Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From The VA
Do you demand to understand what you sign; or do you take the salespersons’ word for what’s on the page of “small print”? If you just roll your eyes and sign, you’re not alone. Check out the short public service videos produced by the Center for Plain Language to remind you why you need to stand up for yourself and demand to understand what you sign. The Center for Plain Language has been working to fix brain-numbing language by supporting laws that will make Plain Language the law of the land, and by training writers who want to be understood. That is only part of the story. Unless the public demands clear communications, not everyone is going to do the right thing by writing clearly. That’s where the Demand to Understand Campaign comes in, complete with videos and even a rap song. Go to www.DemandtoUnderstand.org to hear the song and see the Baffling Banker. It’s sure to make you think, and laugh, all in just about one minute. Check out the rest of the site for tips to help you Demand to Understand what you sign. (You may recognize VA employee Melodee Mercer as the befuddled customer in the public service video. She is a certified plain language instructor who has put plain language to work in VA to the benefit of both Veterans and employees.)

Top Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1. VA turns focus on women Crown Point, Indiana – Monique Leyba sits in the physical therapy room of the Adam Benjamin Jr. Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic in Crown Point, her ankles strapped onto a leg-lift machine. She grips the handles on either side, grimaces slightly, steadily raising her left leg, then lowering it, a look of determination on her face.
2. Troops’ care facility listed critical Washington, DC – The Pentagon effort to consolidate two premier hospitals for treating wounded troops has more than doubled in price and is so rudderless that an independent review and a bipartisan group of legislators say the care could suffer. The cost of closing Walter Reed Army Medical Center, replacing it with a larger complex at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and building a hospital at Fort Belvoir, Va., has risen from $1 billion to $2.6 billion, Pentagon records show.
3. Executive Order on the Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development Washington, DC – By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 102 of title I of the Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-186) (the “Act”), and in order to establish an interagency task force to coordinate the efforts of Federal agencies to improve capital, business development opportunities, and pre-established Federal contracting goals for small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans and service-disabled veterans, it is hereby ordered as follows:
4. VA cuts health care spending with in-home monitoring systems Washington, DC – The Veterans Affairs Department has used in-home monitoring and teleconferencing systems to cut hospital admissions by 19 percent and save tens of thousands of dollars in patient care, results that have implications for lowering U.S. health care spending if a national broadband network can be established, a top official at the Federal Communications Commission told a Senate hearing.
5. Orlando VA gets $5.4M for upgrades Orlando, Florida – The Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center has received more than $5.4 million to modernize buildings in the health system. “Not only are these projects a great opportunity to help the economy, but they will help the Orlando VA Medical Center continue our mission of providing exceptional health care that improves Veterans health and well-being,” said Timothy W. Liezert, medical center director, in a prepared statement.
6. States look to emulate Wash. program for vets Vancouver, Washington – With states interested in saving seven-figure chunks of money, Vancouver resident Bill Allman is becoming a popular guy. Allman pioneered a program that has saved Washington about $18 million by linking military veterans with the federal benefits they’ve earned, which means they don’t need state-funded assistance programs.
7. Is public talk about PTSD making it harder for vets? Since men and women started returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, much attention has been paid to military mental health and the invisible wounds of war–particularly post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. With suicides among veterans outpacing battlefield combat losses, the military and the veterans’ community have made a concerted effort to help those suffering from combat stress-related conditions seek the care they need, and the media has reported extensively on these efforts. But is there a downside to all this public attention?
8. Good news for veterans Buffalo, New York – Far too often the needs of military veterans are either forgotten or simply misplaced, but lately Buffalo has received praise for its courtroom treatment of the men and women who have served this country. That’s worth celebrating— but there’s also satisfaction in the news that 85 more workers have been hired to help with processing of veterans’ benefits claims here.
9. County tops in state in veteran medical transportation costs Hamilton, Ohio – Getting veterans to medical services costs Butler County more than twice what any other county in Ohio spends, and local officials are looking for ways to trim that cost. Butler County Veterans Services Director Curt McPherson told county commissioners Monday, April 26, that his office spent $481,397 on transportation in 2009 and expects that number to break half a million dollars this year.
10. Office closure alarms veterans Atmore, Alabama – Fearful of the impending closing of one of Escambia County’s Veterans Administration offices, a group of Atmore veterans attended a Thursday workshop of the Escambia County Commissioners to voice their concerns of the possible closing of the office in Atmore. Commissioners told the veterans the decision of which office to close — Atmore or Brewton — was out of their hands. The Veterans Administration has been in contact with commissioners in recent weeks to let them know that one of the two offices — either Atmore or Brewton — will likely close as a VA cost-cutting measure.