Top 10 Veterans Stories in Weekend’s News

From the VA:

Top 10 Veterans Stories in Weekend’s News

1.      Mixed Feelings Voiced On VA Paperless Claims Processing Pilot Project. King Features’ syndicated “Veterans’ Post” (8/6. Groves), appearing in the Keene (NH) Sentinel and elsewhere, writes, “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. The Department of Veterans Affairs wants to go paperless for disability claims.” The column notes that the VA “hasn’t had a good track record of taking things online, either. Look at the $127 million it spent on an appointment scheduling system. Then it had to start over.” It also notes charges of “cases of rigging the appointments. It’s called ‘gaming,’ and employees are doing it so their performance looks better.” Nevertheless, the column says that the VA ” All it takes is one (or dozens) of wayward employees to make changes in the data. There are cases of clerks canceling “is going to try to get it right this time, and it has awarded a $9.1-million contract to IBM for a fully automated online-claims processing system.” The new claims system is scheduled to begin in November and is supposed to allow VA to make claims decisions within 125 days.
     But the VAWatchdog.org (8/6, Scott) voices skepticism, and, after noting that a VA announcement says that Secretary Shinseki “has set a goal that by 2015 VA will process all claims within 125 days with 98% accuracy,” comments that “It’s nice to know that the Secretary has a sense of humor.”

2.      VA Deputy Secretary Gould Interviewed. “Ideastream” on WCPN-FM Cleveland (8/6, Wellman) interviewed VA Deputy Secretary Scott Gould, in town to visit the regional benefits office. Gould reviews some of the challenges facing the agency, as well as the progress it has made. He identified the three main challenges confronting the agency as implementing new technology, improving business processes, and “the most important is cultural,” so that the VA is perceived as having changed from having an adversarial relation with veterans, to being sees as advocates for veterans.

3.      Over 1,100 Schools Partner With VA On GI Bill Rights. The Washington D.C. Examiner (8/6, Conway) adds that the VA “announced Wednesday that it is partnering with over 1,100 schools for the upcoming academic year to offer reduced tuition to veterans for the upcoming academic year. Through this collaborative effort, the VA and participating colleges and universities share tuition expenses at higher cost schools. “We are pleased that so many institutions are joining us to support the educational goals of the men and women who served this Nation so honorably,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.”
     The website of the Muskogee (OK) Phoenix (8/7, 14K) reports, “Paving the way for recipients of the Post-9/11 GI Bill to attend higher-cost schools, the Department of Veterans Affairs has entered into more than 3,200 agreements with more than 1,100 schools for the upcoming academic year under the ‘Yellow Ribbon’ program. Schools can enter into multiple agreements with the VA to accommodate different programs of study.

4.      CNN Examines The “Journey Home” For Vets Returning From Combat. CNN (8/7, Lemon, 10:53 p.m. EDT) devotes a “The Journey Home” segment of its “Newsroom” program to challenges faced by veterans wounded in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The segment notes that the network’s website has links to such resources as Disabled American Veterans and the Fisher House Foundation, and takes a quick look at Sew Much Comfort clothing made by Blue Star Mothers to accommodate injured soldiers. Major General Dr. Douglas Robb, the Surgeon General of the Air Mobility Command, appears and notes that “it’s incredible what our Department of Veterans Affairs, what the VA. has done, to be an integral part and an integrated part of the care of our young men and women.”

5.      VA Says Dying Forensic Sculptor Will Lose Benefits If He Works. The Philadelphia Daily News (8/8, DiFilippo, 93K) reports on forensic sculptor Frank Bender, consulted for his skill in reconstructing the appearance of murder victims from their remains, who is dying of mesothelioma and “has been forbidden to practice his craft by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is overseeing his care.” Since he has been judged 100 percent disabled by the VA, he “risks losing his benefits if he works.”

6.      Nebraska Will Dedicate First State Veterans Cemetery. The Scottsbluff (NE) Star-Herald (8/7, Guzman, 15K) reports, “After a year of planning, construction and hard work, Nebraska’s first State Veteran Cemetery in Alliance will have its dedication Friday.”

7.      State Veterans Service Officer Warns Against Bogus Veterans Solicitors, Advisors. The Newton (GA) Citizen (8/7, Knowles, 6K) reports that a veterans service officer for the Georgia Department of Veterans Services “says that scam artists are running rampant” misrepresenting themselves as charities serving veterans, and urges that people “should not donate to any group without knowing if the money is actually going to be used for the stated purpose.” Veterans and their families should also beware of “seminars telling about veterans benefits and offers to complete paperwork for veterans,” since they often charge for services available for free from a state veterans service office.

8.      North Carolina DVA Offers Scholarships For Children Of Disabled or Deceased Veterans. The Wilmington (NC) Star News (8/6) reports that the North Carolina Division of Veterans Affairs “offers scholarships to children of certain disabled, deceased or POW/MIA veterans. The four-year scholarships may be used at schools in N.C. that are state-owned institutions of higher education, community colleges and technical institutions; or privately owned, nonprofit colleges and universities.” Most of the scholarships provide free tuition, a room and board allowance and certain fees in state-owned institutions, and provide $4,500 per year in private ones.

9.      Fargo VAMC Researchers Warn Of West Nile Virus Danger In North Dakota. The Food Consumer (8/7, Downs) reports, “North Dakota may be one of the states where West Nile virus can cause a high rate of neuroinvasive disease, a new study in the March-April 2010 issue of Public Health Reports suggests. The study led by Borchardt S.M. and colleagues at the Fargo Veterans Administration Medical Center shows that the annual cumulative incidence of West Nile neuroinvasive disease can be as high as 14.6 per 100,000 population.”

10.    Iraq, Afghan Veterans Sue Over Exposure To Burn-Pits. The New York Times (8/7, Risen, 1.09M) reports that Staff Sgt. Susan Clifford, stationed in 2004 and 2005 at Balad Air Base in Iraq, was assigned to help dump her Army unit’s trash into a massive, open-air pit. Later suffering unusual respiratory problems, she retired from the service on full disability this April, as “one of the first veterans to receive an official ruling from the military that exposure to open-air burn pits at American bases in Iraq and Afghanistan have caused medical problems. Hundreds of other veterans have complained of similar illnesses that they believe were caused by exposure to the pits, forcing the Pentagon to restrict their use and the Department of Veterans Affairs to begin an investigation. About 300 victims or their families have joined a class-action lawsuit against KBR, the military contractor that operated some of the burn pits at bases in Iraq.”