discuss their findings which were widely reported on by the nation’s press.
  ABC World News reported the panel said fundamental changes are needed
 to a system exposed as under-staffed, under-funded and under pressure
 from an unexpected flow of severely injured troops. If adopted, the
 recommendations would radically overhaul the current system, described by
 the commission as a patchwork of programs, rules and regulations that
 has become tremendously complex and often leads to real or perceived
 inequities. Among the changes recommended by the panel were:
- The creation of a recovery plan for every injured veteran.
- Extension of the Family Leave Act to allow relatives to care for an
 injured service member for up to six months without losing their jobs.
- Creation of a "My eBenefits" website that centralizes all the
 information about benefits for vets and their families.
- Boost staff and money for Walter Reed until it closes in the coming
 years.
- Restructure the disability pay systems to give the VA more
 responsibility for awarding benefits.
- Require comprehensive training programs in post-traumatic stress and
 traumatic brain injuries for military leaders, VA and Pentagon
 personnel.

ABC noted that it is just the latest in a long list of similar reports
 that have not fixed the problem and the Washington Times reported Sen.
 John Kerry criticized the President for foot-dragging on yet another
 bipartisan commission's findings.  When asked if there is the political
 will in Washington right now to implement the recommendations,
 co-chairman and former Sen. Bob Dole said on CNN's Situation Room, "No, but we
 were told, if we produced a good product...there would be some action.
 And this came from the highest levels at the White House. And we
 told...the President this morning that we think we have a good product, so we
 hope there's going to be some executive action very soon." Co-chairman
 Donna Shalala said the cost of implementing the commission's proposals
 is about $500 million with added costs that could push it to $1 billion
 in later years, which is much less than what Congress is planning to
 spend.  Of 35 total recommendations (only two of which were directed
 specifically at Walter Reed) just six would require legislation. The other
 29 can be acted upon by the Defense Department or the Department of
 Veterans Affairs. Panel co-chairman Bob Dole said he is going to be
 checking in with the White House to ensure changes are made

      The Associated Press (AP) said that among the recommendations was
 an indirect rebuke of the VA -- a call for Congress to enable all
 veterans who have been deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq who need
 post-traumatic stress disorder care to receive it from the VA. The AP notes that
 only recently, the VA has taken steps to add mental health counselors
 and 24-hour suicide prevention services at all facilities, after
 high-profile incidents of veterans committing suicide. In addition, the report
 does not seek to directly criticize or lay blame for shoddy outpatient
 treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center that led to the creation
 of the commission. On CNN's Situation Room Dole said, "We're not saying
 that everything is bad. Most everyone tells us the great care they
 receive at VA hospitals or Army or Navy hospitals. It's in the
 bureaucratic nightmare that sometimes -- not every time, but sometimes -- happens
 when they transfer from, say, DoD to the Veterans Administration,
 waiting for a doctor's appointment, waiting for their benefits." President
 Bush told reporters at the White House late Wednesday that he had
 directed the defense secretary, and the secretary of veterans’ affairs, “to
 take the recommendations seriously, and to implement them, so that the
 administration can say with certainty that any soldier who has been hurt
 will get the best possible care and treatment that this government can
 offer.” [Source: Various 26 Jul 07 ++]


MILITARY SPOUSE FRIENDLY WORKPLACES:   Military Spouse magazine
 recently released their list of “Top 10 Military Spouse Friendly Employers”.
 USAA topped the list and was noted for exemplary HR policies. In
 addition, USAA has a stated goal to comprise 20% of its workforce with
 military and military spouses. All of the companies on the list offer
 comprehensive benefit packages, job sharing, tuition assistance, on-site child
 care, and liberal leave and re-employment policies. Other evaluation
 criteria included efforts to recruit military spouses, results in
 recruiting spouses, and policies for spouses of Reserve and Guard members.
 Other companies on the list, in order of rank, were AAFES, RE/MAX, The
 Home Depot, Wachovia, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Sears Holdings,
 Kelly Services, Lockheed Martin, and Starbucks. [Source: Military
 Spouse Magazine press release Jul 07 ++]


VA HEALTH CARE FUNDING UPDATE 10:  At a U.S. Senate Committee on
 Veterans’ Affairs hearing held 19 JUL on funding for the Department of
 Veterans Affairs, U.S. Senator Larry Craig warned that mandatory funding will
 not solve the long-term funding needs of that agency. “We already have
 three very large programs that are considered to be funded by
 mandatory spending. Namely: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,” Craig
 said. “Very few younger Americans believe that Social Security will give
 them much, if anything, when they retire.  Being a ‘mandatory’ program
 is no cure-all. We need across the board reform.” Mandatory funding is a
 long-sought goal of many of the nation’s veterans’ organizations. But
 Craig noted that unless Congress changes course, federal spending on
 Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will crowd out every other federal
 program - including defense and homeland security. He pointed to
 remarks by the director of the non-partisan Government Accountability Office
 (GAO), who recently warned lawmakers that unless changes are made in
 federal spending, the federal government will be able to do little more
 than pay interest on the mounting debt and some entitlement benefits.
 Craig also noted that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently
 warned Congress that the time to fix the nation’s fiscal problems started
 “ten years ago.”

     The Idaho Republican has been working on a solution for more than
 20 years. He is a long-time sponsor of the Balanced Budget Amendment
 and reintroduced that legislation in January - the first day Congress met
 this year. At that time Craig said that the solution to true fiscal
 responsibility is three-fold:
- We must not simply reduce the deficit, but eliminate it;
- We must not amend the tax code, but replace it; and
- we must not talk about limiting spending, but legally cap it.”

During the 19 JUL hearing Craig told his colleagues, “Congress not only
 isn’t addressing the current problems, but we’re here considering
 legislation to add to the problem.” While a budget hawk on many federal
 programs, Craig has advocated for more federal spending on veterans’
 programs. In MAR 07 he endorsed a record $86.4 billion budget for VA next
 year - which is almost 8% over this year’s budget and would be 77% larger
 than it was when President Clinton left office in 2001. “Veterans are
 absolutely a priority to me. That’s a choice I have consciously made,”
 Craig said. “But a mandatory agency budget would, in my judgment, be
 terrible national fiscal policy.” While cautioning his colleagues about
 establishing mandatory funding for VA, the Idaho Republican noted that
 now that the Democrats are in power, they have not actively been pursing
 mandatory funding either.  For additional info on the Senate Veteran
 Affairs Committee refer to http://veterans.senate.gov/public.  [Source:
 SVAC Ranking Member News 25 Jul 07 ++]


MEDICINE BOUGHT ONLINE:   The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cannot
 warn people enough about the possible dangers of buying medications
 online. Some Web sites sell medicine, such as prescription and
 over-the-counter drugs, that may not be safe to use and could put people's health
 at risk. The current system of federal and state safeguards for
 protecting consumers from using inappropriate or unsafe drugs has generally
 served the country well. But FDA says that the best way consumers can
 protect themselves is to become educated about safe online shopping.
 Buying such prescription and over-the-counter drugs online from a company
 you don't know means you may not know exactly what you're getting. While
 many Web sites are operating legally and offering convenience,
 privacy, and the safeguards of traditional procedures for dispensing drugs,
 consumers must be wary of "rogue Web sites" that aren't operating within
 the law. A Web site can look very sophisticated and legitimate but
 actually be an illegal operation. These sites often sell unapproved drugs,
 or if they market approved drugs, they often sidestep required
 practices meant to protect consumers. Some Web sites sell counterfeit drugs.
 Although counterfeit drugs may look exactly like real FDA-approved drugs,
 they are not legitimate and are of unknown quality and safety. If
 you're considering buying medicine over the Internet, look for Web sites
 with practices that protect you. If there is no way to contact the Web
 site pharmacy by phone, if prices are dramatically lower than the
 competition, or if no prescription from your doctor is required, you should be
 especially wary. Safe Web sites should:
- Be located in the United States.
- Be licensed by the state board of pharmacy where the Web site is
 operating (visit www.nabp.info for a list of state boards of pharmacy).
- Have a licensed pharmacist available to answer your questions.
- Require a prescription from your doctor or other health care
 professional who is licensed to prescribe medicines.
- Provide contact information and allow you to talk to a person if you
 have problems or questions.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy's (NABP) Verified
 Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites Seal, also known as VIPPS Seal, gives a seal
 of approval to Internet pharmacy sites that apply and meet state
 licensure requirements and other VIPPS criteria. People can be confident
 that Web sites that are VIPPS-approved are legitimate. Legitimate
 pharmacies that carry the VIPPS® seal are listed at www.vipps.info.  Unsafe Web
 sites:
- Typically don't know your medical history or the details about your
 current illness or condition.
- Send you drugs with unknown quality or origin.
- Could give you the wrong medicine or another dangerous product for
 your illness.
- May sell prescription drugs even without a prescription—this is
 against the law!
- May not protect your personal information.
For additional info on the possible dangers of buying medicine online
 refer to http://www.fda.gov/consumer/features/drugsonline0707.html.
  [Source:  FDA Consumer Update 2 Jul 07 ++]


CAMP LEJEUNE TOXIC EXPOSURE:   Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) said 19 JUL
 that military officials should directly inform hundreds of thousands of
 Marine families and workers that they drank and washed in
 toxin-contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.  Dole, wants to force
 the secretary of the Navy to locate and notify Marines and civilians who
 were exposed to the water up until the mid-1980s when the base shut
 down contaminated wells. In a new twist, Marine officials raised the
 prospect that the same contaminants may endanger residents in the form of
 vapors that can be inhaled. The base is testing to see if vapors are
 seeping through soil into homes and buildings from a groundwater plume.
 Officials said the drinking water has been safe for many years. Previous
 monitoring from the Environmental Protection Agency showed the
 underground plume was "no where near any of the buildings or residential areas,"
 according to Maj. Nat Fahy, the base spokesman.  However, the base and
 EPA recently began testing when health investigators from the Agency
 for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reported that their new water
 model showed the plume had migrated beneath homes and a school as far
 back as the 1960s. The model only went up to 1994 and contained some
 inherent uncertainties, according to agency investigators, who are
 studying health effects from the past contaminated water. Some hazardous
 clean-up work also has occurred since then.

     Dole's notification requirement was in an amendment she offered to
 a broad military money bill before the legislation was pulled from the
 floor in a showdown over Iraq. The larger bill (NDAA) may be back as
 soon as September. Government health officials have estimated that as
 many as one million people may have been exposed during three decades of
 water contamination going back to 1957, a situation examined in a
 recent Associated Press investigation. The numbers include Marines in
 barracks and military families living on the sprawling Atlantic training and
 deployment base, and civilians who worked there. Her measure also aims
 to help answer questions about health effects by having those exposed
 give government health investigators information on their illnesses.
 Declining to comment specifically on Dole's proposal, spokeswoman Capt.
 Amy Malugani said the Marines "continue to work closely" with Dole and
 other lawmakers on the issue. The Corps is seeking "ways to improve and
 enhance our communications and notification processes," she said. The
 base in 1985 told residents about "minute, trace amounts" of
 contamination, when some levels had reached more than 200 times today's safe
 drinking water standards.

     The groundwater contamination stemmed from industrial activity and
 hazardous waste on the base and from a neighboring dry cleaner.
 Trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, solvents used for degreasing and
 dry cleaning, and other toxic chemicals were identified in water
 sampling that eventually led to the well closures. Studies have linked the
 chemicals to leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, birth defects and several
 other cancers. Dole's amendment differs from an earlier measure that
 allows the military to reach out through the media rather than directly
 notifying those exposed, and requires notification only after completion
 of a government health study. Dole's new measure would require
 notification to begin shortly after the bill's passage.  Officials at the
 Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said they received some
 1,500 calls from citizens who didn't know of the contamination until they
 read about it in an Associated Press investigative story and subsequent
 coverage of a congressional hearing in June. Many of those who called
 were former base residents who wondered if their cancers and other
 illnesses were related to it.  Concerned personnel who want to let their
 representatives know how they feel on this issue can access a
 preformatted letter or draft their own at
  http://capwiz.com/military/issues/alert/?alertid=10049766&type=CO.
 [Source:  Associated Press article 19 Jul 07 ++]


VA CLAIM BACKLOG UPDATE 09:   House Republicans are proposing a plan to
 overhaul veterans’ disability claims processing, including a move that
 would automate portions of the process.  The automated system,
 Republican officials said, would handle simpler claims and allow employees to
 handle more complicated ones.  The Veterans Affairs Department has a
 backlog of 400,000 pending claims. H.R.3047 introduced 16 JUL by Rep.
 Doug Lamborn (R-CO) and Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) seeks to reduce the
 backlog by speeding up the process.  VA already uses some automation, but no
 claim decision is completely computerized, said Jeff Phillips, a
 spokesman for the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s Republican office. The
 proposed program would streamline that automation by using a system
 similar to one insurance companies have been using for 30 years.
 “Currently the VA does what it’s been doing for generations, and that is
 deciding cases manually,” Phillips said. “We here in the minority office think
 that there is a better way for some of the claims.” The program would
 use a rules-based automation software where information is input and
 vetted with little human interaction, Lamborn said.  “We think technology
 is available that would speed up simple claims and requests,” he said.
 “Simple claims through automation hopefully go a lot faster, and that
 would reduce the backlog and get veterans what they deserve faster.”

     At least 20 percent of VA’s claims can likely be automated through
 the technology, said Craig Weber, senior analyst with Celent, a
 Boston-based consulting firm that handles information technology.  “It turns
 out in almost any business process, rules-based processing is useful,”
 he said. “There’s typically 20 to 40% of the work items that can be
 processed in an automated fashion.”  Weber, who has studied and used the
 software since the late 1980s, said the biggest hurdle frequently is
 convincing human adjusters they are no longer needed for some claims.
 “It’s hard to change human behavior, and people don’t want to admit that
 what they’ve been doing can be boiled down to 10 questions and yes and no
 answers,” he said. “But the point to make for those people is that
 we’re not taking away work where you’re adding value, we’re freeing you up
 to add more value elsewhere.” VA officials declined to comment on the
 pending legislation but said new rules, regulations and programs from
 Congress can cause further headaches for the department.  “We’re
 constantly being impacted by court decisions as well as legislation by
 Congress that says you’re going to do this, that and the other thing,” said
 Steve Westerfeld, a VA spokesman.  [Source:  Federal Times Amy Doolittle
 article 23 Jul 07 ++]


VA CLAIM BACKLOG UPDATE 10:   In a Wednesday interview taped for
 C-SPAN’s Newsmakers program, that aired 29 JUL, VA Secretary Nicholson said
 he was willing, on a trial basis, to try to tackle the large and growing
 backlog of disability claims with a program that would assume anyone
 who filed for compensation deserves the payment. After the first check
 is issued, a claim could be reviewed, with the possibility that payments
 could be adjusted, Nicholson said.  This speedy process would apply
 only for initial claims, not for people already receiving disability pay
 who are seeking to have their ratings revised upward. More than half of
 the estimated 600,000 claims pending at any time are for people who
 are already receiving disability compensation for a service-connected
 injury or disease, Nicholson said.  The automatic payment process would
 take many changes in law and “a new cultural frame of mind,” Nicholson
 said, but added, “We want to do it quicker. It irritates people.
 Everybody would have to understand the new system, including the possibility
 that the benefits they are receiving could be reduced, increased or even
 canceled. This would be quick but not necessarily permanent,” he said
 of the payment.

     He won’t be around to see such a change, however, as he has
 announced he will retire no later than 1 OCT to return to private business.
 The Bush administration and many veterans’ groups have raised red flags
 over the initiative endorsed by Nicholson out of fear it could lead to
 widespread cheating by veterans who would assume they could get paid
 without having to provide any proof of their medical condition.  In the
 interview, Nicholson mentioned the possibility that veterans found to be
 ineligible or who receive a bigger payment than warranted could be
 forced to repay the government, something rarely required under current
 law because the initial claims process, which now takes an average of 177
 days, weeds out most blatant errors and fraud.  Automatic processing
 of at least simple claims is getting a lot of attention in Congress as a
 potential way to speed initial paychecks while allowing VA to
 concentrate on the more difficult claims, such as veterans with multiple
 disabilities and complicated medical histories that make it challenging to
 determine whether there is a military cause for the problems.

     A big push in Congress for automatic benefits approval came after
 a March discussion before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee where
 Linda Bilmes of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government warned that
 radical change is needed because the backlog of benefits is only going to
 get worse. By her estimate, 250,000 to 400,000 disability claims will be
 filed over the next two years by Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. She
 proposed having VA pay all disability claims filed by new combat
 veterans under a streamlined system that included only four ratings levels
 instead of the current 10.  Bilmes’ idea has since been introduced as
 legislation by several lawmakers. Nicholson’s endorsement of the basic
 concept could be of limited help to sponsors because his 1 OCT
 resignation date means he will not be around to see even a pilot project
 implemented.  [Source: NavyTimes Rick Maze article 26 Jul 07 ++]


VA LAWSUIT (RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION):  A former pharmacist at the Bay
 Pines VA Medical Center has won a $300,000 federal jury award against
 the Department of Veterans Affairs over an allegation of religious
 discrimination. Lynne C. Krop, 45, of Clear-water said during a four-day
 trial that ended 19 JUL in U.S. District Court that the VA refused to
 allow her time off without pay for Jewish religious holidays. Krop’s
 attorneys argued that the VA was obligated under federal law to provide the
 time off. Instead, the VA told Krop to take vacation and sick leave, the
 suit said, which she wanted to save for family vacation. Krop said she
 was essentially forced to resign over the dispute in 2004 after 14
 years at the VA. Krop’s attorney, Joe Magri, said in an interview on
 Monday. “They were dealing with an employee who was deeply into her faith
 and family. Somebody who clearly did such a great job for veterans is no
 longer working for the VA over foolish reasons.” Magri said Krop was an
 outstanding and highly respected employee. Krop, who worked as an
 infectious disease clinical pharmacist and clinical residency director,
 could not be reached for comment. The VA declined to comment pending an
 appeal.

     Krop said in the lawsuit that it was VA policy to allow employees
 to take time off without pay for any reason. In fact, she had
 previously been allowed time off for religious holidays. But she said that
 changed when her supervisor retired. In DEC 03, Krop said the new supervisor
 told her that she was taking too much time off, noting that Krop had
 used 146 hours of leave without pay in that year alone. The new
 supervisor also refused to allow her to come in to work 15 minutes later
 several times a week so Krop could bring her children to school. On those
 days, Krop would have worked 15 minutes later. Her supervisor said Krop
 wanted to take time off for vacations and family events, as well as
 religious holidays. and that if he made an exception for Krop, he’d have to
 do it for everybody. The VA said it offered Krop alternatives, other
 than using vacation leave, which would have allowed her to take off the
 holidays. After the dispute, Krop said her supervisors put her under a
 microscope, looking for reasons to reprimand her. “It became
 intolerable,” her lawsuit said, “and she felt that the only way to salvage a
 positive professional reputation was to resign.” The VA denied the charge.
  [Source:  St. Petersburg Times William R. Levesque article 24 Jul 07
 ++]


VA LAWSUIT (LACK OF CARE):  Frustrated by delays in health care,
 injured Iraq war veterans accused VA Secretary Jim Nicholson in a lawsuit of
 breaking the law by denying them disability pay and mental health
 treatment.  The suit has no named individual plaintiffs, which the attorneys
 said was largely due to veterans' fear of retribution by the VA. The
 lawsuit seeks class standing to represent all veterans applying for or
 receiving compensation for service-connected death or disability. The 73
 page complaint
 [http://www.dralegal.org/downloads/cases/Veterans/Media_Complaint_Final.pdf]
 against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, filed 23 JUL in
 federal court in San Francisco, seeks broad changes in the agency as it
 struggles to meet growing demands from veterans returning home from Iraq and
 Afghanistan. Suing on behalf of hundreds of thousands of veterans, it
 charges that the VA has failed warriors on numerous fronts. It contends
 the VA failed to provide prompt disability benefits, failed to add
 staff to reduce wait times for medical care and failed to boost services
 for post-traumatic stress disorder. The lawsuit also accuses the VA of
 deliberately cheating some veterans by allegedly working with the
 Pentagon to misclassify PTSD claims as pre-existing personality disorders to
 avoid paying benefits. The VA and Pentagon have generally denied such
 charges. Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense,
 which filed the lawsuit said, "When one of our combat veterans walks
 into a VA hospital, then they must see a doctor that day. When a war
 veteran needs disability benefits because he or she can't work, then they
 must get a disability check in a few weeks. The VA has betrayed our
 veterans.”

     The lawsuit comes amid intense political and public scrutiny of
 the VA and Pentagon following reports of shoddy outpatient care of
 injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and elsewhere. The
 complaint seeks to represent between 320,000 and 800,000 veterans of the Iraq
 war who lawyers say are at risk of having PTSD. Ultimately, a federal
 judge will have to decide whether the lawsuit is properly deemed a
 class action that adequately represents them. As of 31 MAR, roughly 52,375
 Iraq veterans were evaluated at VA facilities for suspected PTSD,
 according to an internal quarterly VA report released Monday to The
 Associated Press.  The complaint says, “Unless systemic and drastic measures
 are instituted immediately, the costs to these veterans, their families
 and our nation will be incalculable, including broken families, a new
 generation of unemployed and homeless veterans, increases in drug abuse
 and alcoholism, and crushing burdens on the health care delivery
 system." It asks that a federal court order the VA to make immediate
 improvements.

     Earlier this month, a federal appeals court in San Francisco
 issued a strong rebuke of the VA in ordering the agency to pay retroactive
 benefits to Vietnam War veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange and
 contracted a form of leukemia. More recently, following high-profile
 suicide incidents in which families of veterans say the VA did not provide
 adequate care, VA Secretary Nicholson pledged to add mental health
 services and hire more suicide-prevention coordinators. Some veterans say
 that's not enough. In the lawsuit, they note that government
 investigators warned as early as 2002 that the VA needed to fix its backlogged
 claims system and make other changes.  Yet, the lawsuit says, Nicholson
 and other officials still insisted on a budget in 2005 that fell $1
 billion short, and they made "a mockery of the rule of law" by awarding
 senior officials $3.8 million in bonuses despite their role in the budget
 foul-up.  Today, the VA's backlog of disability payments is between
 400,000 and 600,000, with delays of up to 177 days to process an initial
 claim and an average of 657 days to process an appeal. Several
 congressional committees and a presidential commission are now studying ways to
 improve care.

     Former national commander of the American Legion Tom Bock
 commented that he is generally supportive of the lawsuit, although he added he
 does not know the details of it. "The fact that it's bringing attention
 (to the issues) to the public - that's admirable” he said.  However,
 he does not know if a lawsuit is the way to get the VA to make changes.
 Instead, he said the American Legion has concentrated on getting the VA
 properly funded.  Melissa W. Kasnitz, managing attorney for Disability
 Rights Advocates, said in a telephone interview "While steps can and
 will be taken in the political arena, responsibility for action lies
 with the agency itself. We don't believe the problems will be fixed by the
 VA if we wait for them”. Her group is teaming up with a major law
 firm, Morrison & Foerster, to represent the veterans.  Gordon P. Erspamer,
 a partner at Morrison & Foerster, stressed that the lawsuit does not
 seek to make a partisan statement about the Iraq war but instead finally
 force action after years of delay.  "This is the worst it's ever been
 for veterans, and it's only going to get worse," he said.  The lawsuit
 cites violations of the Constitution and federal law, which mandates at
 least two years of health care to injured veterans.  The veterans
 groups involved in the lawsuit are Veterans for Common Sense in Washington,
 D.C., which claims 11,500 members, and Veterans United for Truth, based
 in Santa Barbara, Calif., with 500 members. [Source: AP Writer Hope
 Yen article 24 Jul 07 ++]


VA LAWSUIT (WRONGFUL DEATH):   The family of an Iraq war veteran filed
 suit 26 JUL accusing Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson of
 negligence in the suicide death of their son. The lawsuit, filed in federal
 court in Springfield MA says the VA is to blame for the death of
 23-year-old Jeffrey Lucey, a Marine who killed himself in June 2004 after he
 allegedly was denied mental health care following a tour in Iraq. The
 lawsuit seeking unspecified damages names Mr. Nicholson, who is leaving
 his job, and the American government as defendants. The action comes
 just days after the group Veterans for Common Sense sued Mr. Nicholson and
 the VA on behalf of injured Iraq war veterans. That lawsuit accuses
 the agency of unlawfully denying the veterans disability pay and mental
 health treatment. Lucey's father says he and his wife hope their lawsuit
 will force the Bush administration to take swift action to fix the VA.
 "They've got to look at the entire system of the VA," Mr. Lucey said,
 who spoke from his home in Belchertown MA. "We're hoping that it goes
 to trial and that people can truly see how dysfunctional the system is."
 According to the complaint, Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey began to
 experience difficulties several months after returning from Iraq. He had
 nightmares, vomiting, and began drinking heavily. Depression set in. He told
 his sister he had a rope and tree picked out behind the family home and
 needed to keep a flashlight by his bed to check for camel spiders he
 heard at night. His parents took him to the Northampton VA Medical
 Center and he was involuntarily committed for help. He was released a few
 days later after VA personnel said they couldn't make an assessment of
 his posttraumatic stress disorder until he was alcohol free, said the
 complaint. A few days later, his family took Lucey back to the center, but
 the lawsuit says the staff turned him away. Kevin Lucey found his son
 dead, hanging from a beam in the cellar two weeks later.  [Source:
 Associated Press Jennifer Kerr article27 Jul 07 ++]


WEST VIRGINIA VETERANS HOMES UPDATE 01:   After nearly a year of
 delays, West Virginia's first state-owned veterans nursing home is on track
 to open to patients in AUG 05. Initially the official start date of
 construction was 12 APR 04 with completion and opening scheduled for MAY
 06. The home was dedicated in NOV 06 but its opening has been pushed back
 several times for various reasons, including communications system and
 air control problems. A federal inspection scheduled for late JUL at
 the West Virginia Veterans Nursing Home is one of the last hurdles for
 the Clarksburg facility, said Larry Linch, state director of Veterans
 Affairs. State Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety spokesman
 Joe Thornton said the nursing home should pass the inspection with
 flying colors. The home passed a state inspection two weeks ago that looks
 at many of the same things as the federal one. Sixteen patients have
 already been identified and are scheduled to begin checking into the
 nursing home the first week of AUG, barring any problems brought up in the
 federal inspection. Veterans are eligible for housing if they served
 on active duty for at least 12 continuous months or were honorably
 discharged with a service-related disability. They also must be residents of
 West Virginia and cannot suffer from a mental illness, mental
 retardation or substance abuse. Eventually the $26 million, 90,000-square-foot
 home, which is connected to the Louis A. Johnson V.A. Medical Center,
 will house about 120 residents, including up to 20 in a wing for
 Alzheimer's patients. It plans to employ 190 people at the home with such
 amenities as screened-in sun rooms, a library, chapel, gardens and gazebos.
 The state helped fund construction of the home with a bond sale passed
 in 2001 with the selling of Veterans scratch off lottery tickets
 providing the state’s 35% matching monies.  The federal Veterans Affairs
 Administration paid the remaining 65% of the cost.

     West Virginia also has a domiciliary style veterans’ home located
 in the Village of Barboursville, fifteen miles from downtown
 Huntington. Basic eligibility requirements are:
- Veterans must have been discharged from the service with an honorable
 discharged from service with an honorable discharge or with a general
 discharge under honorable conditions.
- Veterans discharged after September 7, 1980 must have served at
 least 24 consecutive months.
- The veteran must have been a resident of the State of West Virginia
 from one year immediately prior to applicant or entered military
 service from the state. Proof of residency will be required.
- Due to the health and welfare of residents of the Barboursville
 Veterans' Home, there are certain pre-admission medical tests which must be
 completed prior to being admitted to the hospital.
- All qualified veterans must be ambulatory and independent in all
 activities of daily living. The home is not a treatment facility and
 cannot accommodate veterans in need of daily care or skilled assistance. The
 home provides a nursing department and a contract physician. All
 medical treatment if provided by the VA Medical Center located in
 Huntington. Transportation is provided to the medical center three times daily.

Rooms available for occupancy accommodate two, three or four persons.
 Every effort is made to ensure compatibility between occupants. Female
 veterans are most welcome and special lodging accommodations are
 provided. A person's income is not a factor in gaining admission, although
 residents are required to contribute one-half of his or her monthly income
 as their maintenance contribution. The home is very liberal in its
 rules and regulations. Residents may leave on a pass for up to three days
 by simply signing a daily log sheet. Residents are authorized up to 30
 days of furlough per year. Visitation to the home is encouraged and
 visitors may enjoy a meal with the residents at a nominal fee. Assistance
 with application for residency can be obtained through any of the West
 Virginia Division of Veterans Affairs Field Offices listed at
 http://www.wvs.state.wv.us/va/offices.htm or directly to the home at
  (304) 736-1027.  [Source:  Charleston Daily Mail AP article 23 Jul 07
 ++]


PROSTHETIC LIMBS:   Veterans with lower-leg amputations can look
 forward to having a prosthetic ankle-foot that matches their natural ease of
 motion, thanks to research funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs
 (VA) and conducted by researchers from the Department and two of the
 nation’s top universities. Researchers say the new ankle-foot prosthetic
 is the first in a new family of artificial limbs.  It will replicate
 natural motion by propelling people forward using tendon-like springs
 powered by an electric motor. Through VA-funded research, the Center for
 Restorative and Regenerative Medicine, a partnership between the
 Providence VA Medical Center in Rhode Island, Brown University and
 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, developed the new prosthesis.  The
 center’s goal is to restore natural function to amputees.

     Sgt. Juan Arredondo is one of the first people in the world to
 receive a revolutionary bionic hand. It lets him toss a football, install
 household fixtures and grasp a mug with less forethought and more
 dexterity than traditional prostheses. The iLimb, made by Scotland-based
 Touch Bionics, hit the market last week. Just over a dozen people have
 gotten one - two of them Iraq war vets. The iLimb is similar to other
 "myoelectric" prostheses that sense muscle movements in their user's arm
 and send electrical impulses to a computerized hand that is only able to
 move a thumb, index and middle fingers in tandem. With the iLimb,
 motors in each finger allow them to move independently, giving users better
 control when they grip everyday objects - from knives and forks to
 doorknobs. Eventually, doctors will install a motor in the iLimb's wrist so
 that Arredondo's brain will be able to command the hand to turn on its
 own, said Troy Farnsworth, who fitted him with the device. Farnsworth,
 a prosthetic consultant to the Veterans Administration, said the VA
 paid for Arredondo's iLimb, which costs $60,000 to $150,000, depending on
 the extent of an amputee's injury.

     VA expects to spend more than $1.2 billion this year on
 prosthetics and sensory aids, which includes glasses and hearing aids.  The
 Department operates about 60 orthotic-prosthetic labs across the country
 that fabricates, fit and repair artificial limbs or oversee limbs provided
 by commercial vendors.  According to a 2004 US Senate report 6% of
 soldiers wounded in the Iraq conflict have injuries that required
 amputation of a limb, compared with 3% in previous wars. [Source: VA News
 Release 23 Jul & NY Daily News article 24 Jul 07 ++]


FLORIDA VETERANS HOMES UPDATE 02:   At one time, the idea of a 120-bed
 veterans nursing home in St. Johns County, Florida seemed like a slam
 dunk. Gov. Jeb Bush first pitched $15.6 million for it in JAN 06. The
 Florida Legislature upped it to $17.9 million a few months later. State
 officials pulled off a coup by winning federal funds for 65% of the
 project through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, meaning only $6
 million was needed from state coffers. An opening date was scheduled for
 late 2008. In the past year and a half, however, federal budget woes
 and bureaucratic snafus have entangled the project, pushing back the
 opening to late 2009 and pushing up the price tag to $28.6 million. The
 Legislature reacted this past spring, allocating another $4 million to
 boost the state’s share to $10 million. While the project isn’t in crisis
 mode, it has become a source of frustration for local and state
 officials who are eager to help the area’s military families.
 
    The dispute began with a mandate last year by federal officials
 that the facility’s original plan of two veterans per room was inadequate,
 and that only single-occupancy rooms were allowed. State leaders
 protested, arguing that veterans prefer the companionship and safety of
 double-occupancy rooms, especially since many were growing older and
 frailer. The other problem: The VA simply ran out of money and notified the
 state in DEC 06 that it would be yanking its $11.6 million share of the
 project. Gov. Charlie Crist’s new veterans affairs secretary, LeRoy
 Collins Jr., got involved in JAN 07. Collins made Florida’s case directly
 to VA officials and may have worked out a compromise: Architects and
 designers are meeting to determine how to satisfy the federal mandate for
 single-occupancy rooms without losing the double-occupancy concept or
 swelling the building’s cost or architectural footprint. Collins says
 he hopes for a MAR 08 groundbreaking on a facility that would perhaps
 have a mix of single- and double-occupancy rooms. Collins said veterans
 shouldn’t read too much into the dispute or blame the U.S. military’s
 rising costs in Iraq. He said he was told the 500-bed veterans facility
 in Los Angeles actually consumed the VA’s money for the St. Johns
 building.

     “The frustration does become high, but the VA has a budget
 approximating $75 billion, which is the state of Florida’s entire budget,”
 Collins said.  “When you’re talking about that kind of money, you
 shouldn’t be surprised at the intensity of accountability that’s necessary. You
 just have to deal with it and have patience. If you fling out this
 money further and faster, you come up with what happened after Katrina -
 fraud.” Talk to your congressman.  The veterans’ home was originally
 planned for Jacksonville, but city officials never applied for the
 facility - even after winning a deadline extension for their application - and
 St. Johns County leaders stepped into the breach in 2003 to win the
 project. That put it in the district of just-elected state Rep. Bill
 Proctor, R-St. Augustine. Today, Proctor said he too is frustrated with the
 federal mandate, since veterans themselves have told him they prefer
 roommates. He also said the federal funds are overdue. “The state has
 met its obligations,” Proctor said. “Frankly, I think the veterans
 organizations in the area should start talking to their congressmen, because
 as soon as we get the federal money we’re ready to break ground.
  [Source: Florida Times-Union J. Taylor Rushing article 21 Jul 07 +]


VETERANS BENEFITS ACT 2007:   The Comprehensive Veterans Benefits
 Improvements Act of 2007 would make more than 25 separate changes to
 veterans' programs ranging from disability payments, to insurance premiums, to
 grants for disabled veterans to adapt their cars to make them easier
 to use.  This legislation would address long standing injustices in the
 VA and DoD benefit and retirement systems that veterans and their
 families have fought to correct for years. Among these changes are:

- Repeal of the VA embargo of new enrollments of Category 8 veterans:
  Since January 2003, the VA estimates that more than 1.5 million
 category 8 veterans will have been denied enrollment in the VA health care
 system by fiscal year 2008.
- Repeal of the prohibition against Concurrent Receipt which requires
 a dollar-for-dollar offset of military retired pay for disability
 compensation received from the VA.  Retired pay is earned for a career of
 uniformed service and VA disability compensation is recompense for pain,
 suffering and lost future earning power due to service-connected
 disabilities.  For that reason veterans should receive both payments and not
 have one offset the other.
- Repeal of the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation-Survivor Benefit
 Plan Offset: Under current law, the survivors of veterans who die as a
 result of service-connected causes are entitled to compensation known
 as dependency and indemnity compensation, DIC. In addition, military
 retirees can have deductions from their pay to purchase a survivors
 annuity. This is called the Survivor Benefit Plan, SBP. However, if the
 military spouse dies from service-connected causes his or her survivors will
 receive a SBP payment offset dollar for dollar by the amount of the
 DIC payment they receive. Like the offset between military retiree pay
 and VA disability payments, this SBP/DIC offset unfairly denies
 beneficiaries the full amount of 2 programs that are meant to compensate for
 different loses.
- Improvement of the Veterans' Claims process and procedures:  This
 legislation takes a new approach to improving the system for rating claims
 by creating an agency dedicated to electronically sharing clinical
 information between the VA and the DoD.

This legislation also amends other benefit programs important to
 veterans. S.1326 contains many other similar corrections and updates,
 bringing benefits into the 21st Century so that these programs are meaningful
 again. These are not controversial proposals.  This legislation should
 strengthen the current VA system so that it can fully provide for those
 veterans already in the system and those thousands more returning from
 Iraq and Afghanistan and all over the world that will soon come to the
 VA for care.
Please advise me of your intentions.  This bill was introduced by Sen.
 Bernard Sanders (I-VT) on 8 MAY 07 and referred to the Senate judiciary
 committee.  To date only has two cosponsors .One way veterans and
 widows can ask their Senators for their cosponsorship and active support of
 this bill is to refer to
 http://capwiz.com/usdr/issues/alert/?alertid=10072701&queueid=[capwiz:queue_id].
  Here they can automatically forward a preformatted request for support
 to their senator or draft their own message for forwarding. [Source:
 USDR Action Alert 23 Jul 07 ++]
 

VDBC UPDATE 19:   The congressionally appointed veterans’ benefits
 commission decided 18 JUL, by a one-vote margin, to recommend ending the
 much-despised restrictions on granting full military retired pay and full
 veterans’ disability pay to anyone eligible for both payments,
 regardless of disability rating. Specifically, the commission proposed
 expanding eligibility for Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay (CRDP) to
 retirees with 10 to 40% disability ratings and implementing full payment
 immediately (putting an end to the ongoing 10-year phase-in period).
 But the concurrent receipt recommendation passed by the commission would
 not protect troops who receive compensation for combat-related
 disabilities unless they served more than 20 years before becoming disabled.
 As such, it would leave out troops placed on medical disability
 retirement short of 20 years of service. The 13 commission members, meeting in
 Washington, also decided that it is unfair that the family members of
 troops who paid for a Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity, to replace
 the service member’s income after death, should have any of that payment
 offset by the amount of a separate monthly Veterans Affairs benefit
 paid if the troop died while on active duty under certain circumstances.
 
    If Congress eventually enacts the recommendations, it would largely
 end the more than 100-year-old practice of requiring military retirees
 to have their retired pay reduced dollar-for-dollar by any amount
 received in veterans’ disability compensation paid by the VA. Congress
 enacted a plan several years ago to begin phasing out the offset for many
 troops, but many others still have their retired pay reduced. The
 commission stalemated by a 6-to-6 vote, on a version of the active-duty
 concurrent receipt plan that would have recommended expanding eligibility
 for concurrent receipt to those with less than 20 years of service
 (so-called Chapter 61 retirees). It also would have expanded Combat Related
 Special Compensation (CRSC) to Temporarily Early Retirement Authority
 (TERA) retirees. These are mostly officers who were offered early
 retirement during the 1990s drawdown to thin the ranks. There is pending
 legislation in Congress to include these groups in the concurrent receipt
 correction but this action will not help.

     CRSC, paid to eligible disabled retirees whose conditions were the
 result of combat or combat like training, is designed to replace any
 offset in their retired pay.  TERA retirees generally are ineligible for
 CRSC, because recipients must have served 20 or more years. A
 congressional adoption of the spousal concurrent receipt (SBP) issue would
 boost income for the roughly 63,000 surviving spouses who have some or all
 of their SBP annuities offset by the amount they receive in VA
 Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). DIC is a monthly benefit paid to
 survivors of a service member who died while on active duty, or a
 veteran who died due to a service-related injury or disease, or died from a
 nonservice-related injury or disease and who was receiving or about to
 receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability rated as
 totally disabling. All told, 313,000 surviving spouses are paid a total of
 about $4.1 billion in DIC each year, according to the commission.
 Eliminating the offset would cost taxpayers $660 million annually. The
 Veterans’ Disability Benefits Commission was established by Congress in 2004
 to study all benefits related to death or disability brought about by
 military service. The Washington meeting of the commission is one in a
 series, all open to the public. They have been studying all veterans
 benefits for almost 4 years. Their final report is scheduled to be
 submitted to the White House and Congress in October so they are now voting
 on what positions they are going to take and recommendations they are
 going to make in several important areas. [Source: NavyTimes William H.
 McMichael article 19 Jul 07 ++]


VA RURAL ACCESS UPDATE 02:   The Rural Veterans Healthcare Improvement
 Act of 2007 (S.1147) was introduced by Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) on 18
 APR.  It currently has 24 cosponsors signed on in support of the Act.
 This proposed legislation would build upon 2006 legislation by giving
 direction and resources to the Office of Rural Health and by making
 healthcare more accessible to veterans in rural areas.  The bill tasks the
 Office of Rural Health with developing demonstration projects that would
 expand care in rural areas through partnerships between the VA, Centers
 for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Department of Health and
 Human Services at critical access hospitals and community health centers.
 The bill also instructs the Director of the Office of Rural Health to
 carry out demonstration projects in partnership with the Indian Health
 Service to improve healthcare for Native American veterans.  The Act
 includes two key provisions that will help veterans in rural areas reach
 healthcare facilities.
1.) The bill establishes the VetsRide grant program to provide
 innovative transportation options to veterans in remote rural areas. The bill
 tasks the Director of the Office of Rural Health to create a program
 that would provide grants of up to $50,000 to veterans' service
 organizations and State veterans' service officers to assist veterans with travel
 to VA medical centers and to improve healthcare access in remote rural
 areas. The bill authorizes $3 million per year for the grant program
 through 2012.
2.) The bill increases the reimbursement rates for veterans for their
 travel expenses related to VA medical care so that they are compensated
 at the same rate paid to federal employee


S. 1146 also requires the VA to report to Congress on the assessment it
 is conducting of its fee-based healthcare policies. The VA's fee-based
 healthcare policy needs to be more equitable and efficient in helping
 veterans in rural areas obtain the health care they deserve. Veterans
 concerned with their VA rural health care availability are encouraged to
 contact their legislators and urge them to sign onto this bill.  One
 way to do this is to refer to
 http://capwiz.com/usdr/issues/alert/?alertid=10064941&queueid=1314882681
 and forward either a preformatted message or compose one of their own
 asking for their Senator’s support.  If enough senators sign on the bill
 can move out of committee and onto the floor of the Senate for a vote.
  [Source: USDR Action Alerts 22 Jul 07 ++]


FILIPINO VET INEQUITIES UPDATE 03:   In a meeting filled with political
 fireworks, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee moved 17 JUL to
 fulfill a 61-year-old promise some World War II veterans. The way the
 committee plans to pay for it drew sharp criticism. To provide unprecedented
 benefits for Filipino World War II veterans who were drafted into
 service on behalf of the U.S., the committee voted to eliminate special
 pensions to some severely disabled, poor and housebound U.S. veterans.
  Specifically, by repealing a law passed by Congress in 2001 that provides
 assistance to elder veterans over 65 who are indigent, severely
 disabled and housebound. That prompted a Republican revolt against the
 Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2007 H.R.760, even though many Republicans on
 the committee support giving pensions to Filipino veterans and their
 survivors. The measure which also includes an increase in mileage
 reimbursement rates for veterans traveling long distances for health care, and
 expanding GI Bill benefits to include paying for truck-driver training
 classes ended up passing by voice vote, but not before some heated
 debate.
 
    In an unusually angry committee meeting, Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) the
 committee chairman and a longtime advocate for Filipino pensions, was
 determined to pass the measure. At one point, he called a recess so he
 and other Democrats could plan strategy. After winning a party-line
 vote to reject a Republican amendment to block the plan, Filner refused to
 recognize Republicans trying to offer any more amendments to the bill
 while the committee’s ranking Republican and former chairman, Rep.
 Steve Buyer of Indiana, shouted again and again, “It is appalling. It is
 unbelievable. There are repercussions for this.” The Filipino veterans’
 provisions in HR 760 are similar to a plan passed by the Senate
 Veterans’ Affairs Committee in S0057. It would provide full veterans’ status to
 Filipino veterans and their survivors, including disability pay for
 service-connected disabilities, survivor pay for service-connected deaths
 and pensions and death benefits, payable at the same rate as for U.S.
 veterans for Filipinos living in the U.S., and at reduced amounts for
 non-U.S. citizens living outside the U.S.

     Filner said the bill “addresses injustices going back to World War
 II” and sends a sign to all veterans that the U.S. keeps its promises.
 “To those who say we cannot afford to pay this debt, I say we cannot
 afford not to,” he said. Buyer, who led the charge against the bill,
 said he didn’t want to take money from one veteran to give to another. “It
 is unconscionable that the Democrats voted today to deny elderly,
 indigent, severely disabled or housebound American veterans the special
 monthly pension in order to finance a new entitlement program to benefit
 Filipino veterans,” Buyer said. The disputed method of paying for the
 bill is a clarification of eligibility for a $2,200 special annual
 payment to disabled veterans who cannot leave their homes. Initially intended
 to cover just indigent veterans who were totally disabled, the benefit
 was challenged by a blind veteran, who won a decision in the Court of
 Appeals for Veterans Claims that ruled in 2006 that veterans with
 disabilities of 60% or greater could also qualify. By restating the law to
 again restrict the benefit to those who are 100% disabled, the bill
 claims $1 billion in savings over 10 years that could be used to pay for
 the new benefits for Filipino veterans. Filner said he wasn’t denying
 anyone anything, but simply clarifying the law. The Senate Veterans’
 Affairs Committee did the same thing, he noted. Buyer, however, said he does
 not see the issue “as a mere technicality.” His amendment to block the
 Filipino veteran pensions failed on a 16-13 vote.  [Source: NavyTimes
 Rick Maze article 18 Jul 07 ++]


FILIPINO VET INEQUITIES UPDATE 04:   Republicans on the House Veterans
 Affairs Committee are trying to scuttle a committee-passed plan to
 provide pensions for World War II-era Filipino Scouts by getting a major
 veterans’ service organization to question whether this is the highest
 priority for improved benefits. In a letter, the 13 Republicans on the
 committee complain about being blocked on 17 JUL from offering amendments
 that would have redirected the $875 million being spent on disability
 pay and pensions for Filipino veterans, including those who are not
 American citizens and who don’t even live in the U.S. “Each amendment
 proposed alternative ways to spend the money going to Filipino veterans,”
 the letter says. Two amendments would have reduced the pensions, which
 would total up to $8,400 a year for a married veteran, and shifted the
 rest of the money to programs that Republicans see as higher priorities.
 Two other blocked amendments would have eliminated the Filipino
 benefits altogether to increase payments for 100% disabled veterans and
 survivors of veterans who have died of service-connected causes.

     Republicans complain that the committee chairman, Rep. Bob Filner
 (D-CA) used an “unprecedented” procedure of calling for a final vote
 while Republicans were trying to offer the amendments. Filner said he saw
 no amendments in front of him, so he didn’t recognize anyone to offer
 an amendment. Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana, the former chairman and now
 ranking Republican member of the committee, said amendments were there
 but Filner simply chose to cut off debate. By writing the veterans’
 groups and including copies of the amendments with the letter, Buyer and
 the other Republicans are trying to create seeds of doubt about the
 bill, H.R.760, before it is brought up for debate on the House floor. A
 Democratic committee aide said Filner’s staff had seen the letter but had
 no immediate comment. Filner said during the 17 JUL session in which
 the bill was passed that he was trying to fulfill a promise made at the
 end of World War II to provide benefits to people who fought on behalf
 of U.S. interests but were not part of the U.S. military. He stressed
 that he is not acting alone; the Senate Veteran’s Affairs Committee has
 approved a similar bill with similar benefits. The Senate bill also
 created controversy over spending money on benefits for noncitizens at a
 time when U.S. veterans can expect long delays in getting their benefits
 claims and pensions approved because of a backlog in processing
 requests, which has raised questions about the wisdom of expanding benefits.
  [Source:  ArmyTimes Rick Maze article 24 Jul 07 ++]


COMMON ACCESS CARD (CAC):   A House committee passed legislation 19 JUL
 that would render the Pentagon’s new ID cards illegal. The Next
 Generation Common Access Card, developed to increase military ID card
 security and effectiveness, is currently given to service members and
 government employees only as old ID cards expire. DoD began issuing the HSPD-12
 card in OCT 06. Among other security improvements, the new CAC system
 removed the holder’s Social Security number from the card’s face and
 instead includes it in the magnetic strip. But the “Social Security
 Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2007”H.R.3046 passed
 unanimously by the House Ways and Means committee, would prohibit the
 government from not only displaying Social Security numbers on any ID
 cards, but also embedding the numbers in card magnetic strips or electronic
 chips. The bill contains no provisions or exemptions that would allow
 the Social Security number to be embedded or included on cards. The bill
 may be amended during floor debate to grant an exemption for military
 ID cards or allow the numbers to be included if they are sufficiently
 encrypted, committee staff said. Pentagon officials declined to comment
 on pending legislation, but said Defense Department is working to
 remove the data from the cards. Committee staff said the provision is meant
 to protect service members from identity theft. Even when placed in a
 magnetic strip, they said, the information can still be stolen. Similar
 bills have cleared the committee twice in the past eight years but have
 never become law. The current legislation has 24 cosponsors and broad
 bipartisan support. For additional info on CAC refer to
 https://www.cac.mil/Home.do.

     In the interim Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) introduced a bill 23 JUL
 ordering a Pentagon study of using distinct military ID numbers instead
 of Social Security numbers on all military IDs. The study would have
 to be done one year from when the bill, HR 3128, becomes law. Gohmert is
 one of a growing number of lawmakers who are concerned that having
 Social Security numbers on ID cards makes service members more likely to
 be victims of identity theft. Pentagon officials have said they want to
 drop Social Security numbers from the cards, but it’s not as simple as
 it sounds because so much of the military’s payroll and personnel
 systems use the number as a primary means of identification. That the number
 has become a key identifier for more than just tracking Social
 Security earnings is one of the chief reasons there is a push to stop its wide
 use. [Source:  NavyTimes Amy Doolittle article 20 Jul & Rick Maze
 articles 26 Jul 07 ++]


SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM (DRAFT) UPDATE 05:   A new congressional
 report finds little reason to consider a return to a military draft and lots
 of problems if conscription were restored. In a report released 19
 JUL, the Congressional Budget Office says drafting people into the Army
 could make it easier for that service to expand its active-duty force to
 547,000 people by 2012, the current goal, and could save a little money
 in the process, especially if Congress were to reduce basic pay levels
 for draftees in comparison to pay for volunteers. However:
- A force of draftees would be younger and less experienced, which
 could affect readiness. Usually, greater accumulated knowledge and skills
 come with increased experience.
- Because most draftees leave after completing a two-year obligation, a
 draft might affect the services’ ability to perform those functions
 efficiently.
- A draftee force has higher training costs, but there are savings from
 lower expenses for advertising, enlistment bonuses and recruiters. But
 the report says that may not be a wise tradeoff.
- Although including draftees in the force could yield budgetary
 savings, that force would not be as effective as if the same increase in end
 strength was achieved using only volunteers because average seniority
 would fall.
- To get an equally effective force with draftees, the Army would have
 to be bigger, and bigger is more expensive.

     By CBO’s estimates, the military would not need to draft more than
 165,000 people a year and could use as few as 27,000. With 2 million
 men turning 18 in the U.S. each year, the low requirement for draftees
 could create a problem in deciding who goes and who stays home. And the
 U.S would have to face the question of whether to draft women, the
 report notes. Matthew Goldberg, deputy assistant director of CBO’s national
 security division, said the report comes at a time when the
 all-volunteer force created at the end of the Vietnam War is undergoing its
 biggest test in Iraq, and when there are concerns about whether the military
 can continue to fill the ranks when at war and whether the force is
 representative of the nation.
While the services (especially the Army) are having more difficulty
 recruiting, Goldberg described the problem as a little bit of slippage in
 the last two years that did not reflect any crisis. And, while people
 from the lowest and high family incomes in the U.S. are
 under-represented in the military, data on the people being deployed to the combat zone
 and the combat casualties do not show that minorities are
 over-represented, Goldberg said. If anything, Caucasians are slightly
 over-represented in both deployments and casualties, according to the report, which
 also notes that because unemployment rates for white youths have
 increased more than for black youths in recent years, there could be a trend
 in which even more white males to consider enlisting.  [Source:
 NavyTimes Rick Maze article 20 Jul 07 ++]


VA VET CENTERS UPDATE 02:   DVA officials said they are ahead of
 schedule on their plans open 23 new Vet Centers across the country over the
 next 15 months. Officials said they plan to open seven to 10 of the new
 centers before NOV 07, well ahead of the six they previously planned to
 complete by then, said Alfonso Batres, chief readjustment counseling
 officer of the Veterans Health Administration at the VA. “We have
 promised six new this year, and we are on schedule to beat that,” Batres
 said. “We did a lot of hard work, just getting out there, beating the
 bush.” Centers the VA will open for sure this year are located in Baton
 Rouge LA; Escanaba MI; Manhattan KS; Gainesville FL; and Macon GA. Batres
 said the agency is also negotiating leasing contracts for centers in:
 Grand Junction CO; Modesto CA; Las Cruces NM; Du Bois PA; Everett WA and
 Watertown NY. The VA estimates as many as five of those could open by
 early NOV. Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine., chairman of the House
 Veterans Affairs health subcommittee, said he was pleasantly surprised that
 the initiative is so far ahead of schedule. “It’s great news; we do
 everything we can to take care of our veterans,” he said. “I’m just very
 pleased with the Vet Centers. They do a great job.” Batres said the new
 centers program is projected to cost $14 million. That price tag includes
 adding new staff to 11 of the other 209 Vet Center.  [Source:
 NavyTimes Amy Doolittle article 20 Jul 07 ++]


DOD DISABILITY EVALUATION SYSTEM UPDATE 04:   In an effort to unify and
 shorten the current process some troops must endure with both the
 military and Veterans Affairs Department, DoD is proposing a joint
 disability rating system that would give seriously injured troops one physical
 exam and one review board while still on active duty.  Bill Carr deputy
 undersecretary for military personnel policy said, “If successful, we
 will have cured many of the major maladies of the system.” Carr also
 announced during a hearing of the Veterans’ Disability Benefits
 Commission (VDBC) in Washington 12 JUL that the Pentagon will soon launch a
 pilot medical evaluation program in the Washington area.  The idea, Carr
 said, is to adopt a mindset along the lines of, “Let’s create a new
 disability system.” Together, the moves could help refute widespread
 criticism of the Defense Department, and the Army in particular, following the
 scandal several months ago at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. 

     Among other issues, the Pentagon was criticized for having allowed
 the services to establish and run their own decentralized disability
 review systems, which led to charges that the Army has downplayed the
 severity of soldiers’ injuries and disability ratings in an effort to
 hold down budget costs.  The Pentagon hopes to send to Congress by
 Thanksgiving a package of proposed legislation that would codify what Carr
 termed an ‘ideal system’. The effort will commence in AUG with a
 multi-week tabletop exercise, with actual physicians and service rating panels
 using test cases crafted to bring out and address concerns expressed to
 date. A retired Army officer who closely follows the debate and has
 testified before the commission says the Pentagon’s proposal is a major
 step forward. “The joint disability rating board is a very good and
 long-overdue idea,” said Michael Parker. “It will go a long way towards
 ensuring consistent disability evaluation policies and ratings. Having the
 VA rate the unfitting conditions will not only lead to more consistent
 and accurate ratings, it will also give the disabled service member a
 much-needed head start on his VA disability ratings and benefits.”

     While the Pentagon’s plan might bring uniformity to the system
 within the Defense Department, it won’t help remedy what critics say is a
 major flaw in the system — that the Defense Department and VA often
 give different ratings for the exact same medical condition. Military
 personnel experts say that’s because the systems look at disabilities from
 different perspectives; the services focus on fitness for military
 duty, while the VA measures potential loss of future earnings. With that in
 mind, a single evaluation along the lines of what the Pentagon is
 proposing, Carr said, would allow for two possible appeals: an “unfit for
 duty” finding could be appealed to the Defense Department, and/or the
 disability rating could be appealed to VA.
 
    Under the present DoD system if doctors suspect an injured service
 member might have difficulty continuing to serve, he or she is sent to
 a medical evaluation board. If the board decides the member’s condition
 might warrant ending his or her service, the case is forwarded to a
 physical evaluation board (PEB). The PEBs are formal military
 fitness-for-duty and disability determination boards that can recommend:
* Placement on the temporary disabled retired list, or TDRL, if there
 is a chance the condition might improve with time.
* Separation from active service, possibly with a one-time, lump-sum
 severance payment.
* Placement on permanent medical disability retirement, with lifetime
 retired pay, military health care and other benefits.
* A return to duty, with or without assignment limitations.

If the PEB decides unfit for duty, it determines if compensation is
 warranted. If so, it is  rated on a scale from zero to 100%. The rating
 determines the nature and amount of DoD disability benefits. A rating of
 at least 30% is required for permanent medical disability retirement.
 Only after a member is medically retired or simply separated, can he or
 she go on to seek VA compensation and benefits if they choose.
  However, that requires a new physical evaluation and a forced weave through
 yet another bureaucratic maze — not to mention waiting for a decision
 from the VA, which currently has a backlog of hundreds of thousands of
 pending benefits claims that it has been unable to contain.  [Source:
  NavyTimes William H. McMichael article 20 Jul 07 ++]


USERRA UPDATE 02:   National Guard and Reserve members often aren’t
 aware of their rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and
 Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), which spells out what benefits employers are
 required to maintain after they’re called to active duty. It is common
 knowledge that USERRA essentially guarantees activated servicemembers
 the right to return to the same or equivalent job for call-up periods of
 up to five years, or longer for certain specialties. Not so common is
 knowledge on the other key protections are covered by USERRA. Seniority
 escalation, pension benefits, and healthcare coverage also are
 generally protected. This means a company cannot deny you a promotion,
 discontinue your pension plan coverage, or deny you reinstatement in your
 healthcare plan (including adding new restrictions on pre-existing
 conditions) due to your military service. You also have the ability to fund
 [make up] 401(k) or similar retirement plan contributions for periods
 covered by deployment. You have up to three times the deployment period –
 not to exceed five years – to make back payments, and the employer is
 obligated to match any contributions under the normal rules for the
 retirement plan.  To ensure you retain your rights under USERRA you must:
- Ensure that your employer receives advance written or verbal notice
 of your service;
- Have five years or less of cumulative service in the uniformed
 services while with that particular employer;
- Return to work or apply for reemployment in a timely manner after
 conclusion of service; and
- Have not been separated from service with a disqualifying discharge
 or under other than honorable conditions.

     Most employers are good about supporting deployed servicemembers,
 complying with both the spirit and the letter of the law. However,
 there have been cases of serious USERRA violations against servicemembers
 returning from deployment. The U.S. Department of Labor, Veterans
 Employment and Training Service (VETS) is authorized to investigate and
 resolve complaints of USERRA violations. For assistance in filing a
 complaint, or for any other information on USERRA, contact VETS at 1(866)
 487-2365 or visit its website www.dol.gov/vets.  At
 www.dol.gov/elaws/userra.htm an interactive online USERRA Advisor can be utilized. If you file
 a complaint with VETS and VETS is unable to resolve it, you may request
 that your case be referred to the Department of Justice or the Office
 of Special Counsel, depending on the employer, for representation. You
 may also bypass the VETS process and bring a civil action against an
 employer for violations of USERRA. Federal law requires employers to
 notify employees of their rights under USERRA.   [Source:  MOAA News
 Exchange 19 Jul 07 ++]


VET CEMETERY MARYLAND:  Continuing its mission of providing a final
 resting place for Maryland veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs
 (VA) has announced the award of a $1.9 million grant to expand the
 Crownsville Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The grant will pay for construction
 of 2,434 full-casket burial sites, 1,087 in-ground cremation burial
 sites, 1,056 columbarium niches, utilities, landscaping and irrigation.
 Maryland has four other VA-funded state cemeteries: the Cheltenham
 Veterans Cemetery; the Eastern Shore Veterans Cemetery in Hurlock; the
 Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery in Owings Mills; and the Rocky Gap Veterans
 Cemetery in Flintstone. VA’s State Cemetery Grants Program complements
 VA’s 125 national cemeteries across the country.  The program helps
 states establish, expand or improve state veterans cemeteries. Information
 on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices,
 from the VA Web site on the Internet at http://www.cem.va.gov or by
 calling VA regional offices at 1(800) 827-1000. Information about
 Maryland’s veterans cemeteries can be obtained from the Maryland Department of
 Veterans Affairs at http://www.mdva.state.md.us/ or by calling (410)
 923-6981. To date, the VA program has helped establish 66 veterans
 cemeteries in 35 states, Saipan and Guam, which provided more than 22,000
 burials in fiscal year 2006.  Since the program began in 1980, VA has
 awarded 156 grants totaling nearly $286 million.  [Source:  VA News Release
 13 Jul 07 ++]


TRICARE DATA BREACH:   A limited amount of Tricare beneficiary data may
 have been placed at risk through a violation of internal computer
 security practices at Science Applications International Corporation
 (SAIC). The government contractor handling sensitive health information for
 867,000 U.S. service members and their families acknowledged yesterday
 that some of its employees sent unencrypted data -- such as medical
 appointments, treatments and diagnoses -- across the Internet. It is
 illegal to transmit unencrypted health information over the Internet. The
 files that were transmitted related to military members, Coast Guard
 employees and retirees using military hospitals and health clinics in Europe
 and the United States. Analysis shows the chance any data was
 compromised is low, but action is being taken to ensure that affected Tricare
 beneficiaries are kept informed. The incident occurred when patient data
 was stored in a manner that did not meet security specifications for
 the DoD or SAIC.  The information was held on a single, SAIC-owned
 server at an SAIC location in Florida. The server, which was not behind a
 firewall and did not contain adequate password protections, is no longer
 in use.  The data, which was processed by SAIC under several military
 health care contracts, may have included personal information such as
 beneficiary names, addresses, social security numbers, birth dates, and
 limited health information.  

     SAIC is mailing letters from Army Major General Elder Granger,
 Deputy Director, Tricare Management Activity and retired Marine Corps
 Major General Arnold L. Punaro, SAIC executive vice president, to
 approximately 580,000 households informing beneficiaries of the potential risk.
 Letters will arrive the week of 23 JUL and also contain consumer
 identity protection information.   SAIC is also making a call center
 available to handle questions. The no toll number for the United States 1(888)
 862-2680; and a collect-call number 1(515) 365-3550.for overseas
 residents is included with the letters. The center will be staffed with
 identity theft specialists who will answer concerns about the incident as
 well as provide callers with general information on credit, fraud and
 identity theft matters. Affected beneficiaries are being offered a free,
 one-year subscription to an identity restoration service. The centers
 will be staffed M-F 08-2400 EST until further notice. Links to additional
 information can be found at the Tricare Web site “press room” at
 www.tricare.mil/pressroom/. Information on steps Tricare beneficiaries can
 take to protect themselves from identity theft is available at
 www.tricare.mil/tmaprivacy/itpr.cfm.

     The disclosure comes less than two years after a break-in at
 SAIC's headquarters that put Social Security numbers and other personal
 information about tens of thousands of employees at risk. The security
 breach underscores the systemic problems in corporate and government
 security systems and the vulnerability of military and contractor systems to
 attack. In recent months, e-mail systems at military colleges have been
 attacked and briefly shut down. Last fall, hackers operating through
 Chinese Internet servers shut down a Commerce Department bureau computer
 system for more than a month. And a year ago, hackers stole sensitive
 information from State Department unclassified computers. In an April
 report, the Government Accountability Office reported that 21 of 24
 federal agencies say they have significant weaknesses in information
 security controls and that a Department of Homeland Security unit reported a
 record level of information-security incidents throughout the federal
 government last year. [Source: TMA Press Release 20 Jul & Washington
 Post article 21 Jul 07 ++]


SDVOSB PROGRAM:   For a veteran who suffers service-connected
 disability, our Government has deemed it our moral obligation to provide the
 disabled veteran a range of benefits designed to ease the economic and
 other losses and disadvantages incurred as a consequence of serving his or
 her country. These benefits include Government assistance for entering
 the Federal procurement marketplace. To achieve that objective,
 agencies shall more effectively implement section 15(g) of the Small Business
 Act (15 U.S.C. 644(g)), which provides that the President must
 establish a goal of not less than 3% for participation by service-disabled
 veteran businesses in Federal contracting, and section 36 of that Act (15
 U.S.C. 657f), which gives agency contracting officers the authority to
 reserve certain procurements for service-disabled veteran businesses.
 President Bush issued Executive Order 13360 on 20 OCT04 to strengthen
 opportunities in Federal contracting for Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned
 Small Business (SDVOSB) concerns. The Veterans Benefits Act of 2003
 permits contracting officers to award sole-source contracts to any small
 business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans if: 
- The officer does not expect that two or more service-disabled
 veterans small business owners will submit offers for the contract;
- The expected award price of the contract (including options) will not
 exceed $3 million for non-manufacturing SIC code contracts; and
- In the estimation of the contracting officer, the contract can be
 made at a fair and reasonable price.

A Service-Disabled Veteran is a person who served in the active
 military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released under
 conditions other than dishonorable, and whose disability was incurred or
 aggravated in line of duty in the active military, naval, or air service.
 There is not a minimum disability rating. A veteran with a 0 to 100%
 disability rating is eligible to self-represent as a Service-Disabled
 Veteran for Federal contracting purposes. The concern must be:
- A small business pursuant to the North American Industrial
 Classification System (NAICS) code assigned by the Contracting Officer to the
 procurement;
- 51 % unconditionally and directly owned by one or more
 Service-Disabled Veterans or in the case of any publicly owned business, not less
 than 51% of the stock of the company is owned by one or more
 Service-Disabled Veterans; and
- The management and daily business operations of the SDVO SBC must be
 controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans (or in the case of
 a veteran with permanent and severe disability, the spouse or permanent
 caregiver of such veteran).

SDVOSB program’s purpose is to assist agencies in achieving the
 statutorily mandated 3% government-wide goal for procurement from
 service-disabled veteran-owned SBCs. When drafting the Veterans Benefits Act of
 2003, Congress found that agencies were falling far short of reaching this
 goal. Consequently, the legislative history specifically states that
 Congress urges the SBA and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to
 expeditiously and transparently implement this program. In support of
 this Anthony R. Martoccia, director of the office of small business
 programs at the Pentagon wants disabled vets to know there is a strong focus
 by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and other senior officials to
 ensure the program is fully implemented and that Military contracting
 officers in the field are on the lookout for disabled-veteran-owned
 businesses to provide services for the government.  More than 24,000
 servicemembers have been wounded or injured on duty since the global war against
 terrorist began on 9/11. Many of these veterans have had to leave the
 military because of disabling injury.  The SDVOSB program is geared
 toward helping them establish second careers as entrepreneurs who do
 business with the Defense Department. The program, he added, is open to
 disabled veterans from all the nation's wars.  Last year, the SDVOSB
 program registered more than 5,000 businesses.  Today, disabled-veteran-owned
 businesses account for more than $1 billion in government contracts.
  Pentagon officials are putting the word out to military contracting
 officers about the government wide goal to award 3 percent of contracts to
 businesses owned by disabled veterans.  For additional info on SDVOSB
 refer to http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/programs/veterans/.  [Source:
 American Forces Press Service Gerry J. Gilmore article 18 Jul 07 ++]
 

FEDERAL STUDENT AID UPDATE 01:  U.S. Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) has
 introduced the Interest Relief Act (S.1822). Under the Act interest would
 not accrue on federal student loans for active duty soldiers and their
 spouses.  The Congressional Research Service estimates for those
 activated for 12 to 15 months, the bill could mean an average savings of
 between $1,183 and $1,479 in interest over their activation period. Senator
 Bayh said, “The principle behind this bill is very simple: When
 Americans go off to serve their country during time of war, the government
 should not charge interest on their federal student loans. This is relief
 we can and should provide for our soldiers right now.” If approved
 eligibility would include active duty soldiers of any branch of the
 military, including reserve units and the National Guard and their spouses, who
 have student loans through the Federal Direct Loan Program. The
 interest accrual deferment could be for up to five years while on active
 duty. Members of the armed forces can already defer payments on their
 student loans while on active duty, but the interest continues to accrue.

     Many servicemembers take advantage of educational benefits through
 the G.I. Bill following their service. However, those who enter the
 service or are activated after they’ve completed a few years of college,
 earned their degree or exhausted their G.I. Bill benefit time limit
 have often used student loans to finance their education. Senator Bayh
 said, “By deferring interest accrual for those who have student loans, we
 remove one more hurdle that our soldiers and their families face when
 they are planning their future after active duty service. This relief
 could shave a few months off student loan repayment obligations, which
 could mean military families are a few months closer to buying their
 first home, starting a business, or contributing to a child’s college
 fund.”  The Interest Relief Act would apply only to student loans awarded
 through the Federal Direct Loan Program, which provides financial aid for
 college to student and parent borrowers directly through the U.S.
 Department of Education.  Under Federal Student Aid programs interest
 charged on loans is variable up to 8.5%. For info on these programs refer to
 http://education.military.com/money-for-school/federal-student-aid
 and/or http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DirectLoan/about.html. [Source:
 Senator Bayh Press Release 17 Jul 07 ++]


SBA VET ISSUES UPDATE 05:   The U.S. Small Business Administration
 (SBA) began accepting applications from lenders 19 JUL on behalf of
 borrowers in its new Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative for military
 community entrepreneurs. Patriot Express is a streamlined loan product based
 on the agency's highly successful SBA Express Program. Patriot Express
 is available to military community members including veterans,
 service-disabled veterans, service members leaving active duty, Reservists and
 National Guard members, current spouses of any of the above, and the
 widowed spouse of a service member or veteran who died during service, or
 of a service-connected disability.  More than 150 banks have already
 been approved to participate in Patriot Express. The Patriot Express
 Pilot Loan Initiative can be used for most business purposes. Details on
 the initiative can be found at www.sba.gov/patriotexpress. [Source: Gulf
 Breeze News article 19 Jul 07 ++]


CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (CLL) UPDATE 01:   An appeals court
 chastised the Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday and ordered the
 agency to pay retroactive benefits to Vietnam War veterans who were exposed
 to Agent Orange and contracted a form of leukemia. “The performance of
 the United States Department of Veterans Affairs has contributed
 substantially to our sense of national shame,” the opinion from the 9th U.S.
 Circuit Court of Appeals read. It was not immediately known how much
 the department would have to pay under the order or how many veterans
 would be affected. VA spokesman Phil Budahn said late Thursday that
 officials were reviewing the ruling, and declined further comment.  The VA
 agreed in 2003 to extend benefits to Vietnam vets diagnosed with chronic
 lymphocytic leukemia, known as CLL. U.S. troops had sprayed 20 million
 gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides over parts of South
 Vietnam and Cambodia in the 1960s and ‘70s to clear dense jungle, and
 researchers later linked CLL to Agent Orange. But the VA did not re-examine
 previous claims from veterans suffering from the ailment, nor did it pay
 them retroactive benefits, which was at the heart of the latest
 dispute.

     The 19 JUL opinion was on a technical matter involving whether a
 lower court had properly interpreted a landmark agreement in 1991 on
 benefits, stemming from a class-action lawsuit originally filed in 1986.
 The appeals court sided with veterans groups who said the veterans were
 entitled to retroactive benefits. “We would hope that this litigation
 will now end, that our government will now respect the legal obligations
 it undertook in the consent decree some 16 years ago, that
 obstructionist bureaucratic opposition will now cease, and that our veterans will
 finally receive the benefits to which they are morally and legally
 entitled,” Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the court’s opinion. Richard
 Spataro, a lawyer with the National Veterans Legal Services Program, said
 Thursday’s ruling could finally halt years of legal battles - if the
 VA does not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Spataro said if
 researchers link other disabilities to Agent Orange the decision will prevent the
 VA from denying retroactive benefits for those veterans, too.
  [Source:  Associated Press Scott Lindlaw article 19 Jul 07 ++]


MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS UPDATE 01:   Senate investigators recently
 learned that insurance agents in at least 39 states used illegal or
 unethical tactics to sell private Medicare health plans, known as Medicare
 Advantage plans.  Insurers have signed up unwitting consumers by using
 "bait and switch" tactics, forging signatures, using personal information
 stolen from federal records, and even by submitting applications for
 deceased individuals.  The New York Times reported that Albuquerque
 cancer specialist, Dr. Barbara L. McAney, said that many of their patients
 who signed up for such plans "suddenly found that they had huge new
 co-payments — $1,250 every three weeks for a combination of five
 intravenous chemotherapy drugs." Agents of the private plans have worked out of
 booths in discount stores or tables set up in front of grocery or drug
 stores.  Seniors might think they are signing up to get drug coverage
 or just more information.  Then, if they later require hospitalization
 or other costly services, they may learn there are higher co-payments
 than normally would be charged under traditional Medicare. 
 
    Enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans has exploded in the past
 year with one out of five Medicare beneficiaries enrolled.  The Medicare
 Payment Advisory Commission has acknowledged that the government pays
 the private plans 12% to 19% more than it would cost Medicare to serve
 the same people.  The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates
 that the cost for these extra payments will amount to $65 billion over
 the next five years.  These extra payments are passed on to all
 Medicare beneficiaries in the form of higher Part B premiums. According to a
 new report from the Medicare Rights Center (MRC), "private health plans
 often fail to deliver what they promise.  Plan members encounter an
 obstacle course when trying to get care and coverage, and they may pay
 more out of pocket costs than what they would have in Original Medicare,"
 the report says.  The report is based on MRC's experiences in helping
 Medicare beneficiaries.  According to MRC there are common problems
 people have in Medicare Advantage plans, but many people only discover
 these flaws after they have joined the plan and most cannot switch until
 the following year.  Problems can include:
- Care that costs more than it would under traditional Medicare.
- Difficulties in getting emergency or urgent care and care away from
 home.
- Choice of doctor, hospital and other providers is restricted.
- Promised extra benefits can be very limited.

     The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) responded to
 the misleading practices by announcing that seven insurance companies;
 United Healthcare, Humana, WellCare, Universal American Financial,
 Coventry Health Care, Sterling Life Insurance and BlueCross BlueShield of
 Tennessee, will suspend marketing Medicare Advantage private
 fee-for-service plans until they meet six basic conditions, although the insurers
 can still sell policies to consumers who ask for them.  Since the plans
 are cooperating with CMS voluntarily, it remains to be seen how
 effective they will be in policing their own marketing. The Senior Citizens
 League (TSCL) believes that Congress must provide strong oversight and
 consumer protections under the Medicare Advantage program.  In addition
 TSCL calls on Congress to stop paying Medicare Advantage plans more than
 other Medicare supplemental plans.  Doing so would save money for both
 the government and slow the rise of Part B premiums.  Congress would be
 more inclined to provide proper oversight on this program if they knew
 how many of their constituents intend to closely monitor how this
 issue is dealt with.  [Source: The Social Security & Medicare Advisor Aug
 07 ++]


MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS UPDATE 02:   U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-09)
 on 19 JUL expressed his deep displeasure with both the Centers for
 Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Social Security
 Administration (SSA) for their inability to sort our seriously delayed refunds owed
 to his constituents. “We need