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Forward Observer

Forward Observer — TRICARE For Life Users Face Potentially Higher Costs When Using the VA

In an August 14, 2013 News Release, TRICARE announced that its TRICARE For Life (TFL) beneficiaries may incur higher costs for treatment when using a VA healthcare facility effective October 1 – if the condition for which they are being treated is not related to their service-connected disability.

It states that after October 1, 2013, “as part of the intake process at VA facilities … TFL beneficiaries will be asked if they’re using their VA or TFL benefit or if they have other health insurance (OHI). When electing to use their TFL benefit at the VA, they will also be informed they must pay the remained bill after TRICARE pays its portion of the TRICARE-allowable charge. They may be asked to sign a form indicating they understand their responsibility.” (more…)

By LVMAC, 12 years ago

Forward Observer

Forward Observer — The Cornerstone of Good Community

The cornerstone of a good community is its awareness and engagement in civic life. When it comes upon war, things can sometimes be done outside of government and political processes which can meaningfully assist our military, our veterans and their families. One way is to do fundraising but also to ensure the money goes to organizations that actually help military servicemembers from and military veterans in the communities in which they live. (more…)

By LVMAC, 12 years ago

Forward Observer

Forward Observer — Something Smart from the PA Dept. of Labor and Industry That Might Help Veterans

When it comes to helping veterans find employment — having done away with its Governor’s Veterans Outreach and Assistance Centers (and using them properly before that) and having had problems with the staffing of its Veterans Employment Representative program — the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) has not exactly been a frontrunner among state labor departments. But its JobGateway^SM is a web product which comes as close to providing a one-stop employment shopping environment online as you can get, and has the potential to actually help our veterans community because it also tries to engage prospective employers providing good, wage paying jobs, registering those who pass muster. (more…)

By LVMAC, 12 years ago

Forward Observer

Forward Observer — Honey, The “In-Laws” Are Back! The Consumer Credit Association (Payday Lenders)

Editor’s Note: Kerry Smith, a Staff Attorney for Community Legal Services of Philadelphia was the speaker at our March Council Meeting. Ms. Smith, at that time, explained the harm of such lending legislation and how other states which have passed such wish they could turn back the clock. She urged the Council to stand up for our veterans and oppose any such legislation.

STAND WITH OUR MILITARY VETERANS: OPPOSE PAY DAY LENDING

Uninvolved Veterans, Get Off Your Derrieres and Protect Your Comrades

The Pennsylvania Council of Chapters, Military Officers Association of America, strongly opposes Senate Bill 975, the Micro Loan Program, recently introduced on May 31, 2013 to legalize payday lending in Pennsylvania at 300% interest on a two-week loan. We agree with them. The bill, which will result in such usury despite possible good intentions, has surprisingly made it out of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee by a narrow 8 to 6 voting margin and is now on the floor of the Senate for a vote in a few more days.

Since the possibility exists for our legislators to fail to take — or are not given — the time to completely read the bills they vote upon on a Senate or House floor (let alone reflect upon their possible unintended consequences), your timely action could make the difference in their decision-making. (more…)

By LVMAC, 12 years ago

Forward Observer

Forward Observer — Adalberto Morales Introduces Us to Suicide Prevention Services

Adalberto Morales, one of two Suicide Prevention Coordinators at Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center (VAMC), gave an outstanding talk to the Council at its 15 May business meeting. His sole purpose is to help those contemplating suicide to get to needed help, no matter where – within the VA system or within the community. Together with Denise Carey, they operate 24/7 and are busy.

Morales affirmed suicide has become a serious problem for veterans and it is a problem for more than those who have more recently served, the focus of most media articles. He has witnessed an increase among Vietnam era veterans as they retire also. As a result, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates since 2010, a suicide occurs every 11 to 15 minutes (or about 105 suicides daily). Consequently, suicide has risen from the fifteenth to the tenth leading cause of death in the United States.

Making matters worse, the Lehigh Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania are already known for their high suicide rates in their populations. The Wilkes-Barre VAMC has 35 active cases currently being closely monitored, but over the last year, there have been six ‘completions’ and more than 60 “serious attempts” at suicide have occurred – “ideations” being in the hundreds. Therefore, the Wilkes-Barre VAMC Coordinators alternate to provide a 24/7 service, the only ones in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system to do so other than those in the national Crisis Call Center. (more…)

By LVMAC, 12 years ago

Forward Observer

Forward Observer — Pending Payday Lending Legislation: A Debt Trap for Military Veterans

Kerry Smith, Community Legal Services Warns of the Danger

Kerry Smith, Staff Attorney, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, a leading advocate for low income residents in the Philadelphia area, spoke to the Council at its 20 March business meeting as a member of a coalition of over 90 organizations – including the Community Action Committee of Lehigh Valley, MOAA of Pennsylvania, the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society, the Veterans Leadership Program of Western Pennsylvania; and the Council of Churches, AFL-CIO and AARP of Pennsylvania – who have concerns about the recent lobbying to allow payday lending in Pennsylvania, which is currently illegal. (more…)

By LVMAC, 13 years ago

Forward Observer

Forward Observer — VBA Claims Initiative Aims at Reducing Processing Time and Adding Convenience – Is it Possible?

No More In-Person Exam Requirement for Some?

On 31 January 2013, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced it had begun a new initiative which will reduce the requirement for an in-person medical examination for some veterans when applying for a service-connected disability compensation rating – when sufficient information is in the individual’s records. The intent is to shorten processing times. It is a product of the Veterans Benefits Administration’s (VBA) Transformation Plan – a five-year effort to improve its processes with the goals of eliminating the widely reported backlog in claims and processing all claims within 125 days with 98 percent accuracy by 2015. (more…)

By LVMAC, 13 years ago

Forward Observer

Forward Observer — Cutting the Red Tape from Veterans’ and Survivors’ Pensions — Somewhat

VBA CHANGES EVR REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Besides seeming to signal lately the transition in nomenclature from the poorly named Disability Pension and the Death Pension to the terms Veterans’ Pension and Survivors’ Pension respectively, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) has gone on to do something truly significant in this benefit area which is worthwhile to our veterans and their survivors: preventing the unnecessary interruption of monthly payments over the failure to file a report on time. The new procedure also applies to Parents Dependency Indemnity Compensation (Parents DIC) because it too is income-based and is, therefore, essentially a pension in the VA’s lingo. (more…)

By LVMAC, 13 years ago

Forward Observer

Forward Observer — Heads Up … VA Seeks to Expand TBI Benefits

VA SEEKING TO PROMULGATE A REGULATORY CHANGE IN HOW IT HANDLES SECONDARY ILLNESSES

On 7 December 2012 (Pearl Harbor Day), the Department of Veterans Affairs is proposing to change its disability compensation rating rules to add five diagnosable illnesses which are secondary to service-connected Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). It would improve the timeliness of decisions. To accomplish this, the VA proposes to add a new subsection to its adjudication regulation by revising 38 CFR 3.310 to state that if a Veteran who has a service-connected TBI also has one of the five illnesses, then the illness will be considered service connected as secondary to the TBI. (more…)

By LVMAC, 13 years ago

Forward Observer

Forward Observer — ‘Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012’ Enacted!

NEW VETERANS OMINBUS BILL SIGNED INTO LAW ON 6 AUGUST

Surprisingly, nothing has been mentioned in the local media on the recent passage of H.R. 1627 (now known as Public Law 112-154), Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012, despite its importance to the veterans community. It is an omnibus bill affecting many; and it finally brings some, though not total, resolution to the Camp Lejeune water contamination situation which has been previously written about.

Several veterans organizations withheld their support because the Lejeune provision set a dangerous precedent in their opinion. In their minds, the bill unfairly levies requirements on the VA to take care of an essentially Department of Defense (DoD) or TRICARE problem. While we might agree with them from one perspective, the larger issue is the government taking responsibility to care for those in need of it, no matter whence it comes. We are more concerned about the fact that no one currently knows when the VA will implement the Lejeune actions required, since no deadline has been set. (more…)

By LVMAC, 13 years ago