Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 12-02-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Bingaman Asking For Streamlined Clinic Contracting Process In New Mexico.
2. AMVETS: Afghanistan Plan "Reinforces The Need For Timely" VA, Defense Funding.
3. Judge Delays Sentencing For Iraq Veteran Charged With Robbing Bank.
4. Pearl Harbor A Focus Of Events At VA Hospitals.
5. Iraq Veteran Running For Seat In Congress.
6. Vietnam Vet Sentenced To Probation For Robbing Bank.
7. Lawsuit Alleges Bank May Have Cheated Vets.
8. VA Part Of Electronic Health Records Exchange Project.
9. Finalists Emerge For VA Clinic In Minnesota.
10. New VA Clinic Opens In New Hampshire.

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HAVE YOU HEARD?
Beginning in January, the VA/DoD Disability Evaluation System pilot program will expand to six medical facilities at Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Lewis, Wash.; Fort Riley, Kan.; and Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, Va. Twenty-seven other military facilities already take part in the program. The pilot program began in November 2007 within the National Capitol Region and affects servicemembers who separated from the military under honorable conditions for service-related injuries. It addresses redundancy and inconsistency in medical evaluations in separate disability processes used by DoD and VA. Under the pilot programs, evaluations for veterans are managed first by DoD physicians, then by VA. Physicians in both departments collaborate on medical findings, speeding the claims and benefit payment processes for disabled veterans. More than 5,400 military members have participated in the pilot program. "Streamlining our disability claims system and working closely with DoD to care for today’s generation of heroes are among VA’s top priorities," said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. "We will never lose sight of the fact that veterans and military personnel have earned their benefits … by virtue of their service to the nation."

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1.      Bingaman Asking For Streamlined Clinic Contracting Process In New Mexico. In continuing coverage, the AP (12/2) reports US Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) "is asking Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to streamline a contracting process that Bingaman says is preventing the Department of Veterans Affairs from leasing larger facilities for clinics." Bingaman "wants the agency to act quickly to relocate several VA health clinics that no longer adequately serve veterans in the state. He says the current process can take years."  

2.      AMVETS: Afghanistan Plan "Reinforces The Need For Timely" VA, Defense Funding. At the end of a story noting some "reaction to President Barack Obama’s plans for the Afghanistan war," the AP (12/2) reports AMVETS, an advocacy group for veterans, stated, "The need for additional troops only reinforces the need for timely" Veterans Affairs "and defense funding. Both the VA and defense budgets are now more than two months late, and our leaders in Congress must act quickly to ensure that we meet the needs of those brave enough to fight our nation’s wars."
     In a related op-ed on the Huffington Post (12/1), Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, wrote, "Congress must send the VA" healthcare budget to the President "immediately," but "Congress cannot stop there. The outdated and ineffective military and VA disability systems that leave hundreds of thousands of veterans waiting for claims to be processed must be reformed." Rieckhoff went on to say that "during these trying economic times, we must redouble our efforts to ensure that every veteran can find employment and a place to call home." 

3.      Judge Delays Sentencing For Iraq Veteran Charged With Robbing Bank. The Johnstown (PA) Tribune-Democrat (12/2) reports, "Judge Gerard Long on Tuesday again delayed the sentencing of an Iraq War veteran on bank robbery and other charges while his lawyer continues to try to get additional counseling though the Veterans Administration" for the 28-year-old defendant. John Matthew Fletcher "already is in counseling for post traumatic stress disorder at a Veterans Center, but ‘we want to get a more solid program,’ Johnstown Attorney Caram Abood said. Fletcher pleaded guilty last December to terroristic threats and robbery in the knifepoint holdup at 1stSummit Bank…on Sept. 25, 2008." He has "also entered guilty pleas in the theft of copper wire, in phoning a bomb threat that forced the evacuation of two schools and in stalking his ex-girlfriend." 

4.      Pearl Harbor A Focus Of Events At VA Hospitals. The Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette (12/2, 22K) reports, "In honor of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day," the Bath Veterans Affairs Medical Center "will hold an open house at its historical museum from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 7. The event is open to the public and includes a tour of the museum, which contains military and medical artifacts dating back to 1776." The Lebanon (PA) Daily News (12/2, 19K), meanwhile reports, "A ceremony to honor Pearl Harbor veterans will take place Sunday afternoon" at the Lebanon VAMC.
 

5.      Iraq Veteran Running For Seat In Congress. On its website, WBAY-TV Green Bay, WI (12/1) said the "race for the 8th Congressional District grew even more crowded Tuesday as State Representative Roger Roth," an Iraq veteran, "declared his candidacy for Congress." Roth "is the seventh Republican to enter the race" against "Democratic incumbent, Steve Kagen."  

6.      Vietnam Vet Sentenced To Probation For Robbing Bank. The North County (CA) Times (12/1) noted that on Monday, Michael Casey Wilson, a 69-year-old Vietnam vet "who robbed a City Heights bank of $107,000 using a phony bomb threat," was "sentenced Monday to probation and given credit for nearly four months in jail." Wilson, "who has numerous health problems, including" post-traumatic stress disorder, "faced up to six years in prison after his guilty plea Oct. 27 to one felony count of robbery and a misdemeanor count of making a false report of a bomb. Wilson’s attorney, Kenneth Kaminski, told Judge Kathleen Lewis that the defendant’s financial problems overcame any judgment when he robbed" the bank. The Times adds, "The defendant has been receiving medical and psychological services from the Veterans Administration, Kaminski said."  

7.      Lawsuit Alleges Bank May Have Cheated Vets. The Rome (GA) News-Tribune (12/1, Jones) reported, "Military veterans who refinanced their mortgages in expectation of lower interest rates may have been cheated on fees by their bank, according to a lawsuit pending" in Federal court. The bank, Wells Fargo "formally denied…the allegations," which "have prompted" US Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) "to call for a congressional hearing." The lawmaker, "who serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee," also "asked the Department of Veterans Affairs to look into its own practices." The agency, however, "concluded it was in compliance."  

8.      VA Part Of Electronic Health Records Exchange Project. In continuing coverage, NextGov (12/2, Brewin) reports, "The Veterans Affairs Department and Kaiser Permanente launched a pilot project in November in the San Diego area to test how clinicians in both organizations can exchange electronic health records over" the Nationwide Health Information Network, which the Health and Human Services Department "is developing to foster interchange of medical information between" Federal "agencies and private providers." After noting that in commenting on the project, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki stated the "ability to share critical health information is essential to interoperability," NextGov adds, "Stephen Ondra, senior policy adviser for health affairs at VA, said the project dovetails with the $20 billion in stimulus funds to provide every American with an electronic health record within five years." Near the end of his "Federal Eye" blog for the Washington Post (12/1, 684K), Ed O’Keefe also took note of the project, as did Government Health IT (11/26, Monegain, Merrill). 
 

 9.      Finalists Emerge For VA Clinic In Minnesota. The Minneapolis Star Tribune (12/2, Levy, 347K) reports, "Five Elk River locations and three Ramsey sites are finalists for the new veterans clinic in the northwestern suburbs, with the Department of Veterans Affairs expected to make its selection next month." Veterans Affairs contracting officer Lee Wiech, "who will choose the new clinic’s home," has "been hesitant to discuss the selection process," but he "has said he expects the new clinic to open in 2010." 

10.    New VA Clinic Opens In New Hampshire. The Littleton (NH) Courier (12/2, McGrath) reports, "After a three month absence, there is again" a Veterans Affairs "clinic operating in Littleton. The new clinic opened with little fanfare Oct. 1 on Meadow Street." Andy LaCasse, the "acting public relations officer for the White River Junction, Vt., VA hospital, said the 90 day turnaround for opening a new clinic was fantastic." The Courier adds, "The previous clinic, located in Littleton Regional Hospital, closed July 1 after the doctors who ran it decided not to renew their contract and returned to private practice."