VA to Propose Expanded Disability Benefits Eligibility for Veterans Exposed to Contaminated Water at Camp Lejeune

Excellent news for Marines who served at Camp Lejeune.

Contaminated water killed and inflicted our own guys at a stateside Marine base from 1953 to 1987.

When the Obama administration leaves in 2017, its work for veterans against the neocons and Republicans will be a significant legacy.

From the VA:

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that it plans to propose expanded disability compensation eligibility for Veterans exposed to contaminated drinking water while assigned to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

From 1953 to 1987, water sources at the base were contaminated with industrial solvents that are correlated with certain health conditions. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald decided to propose presumptions of service connection for certain conditions associated with these chemical solvents following discussions between environmental health experts at the Veterans Health Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

 “The water at Camp Lejeune was a hidden hazard, and it is only years later that we know how dangerous it was,” said Secretary McDonald.  “We thank ATSDR for the thorough review that provided much of the evidence we needed to fully compensate Veterans who develop one of the conditions known to be related to exposure to the compounds in the drinking water.”

ATSDR determined that the drinking water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated with perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, benzene and other petroleum contaminants from leaking storage tanks from 1953 to 1987.  ATSDR also determined that prolonged exposure to these chemicals increases the risk of certain health conditions.

Based upon VA’s review of current medical science and ATSDR’s findings, Secretary McDonald intends to propose creation of a  presumption of service connection for the following conditions:

•     Kidney Cancer
•     Liver Cancer
•     Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
•     Leukemia
•     Multiple Myeloma
•     Scleroderma
•     Parkinson's Disease
•     Aplastic Anemia / Myelodysplastic Syndromes

The Secretary’s proposal would also expand benefits eligibility to Reserve and National Guard personnel who served at Camp Lejeune for any length of time from August 1, 1953, through December 31, 1987.   These personnel would be presumed to have been exposed to the contaminated water during their Reserve or National Guard service and, in appropriate circumstances, to have been disabled by such exposure during service, thus allowing them to qualify for VA benefits under the statutory definition of “Veteran.”

This would make them eligible for VA disability compensation and medical care for any of the presumptive conditions, and their surviving dependents would be eligible for dependency and indemnity compensation and burial benefits.

VA is working on regulations that would establish these presumptions, making it easier for affected Veterans to receive VA disability compensation for these conditions.  While VA cannot grant any benefit claims based on the proposed presumption of service connection for these conditions until it issues its final regulations, it encourages Veterans who have a record of service at Camp Lejeune between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987, and develop a condition that they believe is related to exposure to the drinking water at the base, to file a disability compensation claim with VA.

VA will continue to grant claims for disabilities claimed to be associated with exposure to the contaminants that can be granted under current regulations and review of the evidence in each case. If a claim for service connection for one of the proposed presumptive conditions would be denied under current regulations, the denial will be stayed until VA issues its final regulations. VA will announce when the regulations are final and presumptive benefits can begin to be awarded. For more information on applying for these benefits, visit: http://benefits.va.gov/compensation/claims-postservice-exposures-camp_lejeune_water.asp.

Veterans who served at Camp Lejeune for 30 days or more between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987, are already eligible to receive VA healthcare for up to 15 health conditions.  More information, including a full list of covered conditions, can be found online at: http://www.publichealth.va.gov/PUBLICHEALTH/exposures/camp-lejeune/index.asp.

Veterans can establish eligibility for healthcare benefits by submitting VA Form 10-10EZ online at www.1010ez.med.va.gov/, downloading it at www.va.gov/vaforms/medical/pdf/1010EZ-fillable.pdf and returning it to any VA Medical Center or Clinic, or by calling 1-877-222-VETS (8387), Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM (Eastern Time).

VA is reimbursing certain veterans’ family members for eligible out-of-pocket medical expenses related to the 15 covered conditions. More information can be found at:  https://www.clfamilymembers.fsc.va.gov

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Army Eases Guidelines Screening for Alleged PTSD Fakers in Win Against Neocons

As the political fallout in this election year continues over
Allen Breed’s AP hit job published in 2010 asserting
that U.S. veterans and reformist DVA elements
effectively collude to commit widespread fraud,
we note that blaming veterans for illness and injury
has a long tradition.

- Something's wrong, something's not quite right -

"So the brave men and women who have served in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq are honest enough to put themselves in danger in the defense of the United States, yet their sworn personal hearing testimony concerning the stressors they experienced in Vietnam, Afghanistan, or Iraq is not. Something is seriously wrong here," writes the Paralyzed Veterans of America in their Service Officers Appeals Report (SOAR, 2004, Volume 8, Number 4).

Yes, there is something seriously wrong, but a group of reformers led by President Obama, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, Bob Walsh, Jim Davis, Anthony Hardie, and Gordon Duff and near-constant lobbying by an even smaller group of veterans' advocates (Paul Sullivan) are pushing back against the likes of AP journalist Allen Breed, Fox News, the American Enterprise Institute, and embedded, neocon bureaucrats in the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), and just about every Republican in congress who screams about the national debt after pursuing policies ensuring the debt skyrocked the last 10 years.
---

By Katie Drummond in Wired

Media attacks veterans' claims

In a big reversal, the Army has issued a stern new set of guidelines to doctors tasked with diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among returning soldiers. Stop spending so much time trying to spot patients who are faking symptoms, the new guidelines instruct.Chances are, they’re actually ailing. The 17-page document has yet to be made public but was described in some detail by the Seattle Times. In it, the Army Surgeon General’s Office specifically points out — and discredits — a handful of screening tests for PTSD that are widely used to by military clinicians to diagnose a condition estimated to afflict at least 200,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

It's no coincidence that the man at the top, President Obama, on August 10, 2005 as a young senator blasted the Bush-Cheney-Rove administration in a letter to then VA Secretary Nicholson, writing "in order to truly create fairness in the claims system, the VA should concentrate its efforts on reviewing denials of PTSD claims. Without accessing why some PTSD claims are denied, it will be impossible to fully understand how the VA’s PTSD rating system can be improved." Our veterans aren’t lying about PTSD and as Chief Justice John Roberts asked, "In litigating with veterans, the government more often than not takes a position that is substantially unjustified?" ((Astrue v. Ratliff )(08-1322)) Yes, the government does take substantially unjustified positions against veterans with the media's help, and Obama's turning this around should happen faster and more comprehensively. In light of this reality, I can't wait for Mitt Romney to tell President Obama that we cannot afford more money for the Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA) and VA, and we are going to have to give these veterans voucher-care. (Michael Leon) To understand the change that is taking place in treating PTSD, see U.S. Army Clears War of Wrongdoing on the Army's 2010 ludicrous Health Promotion, Risk Reduction, and Suicide Prevention (HP/RR/SP) Report. "I had this conversation with a guy in the [Bush] White House, the liaison to the Department of Veterans Affairs. This was during the Bush Administration. He said, if we were to keep every promise that we made to the veterans, it would bankrupt us as a nation," said veterans' advocate, Steve Robinson, who has challenged the President and the Defense establishment face-to-face on their shameful neglect of the health problems, especially mental-health issues, faced by returning Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans.

But the results of what’s known as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Test are flawed, according to the report. PTSD sufferers often exhibit anxiety, insomnia, flashbacks and depression — all of which, some doctors believe, can be discounted under the test.

Under the Bush-Cheney-Rove administration, covert war
was declared on veterans' seeking disability benefits

The test devotes a large swath of questions to catching apparent exaggerations of symptom severity, seemingly inconsistent answers, or reported symptoms that don’t mesh with the typical signs associated with an illness. “The report rejects the view that a patient’s response to hundreds of written test questions can determine if a soldier is faking symptoms,” the Seattle Times summarized.

Where PTSD is concerned, that’s especially true. The condition is accompanied by symptoms that can differ markedly between patients: Some are hyperactive, others are lethargic; some exhibit frenetic rage while others are simply sullen and depressed.

“And,” the Times continued, “[the report] declares that poor test results ‘does not equate to malingering’.” Those tests were the standard of care at Madigan Army Medical Center — which is a big deal.

Located in Takoma, Washington, Madigan isn’t just one of the military’s largest medical installations. It’s home to a forensic psychiatry team tasked with deciding whether soldiers diagnosed with PTSD were sick enough to qualify for medical retirement. In March, the Army launched an investigation of the Madigan team after Madigan’s screening procedures allegedly reversed 300 of the PTSD diagnoses among soldiers being evaluated.

The reversals resulted in some soldiers being diagnosed with “personality disorders” and others left with no diagnosis at all. Madigan allegedly used the tests to save money by limiting the number of patients who’d qualify for retirement.

“We have to ensure we are not just ‘rubber stamping’ a soldier with the diagnosis of PTSD,” reads a memo from an unnamed Madigan psychiatrist that leaked last month. “We have to be good stewards of the tax-payer dollars.”

The Surgeon General’s attempts at strengthening its PTSD diagnostic tactics might come as a relief to veterans. But they might also be more than a little too late. Shortly after the scandal at Madigan emerged, subsequent reports of similar shoddy diagnostics at Walter Reed, Fort Carson and Fort Bragg trickled out as well. Including more allegations of soldiers being pinned as malingerers by military docs.

“Leading off, trying to say it’s isolated, doesn’t really pass the common-sense test,” Patrick Bellon, executive director of Veteran’s for Common Sense, told Stars and Stripes earlier this month. “Clearly, something is not right.”

VA Blog: Claims is a four-letter word for veterans

Delay, deny, and hope you die

Beyond a united front against the political-sociopathic action that the congresional Super Committee could be forced to cut health care for military service members and veterans, one aspect of policy most every veteran and advocate can agree on is the fact that the DVA claims process is terrible.

By Michael Leon

But we never read such truisms from anyone working or writing for the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA or VA).

No longer is DVA colluding with the U.S. Department of Justice to lock up Vietnam-era veterans for being too persistent in pursuing their claims, but everyone knows that America went to war(s) without consideration of what would happen to the veterans.

This is changing.

Reading today's blog from the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA), this is the FIRST and only time I have heard the claims process derided in language befitting the obscenity known as the Veterans Benefits Administration.

Gary Hicks' lede reads: "If there is one word in the English language that could be a four-letter word, it’s 'claims.' From a Veteran’s standpoint, that six-letter word can be as cringe-worthy as any four-letter word heard while wearing the uniform."

Coming atop the news of deescalation of war and talk of ending another war, the conclusion is inescapable that we are headed in the right direction.

So, I going bite my tongue and not ask: Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, why weren't the first public words out of your office two years ago, 'this claims process is one hell of a mess, and we're going to fix it.'

But I am going ask President Obama's administration to pardon Navy veteran Keith Roberts, a victim of the corrupt Bush-Cheney regime, the DVA under Bush and assorted bystanders.

Here's Hicks' piece today.

By Gary Hicks

If there is one word in the English language that could be a four-letter word, it’s “claims.” From a Veteran’s standpoint, that six-letter word can be as cringe-worthy as any four-letter word heard while wearing the uniform. At VA, we understand the claims process is a major source of contention with our Veterans.

The problem has been around a long time. If memory serves, America’s last World War I Veteran, Frank Buckles, who passed in February of this year, went a few rounds with VA over benefits in his time. And if I had to guess, issues with claims probably started shortly after Generals Grant and Lee left the service. So, the problems aren’t new.

What is fairly new is an approach in which VA is working to find creative ways to cut through the red tape; fix what is broken and find better ways of doing things. It’s called the Veterans Affairs Innovation Initiative—or VAi2 for those who prefer acronyms.

VAi2 is a program designed to tap the talent and expertise of individuals both inside and outside government to contribute new ideas that ultimately produce new, innovative solutions that advance VA’s ability to both improve and deliver benefits and services.

VAi2’s roots can be traced back to a speech President Obama gave to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in August 2009 when he said:

”We’re going to challenge each of our 57 regional VA offices to come up with the best ways of doing business, of harnessing the best information technologies, of cutting red tape and breaking through the bureaucracy. And then we’re going to fund the best ideas and put them into action, all with a simple mission: cut those backlogs, slash those wait times, deliver your benefits sooner.”

Shortly after that speech, Secretary Shinseki implemented VAi2, which includes an employee competition as part of the initiative. The idea is to ask frontline employees to propose ideas and solutions to solve the problems they face every day. Who knows better than those who actually do the work?

To date, there have been four Employee Innovation Competitions – two with the Veterans Health Administration and two with the Veterans Benefits Administration, resulting in a total of 40 employee ideas being selected and funded for implementation.

The most recent competition held with VBA employees resulted in six ideas being selected. This particular competition sought ideas from employees to help Veterans with disabilities related to their military service obtain meaningful employment. VA will develop, test, and potentially implement these ideas for nationwide use in VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Program.

As VA’s Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey said recently:

“Every Veterans Benefits Administration employee who participated in VA’s 2011 Employee Innovation Competition helped to improve service to our Veterans. Through the ingenuity of our employees and their deep understanding of what today’s Veterans need to gain good-paying jobs, we have a terrific set of innovations to pursue.”

The selected innovations have the potential to significantly improve the quality of services provided to participants in VA’s VR&E Program and to reduce the cost to taxpayers of delivering those services.

Winning ideas include: a paid internship program to help Veterans gain private-sector work experience; support systems for Post-9/11 Veteran-students with a traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder; development of a mentorship program for Veterans from the employment community; providing Mental Health First Aid training to VR&E employees to increase their understanding of mental illness and enable them to provide the highest level of service to ensure successful Veteran outcomes; online verification of eligibility for VR&E services; and enhancements to the disbursement of education benefits in the form of a pre-loaded debit card for purchasing books and supplies. View a complete list and description of the winners.

Thousands of employees cast their votes online with the top vote-getters having an opportunity to pitch their ideas to senior VA leaders with an official presentation. A multiple-judge panel then thoroughly reviewed all of the finalists and selected six ideas for funding.

VAi2 Director Jonah Czerwinski also added recently:

“These are the best of the best. With this selection, we now have 16 innovations funded from the Veterans Benefits Administration employee competitions, many of which have been implemented and are positively affecting our service-delivery.”

VAi2 officially launched in spring of 2010 to identify, fund, and test new ideas and new tools that improve access, enhance quality, reduce costs, and improve Veteran satisfaction with VA services.

The Initiative invites employees, private sector companies, entrepreneurs, and academic leaders to contribute their best ideas for innovations that increase Veterans’ access to VA services, improve the quality of services delivered, enhance the performance of VA operations, and reduce or control the cost of delivering those services that Veterans and their families receive. VAi2 will identify, prioritize, fund, test, and deploy the most promising solutions to the VA’s most important challenges.

To learn more about VAi2 and what innovative approaches VA is taking to better serve our Veterans, visit the site.

A Witch Hunt for Veterans Begins Anew

Just when you thought is was safe to go back to the VA come signs the water is not inviting for veterans looking to make disability benefit claims. A scare report in Stars and Stripes by Leo Shane III screams the VA may have overpaid disabled veterans.

By Michael Leon

It's the veteans' fault of-course. And veterans need more oversight. Writes Shane:

Poor oversight and missing medical follow-ups led to nearly $1 billion in overpayments in veterans disability benefits over the last 18 years, and could lead to another $1 billion in improper payouts in the near future if left unchecked, according to a new investigation.

This is a witch hunt in the making.

Shane cites the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Office of the Inspector General's report and Michael Walcoff, acting VA Under Secretary for Benefits.

Walcoff is infamous in veteran advocates' circles for defending the old PTSD regulations and preventing private doctors from being used by veterans for a PTSD diagnosis acceptable to the Veterans Benefit Administration.

Walcott is with Dr. Sally Satel of the anti-veteran, pro-war American Enterprise Institute in this view. "We believe that our VA are really the world experts on this particular condition, especially PTSD as it arises from war," said Walcoff last year.

The national and regional IG's offices are stacked with anti-veteran neocons.

So we have a situation where the few overworked veterans on the Court of Appeals for Veterans (CAVC) bar cannot advocate for the 100,ooos of veterans on an effective scale. And the regualtions are complex factually and legally so the VSOs who care do not have a chance at assisting veterans.

This IG report and PR stategy are getting us warmed up for the mass demonization of so-called greedy, disabled veterans whose futures will be in the hands of the new Congress and its expressed concerns about costs, efficiencies and privatization.

Anti-veteran think tanks like Dr. Satel's, the IGs and the national media are generating the scare headlines and stories of greedy, lying veterans.

Said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense:

The VA IG investigation shows VBA staff failed to enter data into a computer ordering a second examination of veterans receiving temporary 100 percent benefits. This remains a training and oversight problem at VBA. However, the Stars and Stripesheadline is misleading because VBA could have also underpaid veterans billions of dollars because of VBA delays or failures to perform examinations, a point stressed by VBA leaders in their response to the IG. In order to resolve the possibility of overpayments and underpayments, VBA should improve computer systems and improve training, things VBA promises to do. Unfortunately, some misguided opponents of VA will seize the headline to attack temporary benefits as well as to demand major budget cuts at VA.

The reality is the VA and VBA have underpaid disabled veterans by $Billions for decades.

Veterans for Common Sense Reacts to New VBA Appts.

Widely regarded as the most effective and intellectually honest veterans' advocacy organization, Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) expressed cautious optimism today on news of two new Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA) appointments. VCS said in a statement to Veterans Today and MAL Contends that it "remains highly concerned there are several remaining top officials at VBA who failed to resolve VBA's million-claim backlog for a decade or longer. In order for VBA reform to be robust and successful, several personnel changes are urgently needed."

Said Paul Sullivan, Executive Director of Veterans for Common Sense:

Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) is pleased to learn President Barack Obama nominated a new Under Secretary for Benefits at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

VCS looks forward to learning more about the nominee, Brigadier General Allison Hickey, USAF, Retired, and how she plans to continue VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's progressive and pragmatic reforms at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA).

VCS understands several new positions, such as Deputy Under Secretaries, were created recently at VBA. We support creating the new positions as essential for VBA strategic planning and long-term coordination of several large-scale reforms intended to reduce the number of veterans waiting long periods of time for VBA to decide veterans' disability compensation claims.

According to VA reports, more than one million veterans are now waiting, on average, five months for VBA to decide a claim. More than 200,000 veterans are now waiting, on average, four more years for the Board of Veterans Appeals to decide an appealed claim.

Our top concern is VA's implementation of new PTSD benefit regulations, a move strongly supported by VCS. VA's new PTSD rules are vital for our veterans because they provide streamlined access to healthcare and disability compensation for veterans with psychological trauma resulting from deployment to a war zone.

We urge VA Secretary Shinseki to quickly release detailed information about the number of claims filed by veterans under the new PTSD rules. This includes the number granted (and their ratings) and the number denied each month. We also want to know the length of time to process the claims and the accuracy of VBA's decisions in order to determine if VA's new rules are improving VA's timeliness and quality.

We close with a note of caution. VCS remains highly concerned there are several remaining top officials at VBA who failed to resolve VBA's million-claim backlog for a decade or longer. In order for VBA reform to be robust and successful, several personnel changes are urgently needed.