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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
QUESTIONS: 414-328-8910
Date: Feb 1, 2008
NDAA 2008 UPDATE 14
The Senate passed a $696 billion 2008 Defense Authorization Bill H.R. 4986 22 JAN and President Bush signed it into law on 28 JAN. The fiscal 2008 defense budget has been laden with challenges, from Congress' inclusion of non-defense-related earmarks to its insertion of controversial language regarding Iraq. Bush announced 28 DEC that he wouldn't sign the bill until it was revised. Instead, the president signed an executive order authorizing a 3% military pay raise. The amount was 0.5 % lower than the 3.5% rate provided for in the authorization act, but took effect 1 JAN 08. All pays and incentives included in the authorization act will be retroactive to 1 JAN, a defense official said. The bill became law just a week before the next budget cycle begins as Bush sends his fiscal 2009 request to Capitol Hill. That budget proposal, along with a requested $70 billion in emergency war spending, is expected to be delivered to Congress 4 FEB.
NDAA 2008 UPDATE 14: The Senate passed a $696 billion 2008 Defense Authorization Bill H.R. 4986 22 JAN and President Bush signed it into law on 28 JAN. The fiscal 2008 defense budget has been laden with challenges, from Congress' inclusion of non-defense-related earmarks to its insertion of controversial language regarding Iraq. Bush announced 28 DEC that he wouldn't sign the bill until it was revised. Instead, the president signed an executive order authorizing a 3% military pay raise. The amount was 0.5 % lower than the 3.5% rate provided for in the authorization act, but took effect 1 JAN 08. All pays and incentives included in the authorization act will be retroactive to 1 JAN, a defense official said. The bill became law just a week before the next budget cycle begins as Bush sends his fiscal 2009 request to Capitol Hill. That budget proposal, along with a requested $70 billion in emergency war spending, is expected to be delivered to Congress 4 FEB.
The NDAA contains provisions improving the transition from active duty to veterans’ status and improving VA health care for returning service members, especially those with traumatic brain injury (TBI) or mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Among the key provisions to improve care for veterans and their families, the NDAA:
• Provides an additional three years of access to free VA health care for returning service members from Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Improves and expands VA’s ability to care for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with TBI, including research, screening, care coordination, and working with non-VA providers to provide the care needed by our veterans;
• Requires a comprehensive policy to address mental health conditions, including PTSD;
• Requires DOD and VA to streamline the records transmission process, including moving forward with fully interoperable medical records;
• Provides for a more seamless transition between active duty and veterans’ status, including a single physical exam for DOD and VA benefits;
• Creates Wounded Warrior Resource Center to serve as a single point of contact for service members, their families, and primary caregivers to report issues with facilities, obtain health care, and receive benefits information;
• Requires VA to provide age-appropriate nursing home care for our veterans;
• Allows members of the National Guard and Reserves that are eligible for Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) to use their education benefits for ten years after separation;
• Requires a study on the feasibility of streamlining statutory provisions addressing GI Bill benefits for active duty and guard and reserves.
[Source: AFPS Donna Miles article 28 Jan 08 ++]
PRESIDENTIAL PROPOSALS TO AID VETS: Democratic lawmakers reacted with skepticism 29 JAN to President Bush's new proposals to aid the families of military personnel and veterans, noting that his administration has repeatedly underfunded the Veterans Affairs Department (VA). In his State of the Union address 28 JAN, Bush proposed a series of measures intended to help military families, including the creation of hiring preferences for the spouses of military personnel and legislation to allow servicemembers to pass on unused GI Bill educational benefits to their spouses and children. “They endure sleepless nights and the daily struggle of providing for children while a loved one is serving far from home,” Bush said of military families. “We have a responsibility to provide for them.” The president also called for expanding military families' access to child care. Democrats and some veterans' advocates sharply criticized the proposals, which they said came after years of lean administration budget requests for the VA and military personnel. “The difficulty . . . that we've had on this issue is that the budgets for Iraq have sucked out all the air,” said Susan A. Davis (D-CA) chairwoman of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee. “Families have not been nearly as high a priority as they should be. Maybe that'll change. I doubt it.”
Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said the GI Bill proposal would come as “a slap in the face” to newly returning veterans if it is not accompanied by broader improvements, which have proved difficult to advance in Congress because of administration opposition and tight budgets. Bush asserted that VA funding had increased by more than 95% since he had taken office -- another suggestion met with barbs from Democrats. “He didn't tell them that his budget proposals have repeatedly cut funding for veterans, and that the only reason spending on veterans' programs has increased is because Congress raised the level of spending,” said Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. Bush is set to unveil his 2009 budget proposal 4 FEB Lawmakers already have begun to push for funding of their priorities. Akaka and Bernard Sanders, (I-VA), sent a letter on 25 JAN asking new VA Secretary James B. Peake for increased funding for the VA's National Center for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, which they said had to cut staff in recent years because of insufficient resources. Bush also will have to include funding to enact proposed recommendations of a presidential commission on “wounded warriors” led by former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS) (1969-96), and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. In his address, Bush called on Congress to pass the remaining recommendations of the commission, including a major overhaul of the veterans' disability benefits system. [Source: GQ Today Patrick Yoest article 29 Jan 08 ++]
VA CLAIM BACKLOG UPDATE 14: Advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence could help the Veterans Affairs Department reduce a backlog of disability claims that has spiked past 1 million, according to computer experts and veterans advocates. The Veterans Benefits Administration, which processes the claims, has a backlog of 650,000 pending claims and another 147,000 that are under appeal and working their way through a process that "is paper intensive, complex to understand, difficult to manage and takes years to learn," Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability and Memorial Affairs Rep. John Hall (D-NY) said at a 29 JAN hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Training an employee to rate VBA claims can take two to three years and many leave within five years, Hall said. Experienced raters can adjudicate only about three claims a day, spending two to three hours on each claim. He said the VA should consider the use of artificial intelligence technologies, such as automated decision-support tools that can determine disability payments, which would speed up claims processing.
Computer experts who testified at the hearing said technology exists today that can automate the claims process and eliminate the backlog. Tom Mitchell, chairman of the Machine Learning Department at the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh said the VBA needs to emulate health insurers such as Highmark Inc., a Pittsburgh-based company that uses computers to process 90% of its claims. Mitchell said the computer system automatically determines payments because it contains a large collection of rules, each one specifying the payment to be made in some very specific case, defined by the details of the patient's policy, treatment and history. The complex policy for determining what payment is due under which condition is encoded in these rules inside the computer." While the type of claims processed by Highmark are not identical to the kinds of claims processed by the VBA, Mitchell said they are similar enough to "conclude online processing will be of considerable value to the VA." Mitchell said other AI techniques that could work for VBA include case-based reasoning systems, which tap into a database of historical data to compare past cases with a current case, and machine learning and data-mining, which could discover patterns in a current claim that indicate more information is needed to process the claim.
The VBA could automate its processes by developing a document naming system for paper documents, which are then electronically scanned into a database to make it easier to retrieve, said Ronald Miller, professor of biomedical informatics at Vanderbilt University. VBA repeatedly loses paper records submitted by claimants. Robin Cleveland, wife of retired Marine Gunnery Sgt. Tai Cleveland, told the hearing that since November 2005, she has submitted multiple copies of Tai's medical record and was told that the VBA could not find the records and she needed to resubmit them. She said her husband, a paraplegic after injuries incurred in AUG 03 during a hand-to-hand training exercise in Kuwait, only started to receive benefit payments this month after Congress intervened. Dr. Marjie Shahani, senior vice president of operations at QTC Medical Services, which conducts medical examinations on veterans and active duty personnel seeking VBA compensation, said her company has developed an application called the Evidence Organizer, which creates an electronic file for a claim, which can include multiple medical conditions and is accessible at the click of a mouse. Shahani said the organizer cuts the time to rate an individual claim from 3.5 hours to 2.2 hours. The time savings should allow a VBA ratings specialist to review 711 claims compared with the 533 a specialist processes today, he said.
Kim Graves, director of business process integration for the VBA said the VBA already has begun to develop technologies to increase the number of claims that specialists can process. The agency has a comprehensive strategy to develop the Paperless Delivery of Veterans Benefits initiative, which will employ a variety of enhanced technologies to support end-to-end claims processing, Graves said. In addition to imaging and computable data, it will also incorporate enhanced electronic workflow capabilities, enterprise content and correspondence management services. Graves said VBA also is considering the use of business-rules-engine software for workflow management, which could improve processors' decision-making. Stephen Warren, principal deputy assistant secretary for the VA Office of Information and Technology, said the department is preparing a statement of work to engage the services of a lead systems integrator to develop strategy and business requirements for Paperless Delivery of Veterans Benefits, though he did not provide a timeline. Gary Christopherson, who served as chief information officer for the Veterans Health Administration in 2000 and principal deputy assistant secretary for Health Affairs in the Defense Department, said "using artificial intelligence or electronic decision support tools is nothing new." Government and corporations routinely use those tools, and VBA claims processing is no more difficult than any other application of AI. He also called for a radical policy change in how VBA provides benefits. He said that it should presume that a veteran has a valid claim and is entitled to benefits for a period of a year until it completes the processing of that claim, with payment starting in 30 days of the date the claim is filed. [Source: GOVExec.com Bob Berwin article 30 Jan 08++]
VA MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT UPDATE 03: In the FY2008 Omnibus Appropriations $125 million was allocated to pay for an increase in the travel reimbursement rate for disabled veterans to go to VA hospitals for care. The present 11 cents a mile was set in 1977. The increase is 17.5 cents per mile. However, it could not go into effect until VA Secretary Peake announced the change and directed the VA to put it into effect. In JAN 12 bi-partisan rural Senators wrote the Secretary asking him to put the change in effect as soon as possible. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has now made the decision to increase VA’s beneficiary travel mileage reimbursement rate effective 1 FEB 08, to 28.5 cents per mile for travel related to health care per VHA Dir 2008-006 . This would include travel for recalls due to a deficient lab, electrocardiogram (EKG), and x-ray in relation to a Compensation and Pension (C&P) examination (convenience of the Government). Mileage reimbursement claims for travel prior to 1 FEB 08, may still be submitted. Such claims will be processed using the previous rates and deductibles.
Title 38 U.S.C. § 111(c)(5) requires VA to adjust proportionately the beneficiary travel mileage reimbursement rate deductibles for travel in relation to examination, treatment or care (currently $3 one way; $6 round trip; with a maximum of $18 per calendar month) effective on the date of a beneficiary travel mileage reimbursement rate change. Therefore, based on the increase of the beneficiary travel mileage reimbursement rate, the deductible is adjusted proportionately to $7.77 per one way trip; $15.54 for a round trip; with a maximum deductible of $46.62 per calendar month. These deductibles may be waived in accordance with Title 38 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §17.144(b) when their imposition would cause severe financial hardship. Mileage reimbursement claims for travel prior to February 1, 2008, may still be received. Such claims will be processed using the previous rates and deductibles. [Source: TREA Washington Update 25 JAN 08 ++]
VET BENEFIT EXPIRATION DATES: Many of your benefits have an expiration date. Below are a few important ones to remember so you don't lose out.
• Montgomery GI Bill for Active-Duty (MGIB): 10 years from date of last discharge or release from active duty.
• Veterans Education Assistance Program (VEAP): 10 years from date of last discharge or release from active duty.
• Montgomery GI Bill for Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR): 14 years from the date of eligibility for the program, or until released from the Selected Reserve or National Guard. Some extensions available if activated.
• Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VocRehab): Generally, 12 years of separation from service or within 12 years of being awarded service-connected VA disability compensation.
• Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI): Coverage ends 120 days after separation or can be extended up to 1 year for totally disabled veterans.
[Source: Military.com http://www.military.com/benefits/veteran-benefits/veterans-benefit-expiration-dates 28 Jan 08 ++]
VETERAN EMPLOYMENT UPDATE 02: This New Year brings new job opportunities for transitioning servicemembers and veterans interested in careers in health care, technology and consulting. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts that these industries will have the largest employment, salary and wage growth into 2016. If clicking on the below items does not open a website for further details refer to http://www.military.com/NL_MR/1,14852,5391,00.html. Here are the top jobs for 2008:
1) Network systems and data communications analyst
2) Personal and home care aides
3) Home health aides
4) Computer software engineers, applications
5) Veterinary technologists and technicians
6) Personal financial advisors
7) Medical assistants
8) Veterinarians
9) Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors
10) Financial analysts
11) Social and human service assistants
12) Gaming surveillance officers and gaming investigators
13) Physical therapist assistants
14) Forensic science technicians
15) Dental hygienists
16) Mental health counselors
17) Mental health and substance abuse social workers
18) Dental assistants
19) Computer systems analysts
20) Database administrators
21) Computer software engineers, systems software
22) Gaming and Sports book writers and runners
23) Environmental science and protection technicians, including health
24) Physical therapists
25) Physician assistants
[Source: Military.com article 14 Jan 08 ++
DOD DISABILITY EVALUATION SYSTEM UPDATE 09: The Army’s new Warrior Transition Unit led by Lt. Col. Chip Pierce is a brigade designed specifically to address the administrative needs of injured soldiers. In February, Army Times reported that soldiers languished for months — even years — in the medical hold system, facing bureaucratic tangles as they worked their way toward the physical evaluation board to determine their disability rating for retirement pay. The stories, as well as reports from the Pentagon Inspector’s General and Government Accountability Office and testimony of injured soldiers before Congress, brought about a series of investigations and planned changes. And the new Warrior Transition Unit meant officials could immediately put some of those changes into effect. Since then, the Army has added staff, improved training for counselors and lawyers, and ensured every soldier has someone overseeing his or her progress through the system. And Building 18, Walter Reed’s dilapidated symbol of the breakdown in the system, no longer houses wounded soldiers.
While the number of soldiers medically retired — meaning they received a disability rating of 30% or higher or had at least 18 years of service when they went through the disability process — declined from 2005 to 2006, it increased by several hundred in 2007, according to figures provide by Col. Carlton Buchanan, deputy commander of the Army’s Physical Disability Agency. Moreover, Buchanan said, while 270 fewer soldiers were medically retired in 2006 than in 2005, the percentage of those completing the evaluation process that were medically retired went up over that time, and has continued to rise in 2007:
• In 2005, 13,048 soldiers went through the process and 2,232 were medically retired, about 17.1%.
• In 2006, 10,460 soldiers went through the process and 1,956 were medically retired, about 18.7%.
• In 2007, 10,400 soldiers went through the process and 2,397 were medically retired — about 23%.
The 8,003 soldiers who weren’t medically retired in 2007 either were found fit and remained in the Army, were awarded a lump-sum severance payment based on rank and years of service, or were separated without benefits if their condition was found to be pre-existing and they hadn’t been in the military for at least seven years. About 8,900 soldiers remain in the Warrior Transition Unit waiting for their final disability evaluation board.
Things still aren’t perfect; Pierce said it’s hard to judge how soldiers feel about the improvements because they weren’t in the system a year ago. And there are still cases taking longer than they should to go through the process. But now, rather than justifying a months-long quagmire, as had been done by other officials in the past, Pierce said his office tracks, by name, every soldier whose transition takes longer than 60 days. Prior to the 60-day mark, soldiers’ squad leaders in the Warrior Transition Units are responsible for making sure soldiers move through as quickly as possible. The Marine Corps also stood up a Wounded Warriors regiment last spring to keep track of Marines and sailors going through the disability retirement system. Though the Navy and the Marine Corps have a better track record for getting service members through the process, there have been worries about the equity of their ratings system. An Army Times investigation last spring found that enlisted Marines lag far behind enlisted sailors and airmen in the size of the average disability payments they are awarded. The 2006 data released by the Defense Department’s Office of the Actuary show Marines and soldiers continue to lag, even though they have higher injury rates and could be expected to have a greater proportion of serious injuries because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan than do sailors or airmen. Their ranks and times in service were also comparable. The average monthly disability payments for all enlisted members receiving disability pay from the military in 2006:
• Enlisted: • Air Force: $963 • Navy: $845 • Army: $792 • Marine Corps: $774.
• Officers: • Air Force: $2,668 • Navy: $2,392 • Marine Corps: $2,336 • Army: $2,067.
According to the Office of the Actuary, the number of Marines medically retired in 2006 went up by about 200 compared with the previous year — far more than any other service. The Air Force and Navy also saw increases in permanent disability retirements from 2005 to 2006 of 125 airmen and 36 sailors. Buchanan said part of the reason for the Army’s increase of more than 400 disability retirements in 2007 was that combat-related injuries rose to 18% from about 15% the year before. Among soldiers going through the military disability evaluation process, more than half of those with combat-related injuries are retired, Buchanan said. Another reason for the increase, he said, is “increased training of physicians and adjudicators, coupled with greater precision in describing injuries, such as scars, muscle and nerve injuries, as well as mental disorders. That gives medical boards better information to determine proper disability percentages”. [Source: ArmyTimes Kelly Kennedy article 15 Jan 0 ++
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Wisconsin Paralyzed Veterans of America
2311 South 108th Street
West Allis, WI 53227-1901
414-328-8910
<http://www.wisconsinPVA.org/>
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