Da Hawg Frog Blog

Our Service Officer at the American Legion told us last night that the Veterans Administration was going to streamline the application process for claims. During the last few years of the Bush administration many veterans were turned down and all category 8 veterans were rejected. That will change in June 2009 when new rules take effect.

New regulations have been proposed to allow VA to enroll certain Priority Group 8 Veterans in the VA health system. These Veterans would qualify if their household income does not exceed the current VA income thresholds (means test threshold and/or geographic means test threshold) by more than 10%. These proposed regulations should take effect in June 2009. For more information on these upcoming changes, go to PG 8 Enrollment Relaxation.

An Enrollment Calculator is available to help Veterans determine their potential eligibility for VA health care services under the proposed regulation. (Source: Veterans Administration)

They have relaxed the income and assets restrictions imposed by the last administration. Previously you had to be living near poverty to qualify. Now it is easier for those veterans who work hard, earn a living, own a home and yet are straining to meet their obligations to survive in today’s sorry economic state. It is good news for thousands of vets who made more than the VA allowed before.

There are some new faces with fresh ideas taking over the reigns of government these days. The abysmal record of the last administration is being corrected. These are the people who refused to listen to the commanders on the ground unless they towed the party line. Remember, General Shinseki was retired because of his personality clash with War Criminal, Donald Rumsfeld. Now this great general is vindicated by the appointment  to head of the Veterans Affairs by President Obama. Now General Shinseki is spearheading significant changes in the way veterans claims will be handled.

“You walk into one of our rooms where…decisions are being made about disabilities for veterans [and] see individuals sitting at a desk with stacks of paper that go up half way to the ceiling. And as they finish one pile, another pile comes in,” Shinseki, former Army chief of staff, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee Feb. 4.

“There are 11,100 people doing this…good people, hired to do a rather challenging job in which they are trying to apply judgment to situations that occurred years ago,” Shinseki said. Paperwork, he added, doesn’t draw out “a full appreciation for the context of combat.”

The army of claim adjudicators is equal in size to the 82nd Airborne Division, Shinseki said. It grew by 4000 in the last two years. Another 1100 will be hired this year to address VA’s claims backlog. It’s “a brute force solution” to a problem best solved with an electronic claim processing system. Information technology, he said, could produce the “timely, accurate, consistent decision-making” that veterans deserve. (Source: The Stars and Stripes)

Many of us old vets have resisted seeking help from the Veterans Administration. After Vietnam we were told our problems were either all in our heads or unsubstantiated. Attempts to get help were abandoned and we never looked back. The whole process left a bad taste in our mouths. Today’s veterans have seen how the last administration treated them. Charging them for food and medications after being wounded. But, it may be a new day. It is time for all veterans who qualify to reapply and get the benefits you are owed for the service and sacrifice you rendered.
If you belong to a veterans organization like the VFW, American Legion or AMVETS then ask your Service Officer to help you. They know the ropes and can help you expedite your claims. Do it now, because too often these windows of opportunity have evaporated quickly.

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