Veterans

October 8, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – For more than two decades, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ health care system has been plagued by consistently late and, at times, inadequate budgets. On Wednesday (October 7), the U.S. House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation to ensure timely funding for veterans’ health care.

“Our veterans deserve the best available care – red tape and bureaucratic budgetary issues shouldn’t get in the way of their health care,” said Congressman Bart Gordon, who strongly supported the bill’s passage. “Over the years, the VA has had to make do with insufficient budgets resulting in restricted access for many veterans. This bill will change that.”    » read more »

Bill would assist veterans, young and old, as well as their survivors

October 7, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tonight, the Senate unanimously approved legislation designed to enhance a number of benefits for veterans and their families, including compensation, housing, employment, education, burial, and insurance benefits.

One key provision of the legislation would provide for retroactive payments to those servicemembers who suffered traumatic injury while on active duty on or between October 7, 2001, and November 30, 2005. Previously, this benefit was only available to servicemembers who suffered a traumatic injury in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom theaters of operation during that time period.    » read more »

Senator also working to put downward pressure on prescription drug costs; would save consumers $50 billion

October 2, 2009 -- (GRAND FORKS, N.D.) – As Congress considers ways to improve the overall health care system, Veterans health care remains a top priority, said U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) at the Grand Forks VA Community Based Outreach Clinic today.    » read more »

September 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is warning Veterans not to give credit card numbers over the phone to callers claiming to update VA prescription information.

"America’s Veterans have become targets in an inexcusable scam that dishonors their service and misrepresents the Department built for them," said Dr. Gerald Cross, VA’s Under Secretary for Health. "VA simply does not call Veterans and ask them to disclose personal financial information over the phone."

Veteran Service Organizations have brought to VA's attention that callers are misrepresenting the VA to gain personal information over the phone. They say VA recently changed procedures for dispensing prescriptions and ask for the Veteran's credit card number.    » read more »

WORCESTER – August 20, 2009 – The Patrick-Murray Administration today announced that the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS) has been awarded a $500,000 U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) grant to assist veterans in training and employment in green industry professions. This grant was one of only 17 awarded nationwide, totaling more than $7.5 million dollars, to provide approximately 3,000 veterans with job training to help them succeed in civilian careers. The grants are administered by DOL’s Veterans' Workforce Investment Program (VWIP).    » read more »

Legislation expands grants for families of soldiers killed in action and helps students who have defaulted on their student loans

June 23, 2009 -- Washington, D.C.—The House today unanimously approved legislation that expands grants for survivors of veterans killed in action and reduces credit problems by enabling the Department of Education to purchase rehabilitated loans from guaranty agencies. The bill, H.R. 1777, passed unanimously by the Senate this morning, also includes a number of technical amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965.    » read more »

June 22, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has initiated a large, long-term study to look carefully at a broad array of health issues that may affect Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) Veterans and their counterparts who served during the same time period. VA’s “National Health Study for a New Generation of U.S. Veterans” will begin with 30,000 Veterans deployed to OEF/OIF and 30,000 comparison Veterans who were not deployed.    » read more »

June 22, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) issued the following statement today on recently announced plans by the Department of Veterans Affairs to overhaul its information technology project management:

"IT improvements have the potential to dramatically improve the care and benefits veterans receive, but too often, IT failings have actually hurt VA's reputation and service quality," said Chairman Akaka. "I commend VA's leadership for acknowledging existing shortcomings and setting higher standards for the Department. This push for reform could bring us closer to the systemic transformation Secretary Shinseki and President Obama promised for veterans and their families."    » read more »

Secretary Donovan Elected New Chair of the Council; HUD and VA announce $75 million for HUD-VASH program to provide rental housing and support for homeless veterans

June 18, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) met today for the first time under the Obama Administration. U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki chaired the meeting, at which U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan was elected rotating Chair for the upcoming year and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was elected Vice Chair. U.

S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Melody Barnes, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, attended the meeting.    » read more »

June 19, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which now has nearly 8 million Veterans enrolled in its award-winning health care system, is poised to welcome nearly 266,000 more Veterans into its medical centers and clinics across the country by expanding access to health care enrollment for certain Veterans who had been excluded due to their income.

“This incremental approach to expanding enrollment ensures that access to VA health care for a greater number of beneficiaries does not sacrifice timely access or quality medical care for those Veterans already enrolled in VA’s health care system,” Dr. Gerald Cross, VA’s Acting Under Secretary for Health, said. “Over the next four years, we hope to provide enrollment to more than 500,000 Veterans.”    » read more »

Interested Colleges and Universities Must Sign Up for Yellow Ribbon Program before June 15 Deadline for 2009-2010 Term

June 5, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that it has entered into more than 700 agreements with institutions of higher learning across the nation to participate in the Post-9/11 GI Bill’s “Yellow Ribbon Program.”

Many schools signed agreements for participation in not only undergraduate programs, but graduate and doctoral programs as well. Some schools entered into one agreement that covered all their campuses throughout the United States.    » read more »

Grants Will Continue Collaboration with VA to Support America’s Veterans

June 4, 2009 --
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki today announced a landmark collaboration to help the families of older Americans and Veterans with disabilities of all ages care for their loved ones in the community.

This partnership builds on the similar missions of HHS and the VA with regard to caring for the populations they serve and has as its ultimate goal a nationwide home and community-based long-term-care support program to serve older Americans and veterans of all ages.    » read more »

Legislation affects veterans, establishes continuing care bill of rights and enhances mandatory reporting in education

June 2, 2009 -- (Salem) – Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski today signed 24 bills into law, including a law to better protect a disabled veteran or service officer from being taken advantage (House Bill 3020), a continuing care “bill of rights” (House Bill 2138) and mandatory reporting for Teacher Standards and Practices investigators (House Bill 2063).

All list of the bills signed today with a summary is below. For the full list of all the bills the Governor has signed this session, visit: http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/2009_Action.shtml.

House Bills:    » read more »

June 2, 2009 -- Active-duty military personnel and veterans joined Colorado Governor Bill Ritter today as he signed five bills that will help improve services for current and retired members of the armed forces and their families.

"Veterans and active-duty military are key components of Colorado's economic and social fabric, and we have a moral obligation to provide fully for them," Gov. Ritter said. "The brave men and women who serve in the military, as well as their families, sacrifice so much for us, which is why I am pleased to sign these bills into law today. They send the message that Colorado respects and cares for its active duty military, veterans and families."    » read more »

New Law Provides Tax Relief to Businesses That Hire New Vets, But Few Businesses Know About It

June 1, 2009 -- Albany, NY – As thousands of veterans return home from Iraq and Afghanistan, the tough economy is taking a toll. A new provision, signed into law by President Obama, would encourage companies to hire new veterans by providing a special tax break. However, New York businesses are not aware that they are eligible because the IRS is still working to implement the new tax break.

Joined today by New York State Senator Eric Adams, Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat, and local veterans, Senator Gillibrand launched a new public awareness campaign to encourage employers to hire new veterans and take advantage of the new tax break.    » read more »