Veterans Day 2008: DSHS Program Links Veterans with Benefits

DSHS veteran program links up vets and their families with federal benefits they may not know they’re missing

OLYMPIA, Wash. — On Veterans Day 2008, a Department of Social and Health Services program aimed at connecting the state’s veterans with federal benefits has become a model for other states interested in helping veterans obtain the benefits they have earned with military service.

The five-year-old veteran’s project is part of the Payment Review Program of the Health and Recovery Services Administration of DSHS.  Payment Review Program Manager Paige Wall said the project has benefited from the start by a partnership between DSHS and the State Department of Veterans Affairs, because both agencies realize that Medicaid may not be the best kind of assistance for the vets.

“Our project tries to locate veterans and their families in Washington state who may be eligible for additional federal benefits based on their military service,” Wall said. “We can be especially helpful for veterans struggling with the costs of long-term care. In some cases, this may also save the state money – but the best part is that it can beef up the benefits available to the vet.”

A significant advantage to the federal benefits is that, unlike Medicaid, the federal veteran programs are not required to seize a family’s assets to help pay for the cost of care after a veteran dies.

“Veterans earn their federal benefit with their military service,” said Project Manager Bill Allman, a Vietnam veteran who launched the project in 2003.

Thanks to recent publicity, including an article in Governing magazine, the project has caught the attention of a number of other states. Allman said he has been contacted this year by 15 other states asking about the project and how Washington state put it together.

The project is supported by a state-federal databank called PARIS, a powerful information exchange between the states and the federal government that helps locate veterans that otherwise might be lost to the system.

Specifically, PARIS is a computer data matching and information exchange system administered by the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) to provide states with a tool to improve program integrity in the administration of public and medical assistance programs. PARIS data includes information from the Veteran’s Administration, Department of Defense and information from other participating states.

The program can save money for the state by finding military or veteran medical coverage and connecting clients with new VA income, which reduces state payments for long-term care. That also can save money for veterans’ families because Medicaid under law must try to recover its costs from clients’ estates, which may require selling a family home. VA programs have no strings attached, since they were earned by a veteran’s military service.

Families and neighbors who think they know of veterans who can benefit from the state’s program are encouraged to call or e-mail Allman at 360-725-1020 or [email protected]

DSHS and the Veterans Administration are also among nine states participating in a Veterans Policy Academy this year. The group of states was selected by the federal government last summer for a study in how aid programs could respond more quickly and effectively to some of the drug and trauma problems that young veterans often face when they come back from the combat zone.

“With today’s veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, this kind of program can help keep them in touch with the health-care they deserve,” Allman said. “Veterans Day is only one day of the year, but this program operates year-round.”

Veterans Benefit Enhancement project
Washington State veterans and their families struggling to find medical or long-term care, can contact the project by 360-725-1020 or e-mailing [email protected]

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND BACKGROUND:  Jim Stevenson, Communications Director, HRSA, DSHS, 360-902-7604 (Pager: 360-971-4067)