VA Moves to Prevent Veteran Violence Over Disability Claims

To curtail confusion, the department wants to change when veterans can view the results of their disability exam online.

 Veterans Affairs officials want to change when veterans can view some of their medical records online, fearing that some could become violent if they see negative comments and think their disability claims will be denied.

A group of department officials said Monday that they fear some veterans could see the notes from the exam, assume from this partial picture that their claim is being denied, and take out their anger on local VA officials. They voiced their safety concerns Monday to members of the department's Advisory Committee on Disability Compensation at their meeting this week in Washington.

Source:  http://www.nationaljournal.com/defense/va-moves-to-prevent-veteran-violence-over-disability-claims-20141021

VA Awards Contract for Independent Assessment of Health Care to Non-Profit Firm

Choice Act Requires Third Party Assessment of Processes; Firm Will Serve as Program Integrator

Washington – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced that the MITRE Corporation, a not-for-profit company that operates multiple federally funded research and development centers, has been awarded a contract to support the Independent Assessment of VA health care processes, as required by the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 (“Choice Act”). MITRE Corporation will serve as program integrator.

Section 201 of the Choice Act directs VA to enter into one or more independent, third-party contracts for an assessment of the hospital care, medical services and other health care processes in VA medical facilities. The program integrator will be responsible for coordinating the outcomes of the assessments conducted by the third-party entities according to the scope of the contracts. The program integrator is required to report the independent assessment results to Congress within 60 days of the assessment’s conclusion.

“This independent assessment is a key element in our effort to rebuild trust with Veterans and our other stakeholders,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald.  “It will provide the Department a way to transparently review our vital programs, organizations, and business practices to make us a better and more accountable VA for the Veterans we serve.”

Working with Congress, Veterans Service Organizations, and other stakeholders, VA has taken steps to implement Choice Act legislation, including:

• Establishing a Program Management office to oversee planning and implementation of the legislation across the Department.
• Putting in place the mechanisms to execute the outlined facilities with the authorization provided to carry out major medical facility leases.
• Working through the contracting process to extend the pilot program called Project ARCH to ensure the continued expanded access for Veterans in rural areas provided by that program.
• Holding Industry Day to seek input on how best to provide administrative support including issuing Veteran Choice Cards.

The VA embraces technology to better care for veterans

Mobile healthcare is one of the hottest topics in the news right now, especially since the unveiling of Apple Watch, iPhone 6 and iOS 8. With its newest gadgets, Apple is hoping to integrate all sorts of features through its Health app that will let you do everything from track exercise to store your healthcare documents.

Apple's Healthbook app is still a work in progress, but you can be sure that they and other tech companies are trying to come up with ways to integrate all of your healthcare information into your gadgets. This brings up some serious privacy concerns, but if these companies can pull this off, your healthcare might never be the same.

Continue Learning>>>https://www.komando.com/happening-now/271658/the-va-embraces-technology-to-better-care-for-veterans/all

VA Telehealth Services Served Over 690,000 Veterans In Fiscal Year 2014

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced that its national telehealth programs served more than 690,000 Veterans during fiscal year 2014. That total represents approximately 12 percent of the overall Veteran population enrolled for VA healthcare, and accounted for more than 2 million telehealth visits. Of that number, approximately 55 percent were Veterans living in rural areas with limited access to VA healthcare. With more Veterans seeking health care, telehealth is rapidly becoming an attractive option, especially for those Veterans who don’t have a VA health care facility close to home.

“We have to adapt to meet Veterans wherever their needs are,” said VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald. “A brick-and-mortar facility is not the only option for health care. We are exploring how we can more efficiently and effectively deliver health care services to better serve our Veterans and improve their lives. Telehealth is one of those areas we have identified for growth.”  

Currently, there are more than 44 clinical specialties offered to Veterans through VA’s telehealth programs. One program at the Miami VA schedules close to 90 clinic connections every week for dermatology, eye exams, the women Veterans program, podiatry, mental health and other clinical specialties.

One tangible example of the success of VA’s telehealth program is its burgeoning TeleAudiology program because of large population of Veterans living with hearing loss. The TeleAudiology program has grown from 1,016 Veterans in fiscal year 2011 to more than 10,589 in fiscal year 2014.

For more information about VA’s telehealth program, visit www.telehealth.va.gov/.        

Source:http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2646

Some Vietnam Vets Left to Wonder Whether Agent Orange Made Them Sick

To date, researchers blame Agent Orange for causing 14 illnesses in veterans, who are eligible for federal compensation and health care.

But some Vietnam vets are sick with conditions not on the official list, but insist Agent Orange is the cause.

However for many purported connections, there is no proof, at least so far.

Continue Learning>>>http://wuwm.com/post/some-vietnam-vets-left-wonder-whether-agent-orange-made-them-sick

VA reform bill preserves employee bonuses

Despite public outrage over dysfunctional and dangerously run hospitals, a landmark VA reform bill set to be signed Thursday by President Barack Obama will retain some department perks: Hefty bonuses for executives and other employees.

The bill includes a compromise by House and Senate lawmakers allowing the Department of Veterans Affairs to continue handing out up to $360 million in employee performance awards each year as it attempts to overhaul its health care system and ease chronically long patient wait times.

Continue Learning>>>http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/va-reform-bill-preserves-employee-bonuses-1.296911

Moran Introduced Legislation to Research Health of Descendants of Vets Exposed to Toxins

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) has introduced legislation to research the health conditions of descendants of veterans who were exposed to toxins during their military service. The Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2014, which is supported by the Vietnam Veterans of America and AMVETS, would establish a national center for research on the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions stemming from exposure to toxins such as Agent Orange in Vietnam, Gulf War neurotoxins, burn pits in Iraq and other chemicals from recent overseas conflicts. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined Sen. Moran in introducing the legislation.

Continue Learning>>>http://www.hayspost.com/2014/08/04/moran-introduced-legislation-to-research-health-of-descendants-of-vets-exposed-to-toxins/

VVA PRESS RELEASE>>>Sen. Jerry Moran Joins With Senator Blumenthal To Introduce Toxic Exposure Research and Military Family Support Act of 2014

“We applaud Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) for joining forces to introduce The Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2014, said VVA National President John Rowan. “Among the so-called invisible wounds of war are those brought home by troops that may not manifest for decades. And most tragically, the damage done by the toxins may pass on genetically to the children and grandchildren of our nation’s warriors. Our children are the innocent victims of our military service.”

This bill, (S.2738), instructs the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a national center for research on the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions of the descendants of veterans exposed to toxins during service in the Armed Forces. Further, S.2738 calls for the establishment of an advisory board to oversee and assess the work of the center; to determine health conditions that result from toxic exposure; and to study and evaluate cases of exposure. The advisory board will advise the Secretary of VA on issues related to research conducted at the National Center and the particular benefits and services required by the descendants of individuals exposed while serving as members of the Armed Forces.

Toxins, such as Agent Orange, have been shown to cause birth defects in the children of military personnel who came into contact with them, either during the Vietnam War, in the storage and transportation of those toxins, or by riding in aircraft that had been previously used to transport the toxins. For Gulf War veterans, the exposure was to chemical weapons that were in an Iraqi ammo dump that was blown up by U.S. Forces at the end of the Gulf War, to oil fires, and possibly to tainted vaccines. This is comprehensive legislation that will construct a common mechanism and procedures that will encompass all past and future toxic wounds, as needed.

We thank Senator Blumenthal and Senator Moran for constructing this bi-partisan bill, and we thank Senator Begich for being an original co-sponsor. We look forward to many additional co-sponsors, and to the support of many of our colleagues in other veterans organizations. We also look forward to quick action by the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs when Congress returns in September.

Source>>>http://www.vva.org/PressReleases/2014/pr14-018.html

McDonald must clean house at VA, experts say

Bob McDonald, President Barack Obama’s pick to head up the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs, faces such a hidebound bureaucracy that experts say the way forward is clear: He must clean house.

“McDonald has to walk in and kind of dismantle all of those structures that would keep the culture in the same place,” according to Todd Henshaw, the director of executive leadership programs at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business. “If you’ve been in an organization that’s failed across the board the way the VA has, the writing is on the wall and probably a lot of the senior people have to go … He’s going to need some people coming in from the outside” with “some experience and some success leading organizations through turnarounds and transformations.”

Continue Learning>>>http://www.stripes.com/news/mcdonald-must-clean-house-at-va-experts-say-1.294510

OPINION: VA Scandal 2014

I don’t know why anyone is surprised about trouble at some VA facilities. We have World War II and Korean War veterans passing at a quick rate, many using VA faculties in their final days. Every Vietnam veteran with boots on the ground was exposed to Agent Orange, possible prostate cancer, millions, and we’re all at that “age!”

And now we have many thousands of men and women who served in Afghanistan and Iraq using the VA system at an unprecedented rate because of a good campaign specifically aimed at getting new veterans to file claims for “service connected” injuries upon return from deployment, to get in the system! And then add in for bad measure corrupt VA employees endangering veterans through their greed!

Continue Learning>>>http://www.htrnews.com/story/opinion/readers/2014/07/25/panel-discussion/13182997/

Protesters lie under ambulance during eviction of war vet

After a brief reprieve from an eviction, the King County Sheriff’s Office removed a disabled Vietnam veteran and his family from their West Seattle home, but this time, activists staged what they called an “eviction blockade” and blocked an ambulance outside the home.

Activists from the organization Standing Against Foreclosure and Eviction stood on the porch and chanted when a deputy arrived to serve the court-ordered eviction notice to Jean and Byron Barton again on Friday.

Continue Learning>>>http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/protesters-lay-under-ambulance-stop-eviction-war-v/ngh2D/

As a good man lies dying: A story of life and Vietnam

Its cruelty to American servicemen who survived the war is continuing even now, compounded by a Department of Veterans Affairs that chronically leaves vets to suffer and die undiagnosed and untreated. Of 500,000 vets who died between 2000 and 2007, 58 percent were younger than 60. The veterans of Vietnam are dying young. It is not hard to figure out one big reason why.

Agent Orange was an unmitigated evil, I had firmly believed.

Continue Learning>>>http://www.azcentral.com/story/dougmaceachern/2014/07/18/agent-orange-vietnam-roney/12865347/

Veterans waiting longer for cancer care, researchers say

On August 8, 2012, a pathology report found that a growth on Mitchell's neck was "concerning" for cancer. The recommendation: "total excision," meaning surgical removal.

But Mitchell's tumor wasn't removed until October 22, more than 2½ months later.

Ten months after that, Mitchell was dead. He was 63.

The VA Medical Center in Dallas tells CNN that Mitchell's 75-day wait to have the cancer taken out of his body "meets the standard of care" at the VA.

Continue Learning>>>http://www.kspr.com/news/health/veterans-waiting-longer-for-cancer-care/21051714_26986918

VETERAN waiting to die as VA Directs Wife to Voicemail

Veterans Need To Take Ownership Over Their Health Care

The bigger problem is the absence of a coherent co-payment system to incentivize veterans to think through their health care decisions. Contrary to conventional wisdom, VA health care is free only to veterans with severe, service-related conditions. Abyzantine co-insurance system exists in which the cost of care is linked to the severity of a veteran’s condition and the degree to which the condition is service-related. Veterans additionally receive a monthly tax-free cash payment based on the severity of their service-related health condition. The result is that veterans face perverse incentives to let their health deteriorate to the point where they can avoid copayments and receive higher monthly financial support. Reform should focus on redesigning VA co-insurance to give veterans incentives to embrace preventive care and take greater ownership over their health care decisions.

Continue Learning>>>http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2014/06/27/veterans-need-to-take-ownership-over-their-health-care/

USFK sprayed defoliant from 1955 to 1995, new testimony suggests

An official U.S. government document confirms that the country’s military sprayed defoliant in South Korea for a far longer period than had previously been officially stated.

According to a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) document obtained by the Hankyoreh on Sunday (local time), the period during which defoliant was sprayed in South Korea was recorded internally as being from 1962 to 1970.

Continue Learning>>>http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/480550.html

Those who served offshore should not be denied care

Many people believe all Vietnam veterans injured in the war receive health care from Veterans Affairs hospitals. This is not true. Any veteran who served offshore Vietnam is denied health care and compensation for any disease or disability caused by Agent Orange-dioxin.

These veterans are dying of the same conditions as troops who served on land, from the cancers, diabetes and heart diseases related to dioxin poisoning. The Australian navy, which served at the same time in the same waters off Vietnam, recognizes this fact. Why doesn’t our VA?

Continue Learning>>>http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/letter-those-who-served-offshore-should-not-be-denied-care-20140608

Manteca veteran shares his VA hospital snafu story

In light of what happened in the Phoenix VA Hospital and what is happening around the nation, I felt I must tell my story. I am a Vietnam veteran and have several Agent Orange related health issues. In 2007 I had a baseball sized tumor removed from my shoulder at the Mather Airbase Hospital in Sacramento. The surgery went well and I received great care there, but I was advised I would need a complete shoulder replacement surgery. It would have to be performed in  Palo Alto, I was told.

Jump ahead to March 2013. I went to Palo Alto’s VA Hospital and did a CT sand and MRI and was immediately prepped for surgery. Then  they told me to return the next day (Friday). On Friday I was told to return Monday. They informed me Monday that there was no surgeon available to perform the surgery and sent me home with pain pills and recommended I exercise the shoulder. It was a  shoulder that was continually popping out of the socket.

Continue Learning>>>http://www.mantecabulletin.com/section/37/article/107204/

VA chief: 100,000 vets were on fake wait lists

More than 100,000 of America's military veterans were victims of bogus waiting lists for medical appointments, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs inquiry, and acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said the nation will learn Monday how many patients in each city were relegated to "secret lists."

During a news conference Thursday at the Carl T. Hayden Medical Center in Phoenix, where the VA scandal erupted, Gibson also disclosed that at least 18 Arizona veterans died while waiting for doctor appointments, though it remains unclear whether delayed care was to blame for the deaths.

Continue Learning>>>http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2014/06/06/va-chief-vets-fake-wait-lists/10053681/

Why Veterans Affairs Can’t Root Out Its Corruption

Eric Shinseki may be gone, but there are still indefensible civil service rules in place that put failing bureaucrats' job security ahead of the safety of the veterans they should be serving.

The independent VA Inspector General’s report was brutal in its assessment. Department officials at the Phoenix VA Health Care System used tricks to hide months-long delays faced by veterans seeking appointments. This fraud increased hospital administrators’ chances of netting cash bonuses and salary increases while jeopardizing veterans’ health, the report implied. According to the IG, similar scams are taking place at VA hospitals throughout the country.

Continue Learning>>>

http://time.com/2809158/veterans-affairs-scandal-eric-shinseki/