Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 1-9-09

1. VA To Re-Open Enrollment To 265,000 Priority 8 Vets.  
2. Big Turnout Expected For Stand Down Event In DC.  
3. VA Part Of Effort To Improve Substance Abuse Treatment Of Vets From Iraq, Afghanistan.  
4. VA, Veterans Coalition Form Partnership.  
5. Five Marines Honored For Bravery During 2005 Firefight In Iraq.  
6. Injured US Troops Still Waiting To File Appeals With Disability Board.  
7. Former Major League Umpire Visits Bay Pines VAMC.    
8. New VA Clinic To Open In Montana.  
9. Hefner VAMC To Host Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.  
VA Hospital In Georgia Donates Van.

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HAVE YOU HEARD?
Wounded service members leaving the military will have easier, quicker access to veterans benefits with the expansion of a pilot program offering streamlined disability evaluations at 19 military installations, representing all military departments. The Disability Evaluation System (DES) pilot started in the National Capitol Region in coordination with DoD to test a new process that eliminates duplicative, time-consuming and often confusing elements of the current disability processes of the two departments. The pilot has already expanded to Fort Meade, Md. and Fort Belvoir, Va. The remaining 17 installations will begin upon completion of site preparations and personnel orientation and training, during an eight-month period ending in May 2009. In November 2007, VA and DoD implemented the pilot test for disability cases originating at the three major military treatment facilities in the national capitol region. To date, over 700 service members have participated in the pilot. The single disability examination pilot is focused on recommendations from the reports of the Task Force on Returning Global War on Terrorism Heroes, the Independent Review Group, the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors (the Dole/Shalala Commission), and the Commission on Veterans’ Disability Benefits.

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1.      VA To Re-Open Enrollment To 265,000 Priority 8 Vets.   The Alexandria (LA) Town Talk (1/9) reports, "The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Thursday plans to re-open enrollment in its health care system" by "July 2009 to 265,000" Priority 8 veterans, "whose incomes exceed current limits." In a press release, VA Secretary Dr. James B. Peake said, "We’re pleased to be able to offer what has been called ‘the best care anywhere’ to many more new veterans." According to the press release, enrollment was suspended for Priority 8 veterans because of a "tremendous growth in the number of veterans then seeking enrollment." The Cleburne (TX) Times-Review (1/9) publishes a similar story.
      In his syndicated "Military Update" column, appearing in Stars And Stripes (1/9) Tom Philpott reports, "In expanding enrollment," the VA "is acting at the direction of Congress. Last year, Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) fought successfully to add $350 million to the VA budget so income thresholds that bar Priority 8 veterans could be raised 10 percent to allow more middle income veterans access."

2.      Big Turnout Expected For Stand Down Event In DC.   In continuing news, the Washington Times (1/9, Laxer) reports Washington DC Veteran Affairs Medical Center officials "say they are planning for as many as 800 homeless veterans Saturday at their annual medical-screenings and employment-services event." The annual Winterhaven Homeless Veterans Stand Down "is sponsored by the hospital and organized with help from many local veteran service groups." This year’s event "may be one of the last public appearances for VA Secretary James B. Peake. He will help serve lunch to veterans about noon."

3.      VA Part Of Effort To Improve Substance Abuse Treatment Of Vets From Iraq, Afghanistan.   On its website, FOX News (1/8) reported US government experts "are seeking new ways to treat a flood of American troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with substance abuse problems compounded by conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder. ‘This new combination of moderate traumatic brain injury along with post-traumatic stress disorder and the substance abuse has been very difficult to treat,’ Dr. Thomas Kosten, who heads a Department of Veterans Affairs effort to improve substance abuse treatment, said on Wednesday." Fox added that the "National Institutes of Health, Pentagon, VA and academic experts met on Tuesday and Wednesday to consider recommendations on preventing and treating substance abuse among troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse, hoped for final recommendations in two months."
4.       VA, Veterans Coalition Form Partnership.   Federal Daily (1/9) reports the Department of Veterans Affairs "on Jan. 7 announced the launch of a new partnership to help non-governmental organizations (NGOs) streamline efforts to aid veterans, their families and survivors. Under the new NGO Gateway Initiative," the VA "will collaborate with the nonprofit Veterans Coalition Inc., which was formed about two years ago by several national veterans groups." The VA "will provide a career federal employee to serve as ombudsman to help NGOs with their veterans’ programs," and the VA’s "deputy secretary will act as a non-voting advisory liaison to the group’s board of directors."

5.      Five Marines Honored For Bravery During 2005 Firefight In Iraq.   The Los Angeles Times (1/9, Perry) reports that on Thursday, "five military personnel with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment" were "honored at Camp Pendleton for their bravery" during a 2005 firefight in Iraq "in which five Marines were killed and 11 badly wounded." The Navy Cross, the "second-highest medal for bravery that can be bestowed on a Marine or sailor, was awarded to Lance Cpl. Joshua Mooi," while former Navy corpsman Jesse Hickey, "former Cpl. Javier Alvarez and Gunnery Sgt. Robert W. Homer were each awarded the Silver Star. A Silver Star was also awarded posthumously to 2nd Lt. Donald R. McGlothlin."

6.      Injured US Troops Still Waiting To File Appeals With Disability Board.   The AP (1/8) reported, "Wounded troops are still waiting to file new appeals of disability ratings that determine what kind of medical care and benefits they get after federal officials missed their goal for beginning the process. The Department of Defense was already months behind on starting the work" of a congressionally-mandated, "three-member board that will hear the appeals." Spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said an application for appealing to the board "should be posted" on its website in a few days, but veterans "advocates are weary of such promises. They note it wasn’t until June — months after the panel was to begin operating — that the Defense Department formally announced its creation."7.      Former Major League Umpire Visits Bay Pines VAMC.   The Clearwater (FL) Gazette (1/9) reports, "Former Major League Baseball Umpire Larry Barnett used to get into a lot of arguments to make a living, but disabled veterans" at the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Bay Pines, Florida, "looked forward to the banter during his visit Thursday, January 8, as part of the Disabled American Veterans VA Voluntary Service program. Barnett has been visiting sick and disabled veterans hospitalized at VA medical centers since 1977." He "makes about 50 visits to VA medical centers each year, both during and after the baseball season."

8.      New VA Clinic To Open In Montana.   The Havre (MT) Daily News (1/8, Leeds) reported, "Decades of work are culminating in success with the opening of a Veterans Affairs clinic in Havre Monday." In a "telephone interview from Washington" on Wednesday, US Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), "a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, congratulated the work accomplished on the local level to bring the clinic to Havre," saying it "really has been a grassroots effort."

9.      Hefner VAMC To Host Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.   In a story on "some events related to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday," the Salisbury (NC) Post (1/8) begins its report by noting that the Hefner Veterans Affairs Medical Center "will host a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, in the Social Room of Building 6, 1601 Brenner Ave." The program "features keynote speaker Dr. Bryant Norman Jr., president of the Salisbury NAACP."

10.    VA Hospital In Georgia Donates Van.   On its website, WTOC-TV Savannah, GA (1/8, Cannady) said Ray Hendrix, "president of the local American Legion post," has lobbied the Department of Veterans Affairs "to open a medical clinic in Statesboro. Currently the closest VA hospitals are in Augusta and Dublin, each more than an hour’s drive away." Hendrix "hasn’t given up on the hope of a VA clinic in Statesboro," but he did manage to convince "the Augusta hospital to donate" a van that, beginning next week, "will make weekly runs to both hospitals."