Forward Observer
Forward Observer: Figuring Out the Camp Lejeune Tort Mess
It is still tough to figure the complete score concerning Camp Lejeune tort claims raised by the “Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022” provision (Section 804 of PL 117-168) in the Honor Our PACT past last August — especially the puzzle of how the VA will calculate a successful filing’s Read more…
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit: Colonial Penn Move Over, VA is Launching a New Life Insurance Policy
On 1 January 2023, the Department of Veterans Affairs will open enrollment for its new VALife life insurance policy — making life insurance available to more Veterans than ever before. According to the news release, this is the first new VA life insurance program for Veterans in more than 50 Read more…
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit: Retired VA Phone Number Putting Veterans at Risk
Oh, and By the Way, Know Your Shortcut Numbers Today, our VISN-4 Community Relations Office informed us with the message below that a retired VA phone number may put military veterans’ information at risk: The Department of Veterans Affairs established 1-800-MyVA411 (1-800-698-2411) in 2020 to help Veterans, their family Read more…
Forward Observer
Forward Observer: The Straight Poop on COVID Booster Shots (and Flu Shots)
There has been recent confusion in the local veterans community over receiving COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. Part of it is due to the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center’s (VAMC) recent cancellation of scheduled appointments for the recommended, regular booster. That occurred because a new, bivalent versions from Pfizer and Moderna suddenly Read more…
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit: Immediate Local VA Healthcare … As Easy as 1, 2, 3?
We have previously written about the VISN-4’s Health Chat program, an improvement on the previous longstanding, “night nurse” scheme that has existed for eon’s in the VA Healthcare system. What has not been written about is the investment our VISN-4 has made to get veterans to the “right care, right Read more…
Wilkes-Barre VAMC Virtual Town Hall
Note this is a virtual meeting. There is no physical location.
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit: Understanding the PACT Act a Bit Better
At the American Legion’s National Convention on 31 August, Secretary of Veterans Affair McDonough announced that he will make all conditions outlined in the PACT Act, one of the biggest expansions of veteran benefits in history, presumptive from the date President Biden signed the bill into law (August 10). The Read more…
Forward Observer
Forward Observer: So, How Does the New “Honoring Our PACT” Act Affect You, Veterans and Survivors?
After starting off as HR 3967, 3373 (Honoring our PACT) – and over a year’s worth of going back and forth, additions and deletions, combining of other proposed Acts, a quiet correction of a Senate procedural error, and a debate on the budget control dangers of converting discretionary funding to Read more…