On 29 November 2017, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that the White House VA Hotline (first launched in June as part of President Donald J. Trump’s commitment to reforming VA but which also had a shaky start) is now fully staffed with live agents working to serve veterans 24-hours a day, 365 days a year. The actual facility location is in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. (more…)
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that the application process for the national Veterans Identification Card (VIC) is now available for veterans, an action overdue since 2015 and still causing controversy among some veterans organizations over the implementation of the character of service requirement (unlike the VA, the law excludes practically no one who has served). Currently only those veterans with honorable service will be able to apply for the ID card. However, this is a change from previous statements by others because it means those who have a general discharge (under honorable conditions) can now also apply, in addition to those with honorable discharges/releases. (more…)
A VA official on Wednesday confirmed the cards are on track to be available nationwide starting in November. Source: VA Photo ID Cards for All Veterans Coming in November | Military.com Editor’s Note: This a result of the Veterans Identification Card Act of 2015. The card cannot be used as Read more…
On 27 June 2017, the VA released its final plans laying the framework for providing emergency mental health coverage to former service members with Other-Than-Honorable (OTH) administrative discharges. For the older generations of veterans, the characterization of service was termed Undesirable.
Effective July 5, all Veterans Health Administration (VHA) medical centers are to offer emergency stabilization care for former service members who present at the facility with an emergent mental health need. Under this initiative, former service members with an OTH administrative discharge may receive care for their mental health emergency for an initial period of up to 90 days, which can include inpatient, residential or outpatient care. (more…)
Recently the VA announced that it is conducting a clinical trial for veterans suffering from Gulf War Illness. Since some our local veterans may benefit but do not need to travel to San Francisco to participate (all study procedures can be done by phone and mail), we have decided to Read more…
The Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center is returning on 14 June 2017 to conduct its third Community Town Hall in the area since the establishment of the quarterly requirement a couple of years back. It is part of an attempt by the VA to regain the trust among the veterans it serves. Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center services 19 counties, to include one in New York. The service area requires distributing the quarterly meetings over a wide area or we would have more of these useful events. For details, see: (more…)
Two key points are raised in the article which follows that affect the results, and work against what would seem to be common sense:
1) There is a question as to if the VA is really following a due or, at least, a fair process. We know of a veteran who was not properly informed of the proceedings against him. In addition, the VA, according to this article, is probably violating his/her Second Amendment rights, while trying to do the right thing.
2) Fear of being branded as mentally incompetent, may cause affected veterans not to access the benefits they’ve earned, including access to health care for conditions related to their military service. When a veteran is most fragile, he/she may be effectively driven away. Why is the term “mental incompetence” used in all instances in the first place? (more…)
The Veterans Choice Program has been beset with problems. While the program is actually improving, a phone scam has now occurred to add to the VA’s and clients’ frustrations with the program. Someone is after your credit card number. Why would the VA be asking that?
See below. One key thing to remember is that while many VA numbers start with 1-800, not all do, and the Veterans Choice Program is one of them — it uses a 1-866 prefix.
What was not mentioned is Alexander Alex, the co-chair of our Healthcare in Our Community initiative, pressed for a health delivery system similar to TRICARE, the Department of Defense healthcare system. See also yesterday’s blog article on the extension of the Veterans Choice program. ### As of 14 April 2017
May be heavily hospital-oriented initially, but it is also a way to feed new thoughts to the staff about customer service and events elsewhere. A vast portion of their activities are outside that pleasure dome known as Wilkes-Barre VA Hospital. Yes, it is an old idea with a face lift, Read more…