VA recently announced that it will add around 1,600 mental health clinicians, which include nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers and approximately 300 support staff to its already existing workforce of 20,590 mental health employees.
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki explained that as more Veterans return home from war, all must be done to provide access to quality mental health care. Funds for the increase in staffing will come from the current budget.
To see the official VA announcement, please view this link http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2302
David J Lowenstein FAQs, veterans health care FAQs, VA mental health care, veterans health care
Marine veterans who were stationed, lived or worked at Camp Lejeune before 1987 may have been exposed to contaminants in the drinking water supply. The Department of Veterans Affairs is recommending all those who believe they were at Camp Lejeune before 1987 to register to receive notifications regarding Camp Lejeune Historic Drinking Water.
The Department of the Navy is funding independent research studies to ascertain what effects, if any, the drinking supply had on individuals. At this time, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is conducting a study to determine if certain illnesses are linked to exposure to contaminated drinking water. The results are expected to be complete in late 2011.
For the past several years, the Marine Corps has worked on reaching out to those it believes may have lived or worked at Camp Lejeune before 1987. To date, more than 155,000 names are in the Registry.
Detailed information about this can be found at https://clnr.hqi.usmc.mil/clwater/index.aspx
David J Lowenstein FAQs, Veterans Benefits Claims, veterans health care
On June 6, 2011, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced a bill which specifically requires VA to have a doctor of chiropractic staff at all of its major facilities by 2014. The bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Thomas Harkin (D-IA), Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).
Currently, chiropractic care is only available at a few VA facilities across the country, and many major metropolitan areas are currently without doctors of chiropractic care. If enacted this legislation would presumably allow all veterans to have access to chiropractic care at any VA facility and would also allow VA to have more treatment providers on hand to assist veterans that suffer from musculoskeletal disabilities. This could potentially increase the number of veterans who seek treatment from a chiropractor and possibly reduce the length of time veterans with musculoskeletal disabilities wait for treatment.
Without this bill, further expansion of chiropractic care to VA facilities would be on a case-by-case basis and would probably experience significant delays.
The text of the legislation may be found at http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s1147/text.
Nancy L Foti FAQs, Veterans Benefits Legislation, veterans health care Veterans Benefits Legislation, veterans health care, Veterans legislation
If Congress cannot reach an agreement on the 2011 budget by midnight tonight, April 8, 2011, the government will shut down. While many questions and issues remain unknown as to how a shutdown will truly impact the nation, the Department of Veterans Affairs just issued a field guide explaining what services will and will not be impacted by a shutdown.
Here are some highlights:
VA hospitals and clinics will remain open and fully functional. You should have no problem getting your prescription, and can attend your scheduled appointment for treatment or go to the emergency room.
Payments of disability (service-connected) and pension (non-service-connected) will continue as usual.
Processing of claims for benefits will continue, but may be slowed down significantly.
Many people at the VA Regional Offices and the Board of Veterans’ Appeals will not be working—phone calls to these offices will not be answered, and it is unlikely that decisions on claims will be made.
For all the details, click on the following link http://va.gov/FieldGuide_Flyer_Final_6261.pdf
David J Lowenstein FAQs, Veterans Benefits Claims, veterans health care Allen & Filetti, FAQs, Veterans Benefits Claims, veterans health care
A key part of VA benefits for many veterans is access to free VA medical care for any condition that is service connected or, for certain veterans, additional health care for additional disabilities for themselves and health care for spouses and dependents.
On January 6, 2011, VA released its 2010 Veterans Health Administration Facility Quality and Safety Report. In the lengthy report, VA discusses the quality of the facilities, staffing, and care provided at each VA medical center and across the entire VA health system. It includes many metrics that can be used to compare the care provided from one medical center to another, including treatment for specific conditions, such as diabetes mellitus, and overall satisfaction with both inpatient and outpatient care.
The report card can be found at http://www1.va.gov/health/HospitalReportCard.asp
Todd M Wesche Veterans Benefits Claims, veterans health care Add new tag
President Obama is scheduled to sign the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 today, May 5, 2010.
The law addresses a number of issues related to veterans’ health care, including assistance to family caregivers of disabled veterans, expanded health care services for women veterans, greater outreach to rural veterans, and enhancements to VA medical services.
For additional information about the bill, including the full text and a summary, visit http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-1963.
Sandra W Wischow Veterans Benefits Claims, veterans health care veterans disability benefits, veterans health care, Veterans legislation