So, how is that "Veterans Choice" thing working out?

Remember how many times Congress said they needed more money to cover veterans being sent away from the VA? 

Any idea where that money went if they didn't pay the bills?

Department of Veteran's Affairs years behind on payments to local hospitals
WAVI 5 News
By Emily Tadlock
Mar 26, 2018

AUGUSTA, Maine (WABI) Many hospitals in Maine provide services to veterans through the VA Choice Program, a system where veterans can choose to receive care closer to home instead of traveling to a VA facility far away.

But, the Department of Veterans Affairs is slow at paying the bills for those services.

Congressman Bruce Poliquin spear-headed a discussion in Augusta Monday designed to ensure hospitals are paid what they're owed.

Lisa Harvey-McPherson with Eastern Maine Healthcare System says, "It's a system wide issue from the Aroostook Medical Center to our hospitals in Hancock County to our very rural hospitals in Pittsfield and Greenville. The Veterans Administration is fundamentally challenged to pay their bills on time. It's highly inefficient on their end and on our end to spend so much time reviewing each and every claim in an effort to get paid."

The Department of Veterans Affairs is years behind on their payments and millions of dollars in debt to hospitals for veteran's services.

This is a challenge for all hospitals, especially for those in rural parts of our state.
read more here

Considering those yahoos thought that veterans becoming disabled serving this country were no longer due the best care we could give them!

Yes, they forget to mention that part all the time. 

WPFT 5 News got involved, veteran had claim approved in days!

WPFT 5 News got involved with a veteran about his claim. Suddenly, it was approved. 

One more lesson on the squeaky wheel!

Veterans and their families would be automatically eligible as long as they spent more than 30 days at Camp Lejeune and had one of the qualifying ailments, including kidney cancer. 

“They should be paying me,” he said,

But the VA wasn’t paying him, not until last week when we told them about Tom’s story.

And just days later, they granted Tom his long awaited benefits at an 80% disability rating-backdated to March of last year.

He's due more than $1,700 per month.

click link above for video on this veteran.

Vietnam Veteran's prayer answered by Fort Polk after 53 years

Ft. Polk hospital helps Vietnam Vet correct military record
KALB News
By Lydia Magallanes
Mar 23, 2018

“All of the people that I’ve met in the week that I’ve been here have made me just feel wonderful,” he said. “It’s the answer to a 53-year prayer.”

Dr. Gregory Grant, chief of medical boards and Marisol Lopez, a physical evaluation board liaison officer are part of the team who helped answer that prayer. Both are inspired by Pillette's story of patience and faith.

FORT POLK, La. (KALB) - In 1965, Sgt. Kibbie Pillette, a combat medic with 5th Special Forces group was on a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam when he was shot in the back and mouth. He lost a third of his tongue and wasn't expected to be able to speak again. The only member of his platoon to survive, the Abbeville native would fight another battle once he got home: living with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I'd have nightmares, I’d have flashbacks I went through it all,” Pillette said. “Then getting over the morphine addiction was probably my toughest battle. Had my mother not been as strong as he was and the help I received from the VA, I don't know where I’d be now.”
read more here

More BS on privatization of the VA!

More BS on privatization of the VA!

Vets groups want a meeting with Trump to sort out VA choice impasse

"Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tennessee, called on both sides of the argument to recognize that private and community care, when properly integrated with the VA's health care system, was in the best interests of veterans caught up in wait lists for appointments, or who need specialized treatment unavailable at the local VA."

NO IT WAS NOT!

Oh, well, then he must not know about what our healthcare looks like. I have to deal with what the rest of the population has to go through, and while members of Congress keep telling us how lousy our healthcare is, they want to dump disabled veterans into this mess? Are they out of their minds?

Did he bother to check the history of all this?

This should not even be debated! Fix the VA since veterans were disabled while putting their lives on the line every time Congress sent them to fight wars and risk their lives across the world! Did they forget it was their job to fix it or did they care more about breaking it to sell off the care these veterans were promised?

How much BS are we going to put up with?

Maybe someone should send him this!

Gulf War Officially Ended, But Veterans Still Fight

If you're wondering why Iraq lasted as long, claimed as many lives, this day is a good reminder of what had been forgotten about by Congress.

New York Times

History:Persian Gulf War

With Iraqi resistance nearing collapse, Bush declared a ceasefire on February 28, ending the Persian Gulf War. According to the peace terms that Hussein subsequently accepted, Iraq would recognize Kuwait’s sovereignty and get rid of all its weapons of mass destruction (including nuclear, biological and chemical weapons). In all, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Iraqi forces were killed, in comparison with only 300 coalition troops.

General Colin Powell

Would you describe the decision to stop the fighting?

The last day was a fascinating one. In briefing the president, I said Norm and I thought that in another couple of days we would be asking him to end the war. The Highway of Death was all over television at that point.The president said, “Well, if we've accomplished the mission, and I think we have, then what's the point of killing more people. Why not end it in the next 12 to 18 hours?”I agreed. Mr. Cheney agreed. Norm agreed. All the president's advisors agreed. And that's what we did. We gave Norm like 12 hours to stake out a line, figure out where everybody was to give up, and halt the war at that point. It was the subject of great controversy afterward.For more than 10 years, I had people asking me, “Why didn't you go to Baghdad?” I explained why, as did the president and Mr. Cheney. Then, in 2003, we went to Baghdad, and nobody asked me again.

General Norman Schwarzkopf

Despite extensive second-guessing about the conclusion of the Persian Gulf War, former Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf said the United States and its allies never seriously considered pressing the military offensive on to Baghdad.

In a radio interview and in his forthcoming autobiography, "It Doesn't Take a Hero," Schwarzkopf, the field commander during the conflict, said that taking Baghdad would have splintered the 28-nation Gulf War coalition, cost American lives and dragged the United States into a quagmire "like the dinosaur in the tar pit."

The result:Department of Veterans Affairs

Gulf War

Veterans discharged under conditions other than dishonorable who served in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations, which includes the areas specified by regulation, but not Afghanistan, may be entitled to disability compensation for certain undiagnosed illnesses, certain diagnosable chronic disability patterns, and certain presumptive diseases ( as described below) even though these disorders did not become manifest during qualifying service. Veterans who served in Afghanistan on or after September 19, 2001, may be entitled to disability compensation for certain presumptive diseases.

Eligibility Requirements

• Qualifying undiagnosed illnesses or diagnosable chronic disability patterns, that appeared either during a qualifying period of active service or prior to December 31, 2021, must meet the following conditions:
  • There must be no other cause for your disability or illness than service in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations.
  • your disability existed for 6 months or more, AND
  • If your disability or illness did not appear during active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations, then it must have appeared prior to December 31, 2021, to a degree that is at least 10-percent disabling (for VA rating purposes).

The disability must be one or more of the following:

• Undiagnosed illnesses. These are illnesses that may include but are not limited to: abnormal weight loss, fatigue, cardiovascular disease, muscle and joint pain, headache, menstrual disorders, neurological and psychological problems, skin conditions, respiratory disorders, and sleep disturbances.
• Diagnosable functional gastrointestinal disorders. Functional gastrointestinal disorders are a group of conditions characterized by chronic or recurrent symptoms that are unexplained. These disorders may include but are not limited to irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspesia, functional vomiting, functional constipation, functional bloating, functional abdominal pain syndrome, and functional dysphagia.
• Diagnosable Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Diagnosable Fibromyalgia

Certain presumptive diseases, which will be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by service even if there is no evidence of such disease during active service. With three exceptions (see asterisks), one of the following must have become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within 1 year of the date of separation from a qualifying period of active service:

• Burcellosis
• Campylobacter jejuni
• Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)
• Malaria* (if not 10 percent or more within one year of separation, may be 10 percent or more at a time when standard or accepted treatises indicate that the incubation period commenced during qualifying period of service)
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis* (no time limit)
• Nontyphoid Salmonella
• Shigella
• Visceral leishmaniasis* (no time limit)
• West Nile Virus

 Congress did not learn from history, and the troops were destined to repeat it. 

Veterans Deserve Better Than Having to Make a Choice! 
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 27, 2018

Members of Congress need to remember that veterans were disabled serving this nation and risked their lives for this nation. Honoring that should never be a "choice" but must be regarded as an obligation!

You'd think they would already know that, but they have not taken action to make sure the VA was able to fulfill their needs.

Congress? Yes! It has been their job since 1946, so if there is anything veterans are not getting, it is their fault. 

As for the "choice" that some members of Congress are pushing, remember, they are the same ones telling civilians how bad our system is. Why on earth would they think it was a good idea to toss veterans out of the VA and send them into this mess?

We seem to have our answer, and it is not a good one. Greedy people want to make a lot of money off our veterans! Tell them we owe veterans, we do not own them. Stop trying to sell them off!

White House meets with veterans groups amid tension over Shulkin, Choice program
CVA is backed by Charles and David Koch, billionaires who seek to roll back government bureaucracy. The group has been one of VA's most vocal critics since the agency's 2014 wait-time scandal was exposed. Its profile has grown during the Trump administration, with one of its former senior advisers, Darin Selnick, serving as veteran affairs adviser inside the White House.

Which is more BS if you look up the history of the VA and backlog of claims. By June of 2009 they were up to a million in the backlog. Go back and check for when Bush was President too, but don't stop there. Veterans have had to come home and protest for promises to be kept since the Revolutionary War!!!!!

VA system hacked, some Texas veterans did not get deposits

Local vet gets answers about missing money
Seguin Gazette
Kati Waxler
February 25, 2018

Houston Area VA has also urged all veterans who suspect that they have been the victim of fraud to call the VA at 1-800-827-1000 or reach the VA OIG at 1-800-488-8244 or via email at vaoighotline@va.gov.

A veteran whose monthly disability checks were rerouted for two months without his knowledge has finally received answers, as well as his money.

“I found out that (the VA) system was hacked,” Santa Clara resident Phil Sierer said. “So somebody went in, removed my bank information and had my benefits routed to a virtual bank.”

Recently, the Seguin Gazette ran an article highlighting the issues that local veterans have had with their disability benefits. It was reported that several disabled veterans were unable to receive their benefits via direct deposit. Upon notifying Veterans Affairs, some residents were still left without answers.

Gary Elley, the public information officer for Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Chapter 61, said that “a number of veterans did not receive their VA disability compensation checks,” due to the theft.

Elley issued a press release, urging veterans to check their accounts and monitor where deposits were being sent.

When the Feb. 8 article was published, Sierer had no answers as to when he would get his missing benefits. At the time, there also was no response from the VA on the issue.
read more here

Dying Vietnam Veteran and Wife Face Eviction

Sunbury man faces eviction, terminal illness
The Daily Item
By Rick Dandes and Justin Strawser
6 hrs ago

SUNBURY — Terminally ill and facing eviction, a Vietnam veteran and his wife are fighting the Veteran’s Administration for full disability benefits that would help them stay in their Sunbury home.

Robert Inglis The Daily Item

Dennis and Donda O'Brien of Sudbury talk about the prospect of losing their housing because of financial difficulties.

Dennis and Donda O’Brien this week sat quietly in their Edison Street home, a rental, wondering how long they’ll be able to stay.

“We need more money for rent, and utilities,” said Donda, his wife of three years. “Fighting the government costs a lot of money. We’ve been going in circles, repeating the application processes, writing letters to the V.A., to our congressmen, to presidents Obama and Trump.”

There are 21.8 million veterans of the U.S. armed forces as of 2014. The number of veterans with a service-connected disability rating in 2014 was 3.8 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Trauma trickles down

The frustration shows on Dennis’s face. At 61, he said he has cancer of the throat, is terminally ill in the last stages of emphysema, and has a heart condition, broken neck and broken back. He has vertigo, headaches, and has trouble focusing his attention — all resulting, he believes from the head trauma originally suffered more than 40 years ago. An injury, O’Brien is convinced, the Veterans Administration has never fully addressed.
read more here

American Legion Post No. 92 needs help to keep helping veterans

Veterans who help veterans need help of their own
Herald Net
Julie Muhlstein
February 4, 2018

Even after a veteran has died, a claim effort can continue and a widow may be helped. “Some guys just want to give up,” Hughes said. “We try to convince them not to.”

Just outside Stanwood’s American Legion Post 92 Thursday, Navy veteran and Post Chaplain Phil Lewis, 85, talks about major work needed on the building, which is only a few years younger than he is. Post Cmdr. Gina Seegert might appear to be suffering from a little sticker shock, considering they need to raise $90,000. (Dan Bates / The Herald)

The distinct Spanish mission-style building has a past. It was built in 1939, by the Works Progress Administration, as East Stanwood City Hall. More than a piece of history — a place with a past — today it serves a vital purpose. As Stanwood American Legion Post No. 92, it helps veterans in need.

With its volunteer Veteran Service Officers, the post guides people who have served in the military through the paperwork tangle to obtain veterans benefits. The Legion hall hosts monthly prime-rib dinners, and offers bingo and other social opportunities. Members send care packages to local men and women now in the armed forces.

A lifeline for veterans, Stanwood’s Post 92 now has a need of its own.

When it was built, an 80-foot beam made by flattening an old-growth tree was used as a main support. Under a saggy part of the hall’s floor, that beam is rotting. In 2014, the group replaced about 30 feet of it.

Phil Lewis, the 85-year-old chaplain of Post 92, is leading a “Replace the Beam” fundraising project. The goal is $90,000. The money would be used to jack up the building, cut out the existing 2-foot-by-2 foot beam, put a form in place, add rebar, and pour cement to create a new 50-foot concrete beam. Project plans include replacing part of the floor.

read more here

Aurora cop and ex-Marine owes the VA $16K due to a clerical error

He almost died in Iraq. Now, an Aurora cop and ex-Marine owes the VA $16K due to a clerical error.

Chicago Tribune
Denise Crosby
January 14, 2018

Michael Bond knew he'd have a tough time convincing his Marine buddy to accept any form of charity.

So the former Naperville man chose not to tell Aurora Police Officer Joshua Horton about the GoFundMe account he'd set up for him.

Joshua Horton, who was seriously wounded in 2004 in Iraq right before becoming the father of quintuplets, poses for a family photo with the four surviving quints, now 14, his two older children and second wife Aria. (Joshua Horton)

The "Wounded Marine Family Relief" fundraiser was created to help offset a clerical error that was taking away almost $16,000 in disability payments Horton received from the Veterans Administration after being seriously wounded in Iraq. Those VA benefits had been going to Horton's six children — including four surviving quintuplets who had been born in October 2004 at Edward Hospital, even as their father was being flown out of Iraq with life-threatening injuries sustained in a mortar attack.

Bond, who like Horton, had re-enlisted for active duty after 9/11, describes his close friend — they met while serving with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines — as a "warrior servant" who has "answered the call every time, without hesitation, even when he could have stood down."

Horton could certainly have claimed a hardship leave after finding out his wife Taunacy was pregnant with quintuplets. And still, the Marine sergeant from Oswego remained in Iraq with his platoon, a decision that nearly cost him his life in the small town of Yusufiyah, just southwest of Fallujah.

Horton certainly has paid a high price for his service to country and community. Despite his many wounds that included traumatic brain injury, the Aurora cop made it his goal to return to the police force he loves. A fall he took two years ago, however, while responding to a domestic dispute, injured his back and forced him onto light duty.
read more here

Good news tied to not so good news

Just when you think you've read some good news for a change, turns out to be tied to not so good news.

Headline

Trump expands mental health benefits to decrease suicide rates among new veterans

Just like in his speech when he signed Executive Orders.

The problem is that when they leave military service, OEF and OIF veterans already received 5 years of free medical care...including mental health.

5 Years Cost Free Health Care

 OEF/OIF/OND combat Veterans can receive cost free medical care for any condition related to their service in the Iraq/Afghanistan theater for five years after the date of their discharge or release.

And that isn't something new.

Recent veterans are entitled to free health care, but many don't sign up (Which came out in September 2009)

The federal VA provides medical care and benefits to all enrolled veterans, with a range of preventive outpatient and inpatient services offered within its health care system. OEF/OIF veterans receive an additional benefit — five years of free health care in the VA system for any issue related to their deployment. As with other veterans, once enrolled in the system, they’re always in, but for issues not related to deployment or after those five free years, they may face co-payments. 

Plus this order does not include older veterans, who also served this country, risked their lives, came home with the same wounds, but waited longer for help.

No one seems to know how they plan on paying for the "Executive order" other than they will be taking money out of other places.

Military Pay Raise sounds good,

Headline

2018 military pay raise is the biggest in eight years, but how generous is it?

Included in the massive budget bill, finalized by the Senate Nov. 16 and expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump in coming days, is a 2.4 percent pay raise for service members starting Jan. 1.

But at the same time we also had this headline,

Housing allowance for Fort Hood soldiers going down this year

For example, a sergeant stationed at Fort Hood with dependents received $1,134 for a housing allowance in 2017. That number has dropped by about 4 percent to $1,086 this year. A private with dependents who received $1,128 in 2017 will see a decrease to $1,083 this year, also about a 4 percent drop. A staff sergeant with dependents will see a drop from $1,200 to $1,107, a decrease of 7.75 percent.

And this one too, but it comes from Military.com and they got it all together.

2.1% Pay Raise, BAH Cuts, Tricare Fee Hikes Approved by Senate

As with all the talk about Veterans Choice, but as we know, it isn't something they have not been doing all along when a veteran cannot get to a VA hospital for emergency care. 

We had a reminder of that,

Headline

VA to begin paying up to 800,000 non-VA emergency claims

The revised rule says it won’t allow retroactive reimbursements for non-VA emergency care claim decisions that became final before April 8, 2016, the day VA lost a landmark federal court fight with Air Force veteran Richard W. Staab.Staab faced roughly $48,000 in unpaid private hospital bills after emergency heart surgery in December 2010. At the time VA had told Staab, and any other veteran forced to use outside emergency care, that the department would have covered the cost of such care if they had had no other health insurance.

As with everything else, they say always read the fine print, but when it comes to the way reporters have been doing their jobs, read everything and then figure out if it does sound too good to be true...it usually is. 

 

All Veterans Want is Promise Keepers, Not Bumblers

Promise Keepers or Bumblers?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 24, 2017

Looks like Santa just may have his hands full of coal for every member of Congress! When you think that this bunch just managed to pull off a Bill to fund the futures of billionaires and millionaires, these same folks didn't use that same energy for our veterans.

(Guess they also forgot that the majority of our veterans are in fact on Social Security and Medicare, also facing cuts.)

AP reported that, "NH veterans want more, better medical services" and that is true. The thing is, they wanted what was promised to them on the day they became "Veteran" instead of civilian. What part of that do people not get? They are not civilians!

The Manchester VA is the subject of this report, however, it is the same story all across the country.

"Veterans offered a long list of services they felt could be provided by the Manchester center, with many seeing the need for additional mental health and substance abuse services at a time when the state is struggling with an opioid crisis and military personal are returning home."

When anyone talks about sending veterans into the mess the rest of us deal with, they are blinded by the need for fast fix. What they fail to see is that Congress has had the responsibility of providing for our veterans since 1946.  

Jurisdiction of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

1. Veterans' measures generally.
2. Pensions of all the wars of the U.S., general and special.
3. Life insurance issued by the government on account of service in the Armed Forces.
4. Compensation, vocational rehabilitation, and education of veterans.
5. Veterans' hospitals, medical care, and treatment of veterans.
6. Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief.
7. Readjustment of servicemen to civilian life.
8. National Cemeteries.

Whatever is wrong with the care our veterans receive after all these years is because Congress failed to deliver on their end of the deal.

Veterans did their jobs. When does Congress?

VA paid out roughly $1.1 billion to break promises

VA wants $782 million for electronic health records overhaul...still? may have shocked you, but the GAO has an even bigger shocker.

The Government Accountability Office found that VA paid out roughly $1.1 billion between fiscal 2011 and 2016 to contractors working to update the agency’s outdated Veterans Information Systems and Technology Architecture system. The agency has relied on the platform to manage health records for its 9 million beneficiaries since the 1980s.

The department gave the bulk of the billion to 15 contractors—one of which is getting a sole-source $10 billion contract to try again.
NextgovJack CorriganDecember 8, 2017 
The Veterans Affairs Department wasted more than a billion dollars over six years attempting to upgrade its electronic health records system before scrapping the projects in June, according to a congressional watchdog.
Fifteen individual contractors received about two-thirds of the money spent during that period, and the remaining funds were distributed among 123 other firms. The VA has since announced plans to give one of those 15 major contractors, Cerner Corp., another crack at modernizing the agency’s health IT with a sole-source $10 billion contract to rebuild its medical record management platform.
read more here

And what did veterans get out of all that money? Backlog of claims, missing records and misery!

What they sure didn't get was an apology from members of Congress.

Navy Veteran Wins Claim for Parkinson's Tied to Agent Orange...In New Zealand

Navy veteran who won compensation battle after linking his Parkinson's to chemical exposure speaks out for first time

NZ Herald

Kurt Bayer

December 5, 2017 (New Zealand)

A New Zealand navy veteran who won a compensation battle after successfully linking his Parkinson's disease to chemical exposure in the 1960s has spoken out for the first time about the fumes he likened to solvent abuse.

A Navy veteran has spoken out for the first time about the chemical exposure he experienced during his service. Photo / File

He says despite suffering neurological pain in the 1970s after working with toxic chemicals on assignment both here and overseas, he was told to "get on with it" and that it was all in his head.

It comes after a Herald investigation found hundreds, if not thousands, of New Zealanders may have been affected by the toxic chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) in a wide range of workplaces over several decades.

In a potentially-landmark case, Veterans Affairs' has provided the ex-serviceman, who wants to remain anonymous, with an entitlement to disability compensation for Parkinson's, a condition attributed to his operational service on a Royal New Zealand Navy ship during the 1948-1960 Malayan Emergency.

read more here

Less Than Honorable Way to Treat Veterans

If you are in the "awareness" business talking about how many veterans you think are committing suicide, this is something you really should read. Especially if you are still using a number and only mentioning it as if it is just veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq. 

If a veteran does not receive an "honorable discharge" they cannot even call themselves a veteran. It does not go on their death certificate, no matter how many times they were deployed, how many countries they risked their lives in because this country sent them or how heroic they were.

That includes those who have been in combat, risked their lives for this country, suffered because of it, and then, instead of being helped, they were kicked out.

The numbers are into the hundreds of thousands when you consider it has happened to all generations, including the ones that "awareness" folks never seem to mention. 

Steve Kennedy, Army veteran and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America- Connecticut Team Leader (left) speaks about U.S. Senator Chris Murphy's proposed legislation, Honor Our Commitment Act, to ensure combat veterans discharged with an other-than-honorable discharge are given access to mental and behavioral health care during a press conference at New Haven City Hall on 4/3/2017. Left to right are Kennedy, Murphy and Tom Burke, Marine Corp veteran and President of the Yale Student Veterans Council. (Arnold Gold - New Haven Register.)

Chris Murphy: How our country is leaving veterans with mental health injuries behind

Jasper Farmer, a Norwalk resident and Vietnam veteran, recently shared his story with me. 

Jasper served in the Marines during the Vietnam War. He returned to Camp Lejeune over a year later, clearly struggling with PTSD. 

Because of conduct resulting from his diagnosis, he was given a bad paper discharge.  

For the next forty years, he was denied care at the VA, preventing him from adequately addressing his war injury.

Luckily, Jasper found the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC). Their staff fights tirelessly on behalf of veterans, and finally this past April, with the help of CVLC, Jasper gained access to VA health care. 

But it shouldn’t have taken smart lawyers and almost four decades to right this wrong.

Threat of Suicide Not Taken Seriously by VA?

Marine veteran sues VA Medical Center, Congressman Phil Roe over opioid tapering policy

Johnson City Press
Becky Campbell
November 24, 2017 

"According to Rose, one of the specific VA guidelines he finds to be disturbing was that “doctors should not take the threat of suicide seriously when a veteran is placed on a forced taper or denied pain medications.”

Robert Rose, a disabled veteran, turned his back on Congressman Phill Roe July 3, 2017 in an act of protest against the "opioid safety initiative."

A Washington County man who said he endures constant pain from training injuries he suffered while serving as a Marine filed a lawsuit earlier this month over a forced opioid tapering policy that eliminates or severely reduces veterans’ access to the pain medication.

Robert D. Rose Jr., of Gray, was a Marine sergeant when he left the service because of documented injuries he suffered during jump training. Rose made a public protest statement in July when he turned his back on U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-1st, at a plaque presentation commemorating historic buildings at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Mountain Home. Rose has taken his protest a step further with a federal lawsuit against Roe and 17 VA Medical Center employees, including the director, doctors, nurses and police officers.

After Roe’s speech in July, Rose told his story to Press reporter Brandon Paykamian.
read more here 

Dentist Didn't Want Veteran to Wait, So He Paid the Bill

Dentist pays $15,000 bill for military veteran's dental work

FOX 35 News

November 17, 2017

Instead of waiting months for the paperwork to go through the VA, Dr. Nguyen wanted to help him immediately and cease his pain. So, he took care of the bill and went to work.

HOUSTON, Tx. - Most of us don’t look forward to going to the dentist, but this story could relieve some fears about your next visit.

When retired Staff Sergeant David Tyler Harmon and dentist, Dr. David Nguyen, met at their local gym, Harmon decided to book a cleaning. He had no idea it would turn into two weeks of dental work. He also didn’t know about the kindness in his new dentist’s heart.

"I came in for a cleaning, and he's like, 'My goodness!'" Harmon told FOX 26. "And I start telling him all the pain I'm in."

"All veterans are heroes," said Dr. Nguyen. "They give up so much for this country, and whatever I can do just to help him out a little bit, it's all worth it to me." read more here

Homeless Vietnam Veteran, after serving his country for 34 years!

Want to know what good reporters can do?

Start with this Vietnam veteran, who also happens to be post-9-11 veteran.

"Homeless, after serving his country for 34 years. He was part of the last Vietnam War draft in 1971 and was called back into full active duty after 9-11. Due to age, he was forced to retire in 2012 and decided to go back to school on a G.I. Bill."

He didn't give up afterwards. He had ambition enough to go back to college, but the VA messed up his claim.

"The debt piled up. The V.A. eventually decided that not only was it not going to pay Harold, but it had mistakenly overpaid him $15,000 and wanted that money back. Harold couldn't pay, so the V.A. turned him over to the Department of the Treasury, which now wanted $20,000. Harold dropped out of school, lost everything and had to sneak onto his old boat to sleep because he couldn't afford the slip fees."

There is a happy ending to this story and you can read it here! NewsChannel 3 Investigates by C. J. Ward

VA wants $782 million for electronic health records overhaul...still?

Veterans Affairs seeks $782 million for electronic health records overhaul

Stars and Stripes

Nikki Wentling

November 15, 2017

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin speaks at a conference held on Nov. 6, 2017 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.MICHAEL S. DARNELL/STARS AND STRIPES

WASHINGTON — Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday seeking $800 million to begin an overhaul of the VA’s electronic health records – an initiative nearly 20 years in the making.

The VA is close to entering into a contract with Cerner Corp., the health information technology company it chose to implement a new electronic health records system. But first, Congress must allow the VA to reappropriate $782 million in other department funds.

If the VA doesn’t secure funding by the end of the year, the contract will cost more, and a 10-year implementation timeline will be thrown off, Shulkin told a House Appropriations subcommittee Wednesday. 
read more here

He did say "begin" right?


February 2008

"Carl Blake, national legislative director for the Paralyzed Veterans of America, said VBA needed $121 million in its fiscal 2009 budget for its information technology. According to VA budget documents, VBA requested an IT budget of $109.6 million for its compensation and benefits programs, down $23.8 million from $133.4 million in 2008. VA requested an overall 2009 IT budget of $2.53 billion in 2009, up from $2.15 billion in fiscal 2008, with the largest portion earmarked for the Veterans Health Administration." GovExec

And in 2016

"The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded 21 contractors spots on a $22.3 billion IT modernization contract, the overwhelming majority of which are local companies."

Why not since it worked so well the last time,,,,,,NOT!

"This T4NG award is a follow-on from the previous five-year, $12 billion T4 contract that named 15 vendors in July 2011. Among those companies were a lot of the same names, including Booz, the former SRA (now CSRA) and CACI." Washington Business Journal,

link is still live

There are even more reports on this, but I already have a headache looking for them. I need a margarita!