| |
|
|
|
|
|
Archive for December, 2010
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is constantly searching for new ways to improve interactions between the VA and veterans. The last couple of years have seen the VA focus on not only improving their relationship with veterans, but improving the quality of health care provided to veterans. Within the next year, VA medical centers are planning on being able to provide a brand new service to their patients.
Now VA patients will hopefully be able to use their smart phones to help the VA diagnose them. The VA’s new trial project couples Blackberry-maker Research in Motion and mVisum, a mobile health firm, to ensure patients have access to proper medical information. The veteran population suffers heart attacks in high numbers. Some heart attacks will cause permanent damage if the person suffering the heart attack is not at the surgical cardiac catheterization lab within 90 minutes.
This is where the new technology comes in. The EKG can be sent directly to the cardiologist’s Blackberry via mVisum. The software carries a $75,000 price tag, and has been tested out by George Washington University Hospital and select VA medical centers. Patients suffering certain physical ailments will be able to respond to medical issues via their Blackberries as well as watch informative videos on their treatments through the new system.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: Blackberry, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), mVisum, VA Health Care System, VA Medical Centers, Veterans disability
Posted in VA News | 2 Comments »
Monday, December 13th, 2010
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatments have been responsible for helping many veterans and their family members. A new study found along with all the benefits PTSD therapy offers, for those veterans who smoke, combining PTSD therapy with therapy to stop smoking is much more effective than smoking cessation therapy alone.
The VA arbitrarily assigned 943 veterans suffering from PTSD who smoked into two therapy groups. The first group was provided mental health care and were given direction to the local VA smoking cessation clinic. The second group was given PTSD therapy tightly incorporated with smoking cessation therapy; both administered by VA mental health counselors. Researchers found those veterans given the integrated care quit smoking at a rate of two times as often as those simply referred to VA cessation clinics.
Researchers followed up with the test subjects over a total of 48 months between the years 2004 and 2009. For those veterans who received the incorporated therapy, almost 9% quit smoking for at least 12 months. Those veterans who did not receive the integrated treatment, only 4.5% quit for at least 12 months.
More people with mental health issues smoke tobacco than the general population. Smoking is often seen as a coping mechanism, and many feel quitting can do more damage than good. This study paves the road for future research seeking to treat both of these issues at the same time. Now it is known there is the possibility of hope and sometimes, that is all that is needed to get some to take the first step towards seeking help.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: PTSD, Smoking cessation, VA Health Care System, Veteran Mental Health
Posted in VA News | No Comments »
Thursday, December 9th, 2010
Military veterans’ disability claims are the subject of daily stories and issues across this country. These issues arise in all shapes and flavors, ranging from implementing paperless claim processing systems to pilot programs speeding up claim payouts to adding new diseases to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) presumptive disability list. Disability claim issues are rampant and now the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear a case about disability claim deadlines.
This case revolves around David Henderson, a severally mentally disabled Korean War veteran. The VA rated Henderson 100% disabled following his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. Henderson applied to his local VA for monthly benefits and was subsequently denied. Henderson then missed a 120 day filing limit in order to have the VA’s decision judicially reviewed.
The Veterans Court refused to extend the deadline, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed their decision based on a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court case. Henderson was bedridden from his disability, which is why he missed the deadline. The Supreme Court will decide if the Henderson will be precluded from appealing the VA’s decision to deny his benefits.
Disability claims stemming from Iraq and Afghanistan are on a constant rise. At the same time, mental health conditions could likely cause other veterans to miss their deadlines, according to veterans advocacy groups. Furthermore, hospitalization is a reality for many disabled veterans, which may prevent timely filing. VA lawyers argue because federal law establishes the 120 day time limit, judges cannot adjust that deadline; that responsibility is left to Congress.
Henderson has since passed away and this appeal is being continued by his widow. The Court’s decision in this case will affect thousands of veterans in the future.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: David Henderson, Disability Claims Deadlines, The Veterans Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, US Supreme Court, Veteran Disability Claims
Posted in General, US Military Legislation | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
Veterans who attempted to use their GI Bill benefits became quickly associated with the system’s shortcomings. Unprocessed claims lead to veterans never being issued their money, being forced to withdraw from classes, unable to pay rent, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) having to issue emergency checks to cover everything. Cut to a year later, and the VA attempted bring a new automated claims processing system online in hopes to avoid the previous year’s issues. The cost of that system has more than doubled.
The VA’s original cost for the system was $95 million and was supposed to be completed this month. The current cost is estimated at $207.1 million through the fiscal year 2011 and will not be completed this month, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Once completed, the processing system will use a “rules engine software” that guides users through a specific set of computations to establish veterans’ level of entitled aid. The VA built their system in stages by releasing the software in an agile development process. Mere weeks before the 2010 fall semester started, the VA declared enough of the system was completed so that examiners could automatically process claims as opposed to processing them manually, which was one of the big problems with the 2009 semester.
The GAO, however, found many spots where the VA missed critical steps in developing the new system. The new processing system didn’t possess the right software linking the claims to the VA’s legacy financial system, which would generate payments to the veterans. The VA also failed to build a solid web interface in which veterans could track and manage their educational claims.
The web interface will still be designed, but its date has been pushed back several months. The GAO criticized the VA for not setting realistic goals and the VA criticized the GAO for not understanding the VA’s development process. VA representatives referred to their claims processing system as “flawless.”
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: Educational Benefits, Educational Benefits Claims Processing System, GI Bill, Veterans' Benefits
Posted in VA News, Veterans' Benefits | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
Combat tours can leave some veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Many times, the veterans themselves do not even realize the problems they have. Many veterans cycle back to the U.S. and find themselves unable to leave their homes. Many of these veterans are stuck in a constant state of hyper-vigilance, cannot handle being around crowds, and don’t like people coming too close to them. For many, introducing a specially trained therapy dog into their lives makes living a fairly normal existence a possible reality.
These specially trained dogs can play multiple necessary roles for the veteran and in doing so prove why dogs are man’s best friend. Although giving dogs to soldiers with PTSD is something the military has not done in the past, the incredible amount of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan may require this very thing. Pets2Vets is one of the organizations supplying dogs to veterans in need and promises to get those veterans a pet within a month.
Whether dogs help veterans with PTSD or not is still up in the air. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Army are performing independent studies to hopefully find evidence one way or another. A previous study concluded pairing veterans with therapy dogs reduced veterans’ anxiety at rates far above what they were reduced to when veterans were exposed to therapy utilizing music and art. The study also concluded dogs can serve to reduce fear and stress in their veteran pairing in almost every aspect of their life.
Specially trained PTSD dogs perform specific and necessary tasks. The most important function these dogs serve, however, is to provide comfort to veterans in a world where they are not comfortable.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: Pets2Vets, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Therapy Dogs, Veterans disability, Veterans Mental Health
Posted in General, Veterans' Resources | 2 Comments »
Monday, December 6th, 2010
For the first time ever, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) used agile development and subsequently declared it a success. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) came to a different conclusion than the VA, and saw needed improvement.
Agile development is an idea stressing the stepped growth of software on a fast and constant pace while retaining functionality as well as strong cooperation between the programmers and the users. In October 2008, the VA utilized this philosophy as they developed a $207 million automated system. The system would be used to process veteran education claims as they began to use their benefits from the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
A recent GAO report undercuts the VA’s announced success, however. After deploying 2 of 4 systems, the GAO report found vital tasks were not done on time. This may force the VA to postpone a 5th system’s release or put that release under a completely different undertaking, which will likely affect the systems’ functionality. The VA failed to anticipate the difficulty of converting then-present data into the new systems, and the interface between the systems was therefore never completed. Some of the VA’s online services set for a December release will not happen.
One of the GAO’s main criticisms was that separate teams of developers were operating under different standards that needed to be met in order for their work to be released. Consequently, some work had been declared ready for release without ever having undergone any testing. The VA countered by saying it is likely that many GAO investigators were not familiar enough with agile development and did not understand at what they were investigating nor did they understand their testing concepts.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: Agile Development, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Educational Benefits, Government Accountability Office (GAO), Post-9/11 GI Bill, Veterans' Benefits
Posted in VA News, Veterans' Benefits | No Comments »
Thursday, December 2nd, 2010
If passed, the Women Veterans Bill of Rights (H.R. 5953) will force Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Sec. Eric Shinseki to publicly post the list of the 24 rights for female veterans. The rights must be displayed at every VA facility. The rights include such things as:
- Equality;
- Outreach; and
- Health care.
The bill drew harsh criticism from pro-life groups, however, who took issue with some of the bill’s language. Some groups saw the bill’s language as possibly allowing abortions to be performed in military hospitals but paid for with federal money. The National Right to Life Committee has lobbied U.S. Representatives to either oppose the questionable language contained in the bill or add language specifically banning abortion.
The opposition turned on the pro-life groups considering specific terms as vaguely defined. Further, they claim the Committee on Veterans Affairs never heard the bill. Douglas Johnson is the Legislative Director for the National Right to Life Committee and claims abortion is always included in such bills unless Congress prohibits it. According to Douglas, the language afforded a series of “sweeping statutory rights” he fears courts would interpret as including federally funded abortions.
Bob Filner, the Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman, has allegedly submitted a new version of H.R. 5953, on which the House will vote. This new version supposedly contains language stating nothing in the bill should be interpreted to allow abortions, along with other services such as gender alterations, to be funded with federal money.
There has been no consensus among pro-life groups if Filner’s new bill alleviates their fear. Pro-life groups would ideally want a totally encompassing provision specifically banning abortions.
Learn more about the initial version of H.R. 5953, and Bob Filner’s new version containing the new language.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: Abortion, Committee on Veterans Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), H.R. 5953, National Right to Life Committee, Women Veterans Bill of Rights
Posted in US Military Legislation, Veterans' Benefits | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010
The government has yet to give a tolerable response to the thousands of Marines and their families exposed to toxic water while stationed at Camp Lejeune, according to Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC). Many of those exposed to the contaminated water are currently suffering from cancers and other sorted medical disorders. Because of the determined efforts from Sen. Burr and Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), the government may slowly be starting to concede they have a responsibility to provide care for those suffering because of their exposure.
That acknowledgment does not even come close to satisfying Sen. Burr. He is demanding the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) explain its actions. Specifically, he wants to know why the VA is so slow in granting disability compensation to Marines exposed to the toxic water while at Camp Lejeune.
Further, Senator Burr is demanding the VA explain why they have linked only 20 applicants’ diseases to the chemically toxic water when over 200 veterans have applied for disability. For those the VA has rejected, he wants to know why they were rejected.
Sen. Burr’s efforts have resulted in the Navy re-opening a very flawed study finding no conclusive evidence linking the chemical laden water and the various diseases from which Marines and their families suffer. Over 1 million Marines and their family members came into contact with the toxic water in the 30 years the wells were open at Camp Lejeune. Many of those are either sick, dying, or have died from various sicknesses related to the chemicals that infected the Lejeune water supply.
One thing Sen. Burr has been constantly pushing is more action. More action in the water investigations, more action in processing disability claims for water exposure, and more action in helping those families dealing with diseases and cancers because of their exposure.
f you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: Campe Lejeune, Contaminated Water, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Disabled Veterans, Toxic Water, Veterans disability
Posted in Disabled Veterans, General | No Comments »
|
| |
|
|
|
