Will Senator Sanders ever apologize for what happened to veterans?

Will Senator Sanders ever apologize for what happened to veterans?

Bernie Sanders' Senate work at the heart of VA's latest woes

Military Times
Leo Shane
February 18, 2016

He lead the Senate's veterans committee from 2013 to 2015, and touted his work repeatedly as proof he can negotiate with Republicans and reach critical compromises to help constituents. The 2014 reform legislation in particular, he said "increases accountability within the VA and ensures that all veterans have access to timely health care."

One major reason the Veterans Affairs Department can't fire troublesome employees: Bernie Sanders.

The Obama administration is moving to undo the Democratic presidential candidate’s past work as Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee chairman in an effort to clean up the department, considering a change in employment rules for VA executives that Sanders fought for vigorously just two years ago.

In recent weeks, the VA has seen a host of job actions against senior employees overturned by the Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent, "quasi-judicial" agency that serves as arbiter on a number of federal worker cases. They include the demotion of two VA executives accused of gaming the department’s hiring system for personal benefit, and the dismissal of a New York VA director over patient safety concerns.

The appeals fight has grown into an escalating intra-administration showdown between VA leaders, who call the decisions off-base, and protection board officials, who blame bad legislative changes for the unsatisfactory rulings.

Earlier this month, at a New Hampshire town hall event, Sanders acknowledged that "we should have acted sooner" on reports of wait-time problems and expressed regret that he didn’t have a quicker solution for "those long waiting lines and the lies that some administrators were telling us."
the link is still active and you can read it here

If you have not been paying attention all along, that should get you started to be aware, the recent reports are not new. Veterans are still waiting too long for appointments, among a lot of other issues, including feeling committing suicide at VA hospitals is the only way they can be heard. Nothing will ever get fixed for their sake unless we hold ever single one of them accountable and demand they answer to all of us!

Columbus Vietnam Veteran got last wish to ride "on Sunday, a group of riders made his dream possible"

Motorcycle clubs come together to offer Vietnam vet one last ride

NBC 4 News
by: Danielle Avitable
Posted: Feb 23, 2020

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A local Vietnam veteran had one last wish while in hospice care, and that was to ride a motorcycle one more time.

On Sunday, a group of riders made his dream possible.

Vietnam veteran Roger L. Smith was wheeled out of the house, surrounded by loved ones and riders. 

“I said I want to get on a bike at least one time before I die,” said Smith. And that’s what he got. “He requested a last ride and, for us, it’s veterans helping veterans,” said Steve Murray of Combat Veterans Motorcycle Club.

In addition to Combat Veteran, other groups taking part in the ride included Ohio Patriot Bikers and Punishers Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club. Smith’s health has been declining over the last three weeks. read it here

Rep. Chris Pappas wants answers on why providers are not being paid for taking care of veterans

As VA works through backlog, NH providers waiting for $134M

New Hampshire Union Leader
By Josie Albertson-Grove
Feb 23, 2020

Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) has been working on the issue as chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. The committee held a hearing on the reimbursement issue on Feb. 12, and Pappas met with Forrest and local providers in Manchester last Thursday.

Manchester Veterans Affairs Medical Center
New Hampshire Union Leader file photo

MANCHESTER — The VA still owes New Hampshire health care providers an estimated $134 million, as the administration digs out from a backlog of claims.

Kevin Forrest, interim director of the Department of Veterans Affairs Manchester Medical Center, said the delayed payments dated back to a contractor who used to administer the VA Community Care Network program.

The network lets veterans use their VA insurance to pay for treatment outside VA hospitals — from other hospitals and small providers like home health aides, therapists and acupuncturists.

Providers complained of widespread delays and errors in payments last year, and the VA brought in a new contractor to process those claims. But the administration is still working through the nationwide payment backlog.

In the two years since Kathy Twombly’s Laconia acupuncture business has been part of the network, she said the VA has at times left her waiting for as much as $10,000. To make matters worse, the VA has switched contractors three times in two years, she said, meaning the way she files claims keeps changing.
read it here

Veteran not allowed at Heroes Hall...because he is a dog?

Veteran military dog not allowed at Heroes Hall at VA Hospital

KRQE
by: Jeannie Nguyen
Feb 21, 2020

Singh says as part of the contract she signed with the Department of Defense to adopt Puma, she’s not allowed to turn him into a service dog.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A former bomb-sniffing Army canine belonging to a veteran isn’t allowed at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albuquerque, even though the dog is a veteran too.

Puma was an explosive detection canine that served two deployments in Afghanistan.

“Puma served seven years in Fort Leavenworth and that’s where he retired from,” says Lani Singh.

Now he’s living the retired life with his handler, Lani Singh, an Army veteran herself, who’s going through chemo-treatments at Heroes Hall for breast cancer.

Originally from Northern New Mexico, Singh rented an Albuquerque apartment to avoid the long commute. Now, Singh is struggling with the rules of the hospital when it comes to bringing her fellow vet to her appointments.

“He is a veteran, but because he’s a dog veteran and not a human veteran, he’s not allowed at Heroes Hall,” she says.

read it here

AG Report: Pentagon gave $876.8 million in contracts to ineligible contractors meant for disabled veteran owned businesses!

ARE YOU OK WITH THIS? THEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! FORCE THE SENATE TO DO THEIR JOBS OR REMEMBER WHAT THEY REFUSED TO DO WHEN YOU DECIDE TO VOTE!

Pentagon Awarded $876M in Contracts Meant for Disabled Vets to Ineligible Companies: IG

Military.com
By Richard Sisk
20 Feb 2020

The report also cited the case of "Contractor B," who had received three SDVOSB contracts worth $209.6 million. "However, we determined that evidence did not exist to support that a service-disabled veteran was the majority owner and highest ranking officer or in control of the company," the IG's report said.

This March 27, 2008, file photo, shows the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Small businesses owned or run by disabled veterans may have been cheated out of hundreds of millions of dollars in Defense Department contracts by unscrupulous firms who were ineligible for the awards, the Pentagon's Inspector General reported Thursday.

The IG's audit found that the DoD "awarded $876.8 million in contracts to ineligible contractors and did not implement procedures to ensure compliance with the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) subcontracting requirements after the contracts were awarded."

At least 16 of the 29 contractors reviewed in the report who received business from the DoD on the basis that they met the disabled veteran requirements were found to be ineligible, the IG's office said.

Unless the DoD conducts better oversight, "service-disabled veterans may be in jeopardy of not receiving contract awards intended for them, and the DoD will be at risk of misreporting the amounts for SDVOSB participation," the 29-page report states.
read it here

Will Seniors have to share rooms with their grandkids?

Seniors need to watch out for budget cuts

If the economy is so great, as POTUS claims, why would he want to cut so much from seniors? Many of them voted for him believing his speeches on how he was not touching Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security...just like his tweet after the budget he submitted.

It proposes steep cuts in many domestic programs and increases in spending on the military and other programs that will appeal to Trump’s base as he campaigns for voters to return him to office for another four years.

Overall, Trump’s budget will seek $4.4 trillion in savings over a decade – $2 trillion of which would come from savings from entitlements, including $130 billion from changes to Medicare prescription drug pricing.

Democrats said that would amount to a half-a-trillion-dollar cut to Medicare, roughly $900 billion in cuts to Medicaid and a $24 billion cut to Social Security.

That was all from an article on USA Today, and you can read the rest here.

Trump's budget reflects campaign priorities but abandons pledge to wipe out deficit in 10 years

Victory Ensured Through Service, or V.E.T.S. ordered to cease-and-desist

California charity raised millions for veterans. Almost none of it helped the needy

The Sacramento Bee
BY JASON POHL
FEBRUARY 03, 2020

Becerra’s office late last week issued a cease-and-desist order to V.E.T.S. saying the charity’s registration had been delinquent for three years, even while Zagar and Associates continued soliciting donations. Prosecutors also said the charity knowingly filed false statements about its revenues for much of the past decade.

Each year, Fred Salanti receives a check in the mail for a few thousand dollars.

Salanti, a 72-year-old Vietnam veteran, uses the money to keep his small Redding-based charity afloat. It buys a few wheelchairs for veterans, covers student scholarships and sometimes funds a monument at the cemetery, he said.

“We’re down here scrabbling with shoestrings,” Salanti said of his charity, Victory Ensured Through Service, or V.E.T.S. Salanti said he tries to not question much in life.

V.E.T.S. is scrabbling because the money Salanti receives is a small fraction of the amount actually raised in the name of his charity. Most of the money that people donate to V.E.T.S. goes to a West Sacramento telemarketing firm 160 miles away. Veterans get little benefit from the money.
read it here

Veterans outside providers waiting months to get paid?

Pappas talks with VA community about veterans healthcare

Union Leader
By Bea Lewis
Jan 23, 2020

LACONIA — First District Congressman Chris Pappas met with VA community care providers on Thursday and heard about the hurdles veterans and their care providers face, in their efforts to give and receive effective medical treatment.

Louie Fladger, left, of Northwood, was among a group of veterans who met with Congressman Chris Pappas, center, about the benefits of acupuncture when Pappas held a listening session at Gate of Life Acupuncture and Wellness Center in Laconia on Thursday to learn more about the difficulty VA community care providers are having in obtaining reimbursement from the VA. Bea Lewis/Union Leader Correspondent

When veterans need health care that the VA cannot provide, they can obtain services through community care providers. Gate of Life Acupuncture and Wellness in Laconia contacted Pappas’ office because they said they were not receiving payments from the VA in a timely manner for treating veterans for a variety of health issues.

Kathy Twombly, the acupuncture practitioner and massage therapist who runs the Main Street business, said the stalled payments were not only creating a financial hardship, but that billing system obstacles were interrupting the care veterans needed.

“It took three months to get the first payment and represents thousands of dollars,” Twombly said.

Once veterans get a referral for acupuncture, they are allowed 12 visits within 45 days, then eight visits within 83 days and then eight more over 173 days.
read it here

Dallas-area veterans hospital “ a long-standing deficiency related to resources for women veterans healthcare

Top VA hospital lacked full-time gynecologist, facilities serving women veterans for years, report says

Military Times
Leo Shane III
January 24, 2020

In the report, investigators criticized officials at the Dallas-area veterans hospital for “ a long-standing deficiency related to resources for women veterans healthcare, such as equipment, supplies and space that were required to ensure gender-specific care.”

One of the largest veterans medical centers in the country went almost two years without a full-time gynecologist and lacked private, secure spaces for women patients for even longer, according to a new report released by the Veterans Affairs Inspector General this week.

Investigators this week found widespread problems with staffing and facility space for women veterans at the VA North Texas Health Care System. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Veterans Affairs)

Department officials insist most of those issues at the North Texas VA Health Care System have been resolved now, but lawmakers are saying the shortfalls are indicative of larger cultural and leadership problems within the federal agency in their response to the rising number of women veterans.

“The lack of space, privacy, and provider shortages are widespread, and these problems result in inconsistent, inadequate, and insufficient care for our women veterans,” said Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Cal.f. and chair of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s task force on women veterans.

“We owe all of our veterans the highest quality care. As this report points out, when it comes to equity for women veterans, we're clearly falling short.”
read it here

Veterans who served in Thailand during Vietnam War denied benefits

Thailand veterans contend they are scientific evidence VA claims it needs to grant benefits

WFLA 8 News
by: Steve Andrews
Posted: Jan 23, 2020

Because their job descriptions didn’t place them on base perimeters, the VA denied their claims for disability.

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A top VA official in the Tampa Bay area told 8 On Your Side this week the Department of Veterans Affairs has come a long way.

Margarita Devlin, principal deputy undersecretary for veterans benefits contends there is no longer a huge back-log of veterans waiting for their claims to be processed and completed.

However, claims languish for veterans who served in Thailand during the Vietnam War and were exposed to a dangerous herbicide known as Agent Orange.

Most U.S. bombing missions over North Vietnam originated in Thailand.

Tampa Veterans like Dan Tolly and Paul Devane supported the war effort from Thai bases.

At Korat, Paul remembers the toxic herbicide Agent Orange landed on him as he worked near the flight line.

Dan Tolly served in the Air Force in Thailand.
read it here

VA looking at expanding medical marijuana vaping...in CANADA

Veterans Affairs considers expanding vaping options for medical marijuana

CBC News
Kevin Yarr
Posted: Jan 23, 2020

With new products for consuming cannabis coming on the market last month, Veterans Affairs is looking into whether it should expand the options it covers.

Vaping cannabis oils became legal in December. (CBC)

Oils for vaping, along with edibles, became legal in Canada last month. The cost of vaporizers for dried marijuana has been covered by DVA since 2014. Sandie Williamson, senior director of healthcare programs with Veterans Affairs, said that change has prompted a review.

"We regularly review different products and different therapies, different benefits that are coming onto the market," said Williamson.

"These products have just hit the market as of last month. There's still an evolution as to what will be available."

Veterans Affairs will be consulting with Health Canada on whether to include the new products in its rebate program. Williamson said if the product is approved, Veterans Affairs would not be involved in the choice of treatment of any individual.
read it here

Six months in prison for illegally accessing the medical records of six veterans?

Former Dept. of Veterans Affairs employee sentenced for leaking medical records of Richard Ojeda and more

WVVA
Bailey Pace
January 22, 2020

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Huntington man was sentenced to six months in prison for illegally accessing the medical records of six veterans including those of Richard Ojeda as the former Army major was running for Congress in West Virginia, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart.

Jeffrey Miller, 40, a former Veterans Benefits Administration employee, was also sentenced to one year of supervised release.

Miller previously admitted that he illegally accessed the medical records of six veterans between January and May of 2018.

Miller further admitted that he took a picture of the medical records of former West Virginia State Senator Richard Ojeda, and then sent the picture to an acquaintance.
read it here

Disabled veteran thanks neighbor for saving his life after apartment caught on fire

‘Thank God for him’: NC veteran thanks man for saving his life after apartment catches on fire

WSOCTV.com
News Staff
January 19, 2020

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina veteran was able to thank his neighbor for the first time since he saved his life and got him out of his burning apartment last month.

Our news partner WLOS was there as Tony reunited with his neighbor, Douglas Tribble. Tony’s apartment caught fire last month -- the damage was so bad, the walls were charred black.

Tony said he would not have made it out alive if Tribble had not come for him.

“I would have stayed there not realizing the smoke that I was gathering,” Tony said.

Tony does not get around very well -- he has to use a walker. Tribble said that made the rescue even more of a race against time.
read it here

Disabled Veterans facing longer wait times for appointments outside the VA

VA inspector general warns long wait times could continue with Mission Act reforms

STARS AND STRIPES
By Steve Beynon
Published: January 17, 2020

The inspector general said the number of patients seeking community care will increase from 684,000 to 3.7 million, now that the eligibility for veterans to seek private care has expanded under the Mission Act.

ANDREA VILLARI/STARS AND STRIPES

WASHINGTON — Department of Veterans Affairs patients seeking private sector health care saw a nearly two-month delay for medical appointments in 2018 and the problem could worsen under the new Mission Act, the VA Office of Inspector General reported Thursday.

The inspector general’s report based its conclusions on the region of VA hospitals that includes 1.6 million veterans across Florida, south Georgia, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. VA officials in that region referred more than 206,500 requests in 2018 for community care at clinics outside the VA network, with veterans facing a 56-day wait on average before receiving care, according to the report.
read it here

Veterans can video chat with VA doctors from anywhere

Telehealth system cuts down on wait time for veterans to see VA doctors

KATV News
by Kaila Lafferty
January 15th 2020

One of the key benefits of these systems is providing care to patients who live far away from a VA medical center. "We're changing the way that we address our patients." RN Clinical Manager, Teresa West

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) — A new telehealth system is helping patients at the VA receive treatment for everything from refills on prescriptions, to check-ups and even care for PTSD.

As part of the system, veterans can video chat with doctors from anywhere.

Iraq war veteran Chris Durney met with his doctor through the system called, VA Video Connect.

"I can use this and set up an appointment, talk with my own doctor, my own provider and get those things done," said Durney.

RN Clinical Manager, Teresa West, had a patient experiencing symptoms of PTSD. He used VA Video Connect to see West face-to-face.

She talked him through his breathing, and immediately saw results. "His blood pressure came down, and he was amazed, it was 130/80. And he said, 'Oh this is incredible, I can't believe this,’" West explained.

Durney also saw the benefits of the system while dealing with his own PTSD, "Loud noises do make me cower a little bit, they affect me," he said.

He can make an appointment and speak with a specialist whenever and wherever he needs. "It's really great to be able to see a mental health professional almost at any time," he said.

Doctors with the VA are seeing the benefits as well. "I think the concept is wonderful, I think it works great. It's really easy to get into and I think it's an asset that we have as physicians to continue the care that we want to provide to our patients," said Dr. Jacqueline O’Donald.
read it here

Veterans forced to sue because military has failed to meet deadlines on disability claims

Veteran Group Sues Military Leaders, Claiming Yearslong Delays on Benefits Decisions

Military.com
By Richard Sisk
14 Jan 2020

Stichman said the class-action suit represents a mix of veterans either requesting upgrades of discharges to entitle them to benefits or requests from honorably discharged veterans for corrections to their records.

A group of veterans watches the Veterans Day wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery, November 11, 2016. (U.S. Army/Sgt. Cody W. Torkelson)

The military has failed to meet deadlines set by Congress for rulings on veterans' requests to correct records blocking them from receiving benefits, according to a federal class-action lawsuit filed last month.

The suit brought by the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) charges that delays in processing the requests by the Boards for Correction of Military Records of the service branches amount to a denial of the due process rights of thousands of veterans.

In an interview and in statements, Bart Stichman, executive director of NVLSP, said that rulings on "lifetime benefits" for disability and retirement are at stake in the lawsuit, which names Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett and acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly as defendants.

"Veterans who seek a correction of an erroneous less-than-honorable discharge or a wrongful denial of disability retirement benefits are paying a high price for the ongoing delays at the Correction Boards," he said.
read it here

Foster Families to Ailing Senior Veterans, Opening Up Their Hearths and Homes

Hundreds of Americans Become Foster Families to Ailing Senior Veterans, Opening Up Their Hearths and Homes

The Good News Network
By Andy Corbley
Jan 5, 2020

The program, launched in 2008, now has a presence in 44 states, and each family in the program is allowed to take up to three veterans into their homes in order to give them a more comfortable and personalized care environment.

Today in the United States, more than 82,000 veterans live in nursing homes—probably not the kind of conditions or end-of-life care that would warm the hearts of veterans who had served gallantly in Korea and Vietnam.

However, the Medical Foster Home program launched by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) in 2008 has been providing opportunities for a much more comfortable life to senior veterans who can’t live alone by allowing American families to open their own doors to the nation’s heroes.

“A Medical Foster Home can serve as an alternative to a nursing home…for veterans who require nursing home care but prefer a non-institutional setting with fewer residents,” says the DVA website.
“Many of our caregivers and vets become family,” Cooper told Southern Living. “They take them on vacation. We recently spoke to a family who takes their veteran—a quadriplegic—camping twice a year. These are opportunities they never would have had.”
read it here

Marine veteran shot by police had been treated for PTSD

Gunman's family apologizes to victims

Rapid City Journal
Arielle Zionts
2 hrs ago

Camille said part of Patrick's job involved cleaning out military vehicles used in the Middle East and he told her that the blood and flesh sometimes found inside the vehicles made him get Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

The family of the gunman in the Rapid City apartment shooting last Sunday apologized to the victims and said while their loved one was a Marine Corps veteran struggling with a myriad of mental health issues, it doesn't excuse his actions.

"We're very sorry" for what he did, Camille Alden said Friday while sitting next to a stack of her son's military and health records.

"Help is out there. He didn't take it," Wayne Alden said of his son, Patrick.

Camille, Wayne and one of Patrick's neighbors told the Journal that Patrick fired multiple rounds Friday afternoon in his second-floor apartment 851 East Minnesota St. in Rapid City.

The 29-year-old then went into the hallway where he fatally shot David Iron Horse, 64, according to a news release from the Rapid City Police Department. Patrick, who also shot toward officers and hit a police vehicle, was then fatally shot by an officer who came across him in a stairway, the release says.

Camille and Wayne said Patrick wasn't allowed to own guns due to an involuntary mental health commitment, but he would go to the shooting range with Wayne and he built a 9 mm handgun out of two different guns. They said that's the gun he used last Sunday, not a rifle like police said.

She went through papers from Patrick's July 2019 visit to the Albuquerque VA which found depression gave him a 70% disability, the migraines from his concussions gave him a 50% disability, a shoulder injury gave him a 20% disability, and an Achilles tendon injury gave him a 10% disability. The VA found that Patrick qualified for 100% disability pay and also took him off his anti-psychotic medication around this time, leaving him with anti-depressants.

read it here

Survivors of Sabana Seca Navy Base attack honored at memorial

'It's something we all needed': Navy veteran, others attacked by terrorists honored at ceremony

The Times and Democrat
By Gene Zaleski
January 2, 2019

Each of the service members did eventually receive a Purple Heart for the ordeal, but never have been memorialized until now. Allen was one of two women injured in the attack."This is our big recognition now," she said.

Orangeburg resident and retired U.S. Navy veteran Cottie Boyd Allen's life changed in the blink of an eye 40 years ago.

She was aboard a bus carrying 17 Navy communications technicians to work on a transmitting tower about a mile away from the Sabana Seca Navy base where she was stationed.

Gunmen intercepted the bus and opened fire in a terrorist attack against the unarmed soldiers.

"We were attacked," Allen recalled. "I was wounded four times."

"One bullet went through my face and landed in my temple area; one landed in my buttocks and in my thighs," Allen said. Shrapnel from the bullets is still within her body.

Allen, a native of New Jersey, lost consciousness and was listed in critical condition after the attack. She was transported to Roosevelt Roads Navy Base, which at that time served as a U.S. Navy base in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico.
read it here

Converted cargo trailer, called Veterans Emergency Temporary Shelter giving shelter to homeless veterans

Boothbay veterans create mobile shelter for homeless vets

NBC News Center Maine
Author: Don Carrigan
January 1, 2020

BOOTHBAY, Maine — As more than 100 people gathered for a New Year’s Day breakfast at the American Legion Hall, two veterans and Legion members used the event to introduce a new project to help find shelter for homeless veterans.

It’s a converted cargo trailer, called Veterans Emergency Temporary Shelter -- VETS for short. It’s the design of Vietnam combat veteran Ed Harmon, built by him and fellow Legion member Arthur Richardson, an Air Force vet. Harmon says the trailer is insulated, has heat, lights, microwave, refrigerator, and even a commode. In short, he says, a comfortable and safe temporary place for homeless veterans to live until more permanent housing can be found.

“It’s a temporary solution, and that’s what we need is that temporary time, so people can work on finding a space for veterans to be housed. Harmon says he got the idea after being part of a statewide committee meeting on the problem of homeless vets. Legion Member John Hargraves was also part of that meeting and said there is no question of the need for temporary housing help.

“Basically, at any point in time in Maine there’s a least ten homeless vets in the system who have applied through agencies who don’t have a bed,” Hargraves says.
read it here