Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 1-1-09

1. VA Seeking To Hire Injured Veterans.  
2. VA Increases Travel Expense Reimbursement.  
3. Paper Praises Agency Helping Homeless Veterans
4. Adult Day Service Taking On Veterans.  
5. Erie VA Expanding.  
6. VA Investigating Benefits Based On Fake Claims.  
7. Bill Would Expand Oklahoma Health Insurance Coverage To Veterans.  
8. Study Suggests Building Veterans Home Would Help Minnesota Town.  
9. VA Study Found Flat Growths More Likely To Become Colon Cancer Than Polyps.  
10. Patients With Little Problems Often Need Help With Basic Tasks.

2.      VA Increases Travel Expense Reimbursement.   The Alexandria (LA) Daily Town Talk (12/30) reports, "Service-disabled and low-income veterans who are reimbursed for travel expenses while receiving care at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities will see an increase in their payments beginning January 9." Under a new law the VA can lower the amount it withholds from veterans mileage reimbursement. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake said, "I’m pleased that we can help veterans living far from VA facilities to access the medical and counseling help they deserve, especially in the current economic climate."

3.      Paper Praises Agency Helping Homeless Veterans.   The Nashua (NH) Telegraph (12/30) editorializes that New Hampshire veterans "haven’t had much good news lately from the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, which since 2001 has not supported a full-service VA hospital in the Granite State." Still, Harbor Homes – a Nashua-based social service agency dedicated to helping the homeless – "is so well-regarded by the Veteran’s Administration that it has been approved for a third shelter," although it "might not come soon enough for the 55 honorably discharged veterans now on the waiting list for housing in Nashua." Still, "the agency’s most critical need is for jobs to enable the veterans now housed to become self-supporting and open up those beds and units for others in need," and "the best way the community can open up some of those existing beds for the 55 veterans now seeking shelter is to help find employment for some of the 25 whose time with Harbor Homes may be running out."

4.      Adult Day Service Taking On Veterans.   On its website, KSAL-TV Salina, KS, (12/30, Pittenger) reports, "Veterans eligible for VA-sponsored long term care services can now receive care at Sunflower Adult Day Services while continuing to live at home." Already four veterans are "regular participants at Sunflower Adult Day Services under the new VA contract."

5.      Erie VA Expanding.   The Erie (PA) Times & News (12/31, Bruce) reports, "The Erie Veterans Affairs Medical Center has begun an expansion that will double its outpatient clinic space and enable the hospital to treat more veterans." Erie VAMC spokeswoman Connie Faluszczak said, "It won’t reduce wait times because we’re already pretty good with those," adding that it would "improve access for routine, primary-care visits." Mary Knight-Strong, director of Veterans Affairs, Erie County, said that "the renovation is important to area veterans because more of them are seeking VA services." Also, according to Faluszczak, "some older veterans are turning to the Erie VAMC for medical care after losing their civilian health insurance."

6.      VA Investigating Benefits Based On Fake Claims.   The San Antonio Express-News (12/31, MacCormack) reports that veteran Brian Culp "pleaded guilty this month to three misdemeanor charges of falsely claiming a Purple Heart, falsely claiming a Bronze Star with valor and creating a fake military identification card that allowed him access to area military bases." He was sentenced to three years’ probation. Meanwhile, "an investigation by the Office of Inspector General of the Veterans Administration into his alleged receipt of $11,000 in benefits based on false claims remains open, and that offense is a felony."

7.      Bill Would Expand Oklahoma Health Insurance Coverage To Veterans.   The AP (12/30) reports, "A bill has filed in the state Senate to help Oklahoma military veterans get health insurance." According to state Sen. Andrew Rice, "thousands of veterans do not qualify for health care through the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department" because they "make too much money to qualify for means-tested federal programs." However, they also "do not earn enough to afford private coverage." The "bill would expand the Insure Oklahoma program to include certain qualified veterans under age 65."
      The Oklahoma City Journal Record (12/31, Francis-Smith) reports, "Rice’s plan would apply to veterans between the ages of 19 and 64 on a limited income who are either on active duty or have been honorably discharged." The Norman (OK) Transcript (12/31) also covers this story.

8.      Study Suggests Building Veterans Home Would Help Minnesota Town.   The Willmar (MN) West Central Tribune (12/31, Cherveny) reports, "Operating a 90-bed veterans home in Montevideo would create an additional $11.7 million worth of economic activity annually for a three-county area, a University of Minnesota Extension study shows." The numbers should help a community task force "putting together a proposal to the Legislature to build a home in the community" even "as they seek to raise $1 million to $2 million from local sources for the project."

9.      VA Study Found Flat Growths More Likely To Become Colon Cancer Than Polyps.   The Oregonian (12/30, Rojas-Burke, 309K) looks back at the medical advances of 2008. On the list is that researches discovered "that many colon cancers start out as flat or dimpled growths that are smaller and harder to detect during colonoscopy," based upon a study of over "1,800 mostly male military veterans who underwent colonoscopies at a VA medical center." The paper adds, "The study should make gastroenterologists more vigilant for flat growths and spur improvements in the practice of colonoscopy."

10.    Patients With Little Problems Often Need Help With Basic Tasks.   The Saint Paul Pioneer Press (12/30, Godbery) reports that researchers at the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Ann Arbor, Michigan found in a study of 11,000 people ages 65 and older, that "relatively minor problems" such as hearing and vision loss, incontinence, and balance problems "could interfere with everyday living just as much as major health conditions like heart disease, diabetes and cancer can." Almost half of the people suffering such problems "relied on others for help with such basics as bathing, dressing and preparing or eating meals." Lead researcher Christine Cigolle said that such "seemingly small problems can be managed so daily life is easier and more satisfying," although "your doctor may not think to ask you about them."