Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 1-7-09

1. Shinseki Says He Will Reopen Benefits To Priority 8 Vets.  
2. Pentagon Says Purple Heart Will Not Be Given For PTSD.  
3. Study Touts Effectiveness Of VA’s Telehealth Technology.  
4. Medicare Bans Pricing Technique That Leads To Coverage "Doughnut Hole."     
5. Poor US Economy Seen As Leading US Soldiers To Extend Tours Of Duty  
6. Sites Offered For Proposed Clinic In Virginia.  
7. The Forgotten War.  
8. Grod Named Administrator Of New State Vets Home In California.  
9. Ceremony Honors Connecticut Veterans.  
10. Study: Brain Pacemakers Help Parkinson’s Sufferers, But Have Serious Side Effects.

1.      Shinseki Says He Will Reopen Benefits To Priority 8 Vets.   The AP (1/7, Yen) reports, "Retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki pledged to move quickly to fix gaps in health care if confirmed as Veterans Affairs secretary, saying he will reopen benefits to hundreds of thousands of middle-income," or "Priority 8" veterans, who were denied access "during the Bush administration. In a 54-page disclosure" to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that the AP "obtained Tuesday," Shinseki "also urged Congress to set VA funding a year in advance to minimize political pressures. And the former Army chief of staff said he will step down from the corporate boards of defense contractors to alleviate potential conflicts of interest." The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is "scheduled to hold Shinseki’s confirmation hearing on Jan. 14."
      The Washington Times (1/7) and the Myrtle Beach (SC) Sun News (1/7) both publish shorter versions of the AP article, with the Times making it the lead story in its "Washington In 5 Minutes" column and the Sun News making it the fourth story in its "Capitol Hill" column.
      VA Plan To Expand Priority 8 Enrollment Pleases Lawmakers.   CQ (1/7, Johnson) reports that on January 5th, members of the House Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Subcommittee "were buoyed" by a VA "briefing that outlined how fiscal 2009 funding will be used to enroll about 265,000 vets who have been denied VA health services since 2003. A $375 million provision was included in the fiscal 2009 VA spending bill…to allow the department to bring into the system more ‘Priority 8’ veterans," who "typically earn more than $30,000 a year." Returning "eligibility to Priority 8 veterans has been a goal for a number of high-profile members of Congress." President-elect Barack Obama "also pledged during his campaign to return eligibility to all Priority 8 veterans."
      The Navy Times (1/7, Maze) reports US Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX), "chairman of the House appropriations panel responsible for veterans funding, said VA officials have briefed his staff about plans to re-open enrollment in the VA health care system to Priority 8 veterans, who have been excluded from new enrollments since 2003." VA officials "acknowledged a change was coming but said it will not involve all Priority 8 veterans."
      Panetta Seen As A Problematic Appointment When Compared To Shinseki.   In his UPI (1/7) column, Martin Sieff says the decision to appoint Leon Panetta as the next head of the Central Intelligence Agency "may prove politically to be the worst of all possible worlds for Obama. Republicans and centrists who applauded" his appointment of Shinseki "to clean up" the VA "certainly will not extend that approval and support to Panetta." And the Panetta pick "does not please liberals either."

2.      Pentagon Says Purple Heart Will Not Be Given For PTSD.   On its website, CNN (1/6, Mount) reported, "The Purple Heart medal, awarded to service members who have been physically wounded in combat, will not be given for a diagnosis" of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), "a Pentagon statement said." The decision "was…made public this week." The Department of Veterans Affairs "estimates that up to 11 percent" of Iraq vets and "20 percent of Afghanistan" vets have PTSD.

3.      Study Touts Effectiveness Of VA’s Telehealth Technology.   Federal Computer Week (1/7, Beizer) reports, "Technology provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs used to remotely monitor the health of patients with chronic conditions is successful at reducing hospitals stays, according to a VA-sponsored study." This week, VA officials "announcing the findings" of the study, which examined the VA’s telehealth technology. Such technology "lets health providers collect data about patients from their homes." In a press release noting the study, VA Secretary Dr. James B. Peake said the findings "showed that home telehealth makes health care more effective."
      Federal Daily (1/7) reports, "The study, published in the current issue of the journal Telemedicine and e-Health, found a 25 percent reduction in the average number of days hospitalized and a 19 percent reduction in hospitalizations for patients using VA-provided home telehealth devices." The "authors of the study…are VA national telehealth staff members. VA’s home telehealth program cares for 35,000 patients and is the largest of its kind in the world, the department said."

4.      Medicare Bans Pricing Technique That Leads To Coverage "Doughnut Hole."   The Bloomberg News (1/7, Goldstein) reports, "Medicare banned a pricing technique that lowered costs for health insurers and drug-benefits managers while pushing elderly beneficiaries over their coverage limits for prescriptions." The new definition of "negotiated prices" will take effect in 2010, a change that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said will "save the government money." Paul Precht, spokesman for the Medicare Rights Center consumer group in Washington, said in an interview that the change also "ends a scam," and "adds some much-needed transparency to drug prices under the benefit" that will hopefully "spill over beyond Medicare into the commercial sector."
      The Wall Street Journal (1/7, Rubenstein, 2.07M) adds, "The federal agency that manages Medicare said Tuesday it had finalized a rule meant to curb an industry practice that has inflated drug costs for some patients with Medicare drug coverage." The inflated costs derive from a practice involving "pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen that administer drug plans on behalf of insurers. PBMs negotiate drug prices with pharmacies and reimburse them for drugs that patients purchase. Insurers, in turn, pay the PBMs for administering the claims." This results in higher drug pricing because of a "so-called lock-in approach used by some PBMs," in which they are paid by insurers for a "set amount for drugs, regardless of what the PBMs actually paid the pharmacies." The practice "can drive patients into Medicare’s ‘doughnut hole’ gap in coverage more quickly."5.      Poor US Economy Seen As Leading US Soldiers To Extend Tours Of Duty.   McClatchy (1/7, Youssef) reports from Delaram, Afghanistan, "Around the barren military base, which sits at the crossroads of the Taliban’s poppy trade route, news arrives slowly. … However, the domestic economic meltdown has reached even here. The National Guardsmen who serve with the Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Corps Regiment, based here, say they fear that their jobs won’t be there when they return." Adds McClatchy, "With uncertainty at home, some are doing what they once considered unthinkable: extending their tours. They say that they’d rather tackle a resurging Taliban than a struggling economy. Among them is Sgt 1st Class John Russell, 45, of Royal Oak, Mich., who works alongside the Marines who are based here."

6.      Sites Offered For Proposed Clinic In Virginia.   Southwest Virginia Today (1/7, Quesenberry) reports, "A proposed Veterans Affairs outpatient health care clinic" for Wytheville, Virginia, "has drawn good response from local property owners. Negotiations with those offering sites…will begin soon," and while "she declined to reveal how many sites are available, Lori McClure, Veterans Affairs network planner, called the number ‘decent.’" The clinic "is targeted for a Sept. 30 opening."

7.      The Forgotten War.   The Bedford (IN) Times-Mail (1/6, Hogan).

8.      Grod Named Administrator Of New State Vets Home In California.   The Antelope Valley (CA) Press (1/6) reported 53-year-old, Lisa Grod, a "former administrator of a San Fernando Valley-based drug, alcohol and mental health treatment center," has "been named administrator of the new state William J. ‘Pete’ Knight Veterans Home, which is expected to open this spring." The home is "being built by the state Department of Veterans Affairs."

9.      Ceremony Honors Connecticut Veterans.   The Connecticut Post (12/6, Weizel) reported 89-year-old World War II veteran Harry Hleva received a Connecticut Veterans Wartime Service Medal "during a special presentation" Monday in Stratford, Connecticut, "along with more than 500 other Stratford veterans. All town veterans with at least six months of wartime service were eligible for the medals." The Post noted that Monday’s ceremony was attended by nearly 800 people, including Linda Schwartz, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs, who "praised the honorees and those who died during America’s wars."

10.    Study: Brain Pacemakers Help Parkinson’s Sufferers, But Have Serious Side Effects.   The AP (1/7) reports, "Parkinson’s sufferers who had electrodes implanted in their brains improved substantially more than those who took only medicine, according to the biggest test yet of deep brain stimulation." The study "offers the most hopeful news to date for Parkinson’s sufferers," but the research "also revealed higher-than-expected risks. About 40 percent of the patients who received these ‘brain pacemakers’ suffered serious side effects, including a surprising number of falls with injuries." The study was co-funded "by the Department of Veterans Affairs."

      Bloomberg News (1/7, Lopatto), which publishes a similar story, notes, "Deep brain stimulation began being used as a treatment in the 1990s and became more widespread after winning regulatory approval without a large scientific trial to compare it with drug therapy. This is the first major study to compare the two treatments, said the study’s lead author, Frances Weaver," the "deputy director for policy research at Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital in Illinois, in a telephone interview."
      USA Today (1/7, Marcus) reports the study, which "is published in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted at seven" VA hospitals "and six university medical centers. The largest randomized clinical trial of its kind to date included 255 people who were in the advanced stages of Parkinson’s."
      The Columbus (OH) Dispatch (1/7, Crane) reports, "Other studies have shown improvements with surgery, but this is the first and the largest to look at how patients 70 or older fare compared with their younger counterparts, said…Weaver, the lead researcher." Patients "improved regardless of age, but older patients had more adverse side effects. Weaver said she would like to see more studies on the treatment in the elderly to see whether this study’s findings are replicated."
      The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1/7, Fauber) says the study, which was paid for by the VA, "the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and Medtronic, the company that makes the device used in the study," comes at a "time when a growing number of people are reaching their late 50s and early 60s, when they are most likely to be diagnosed with the disease, which affects between 500,000 and 1.5million Americans."