Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From The VA
As he enters his second year as head of VA, Secretary Shinseki is focused on reducing the disability claims backlog. “We are going to break the back of the backlog this year,” Secretary Shinseki said during a news interview last week.
He’s counting on four pilot programs designed to identify and overcome obstacles that slow the claims process. One, launched in Pittsburgh in January, seeks to fundamentally change the relationship between veterans and the VA by giving the veteran a checklist of what’s needed to file the claim and allow VA to go ahead and find whatever documentation the veteran can’t provide. This, Secretary Shinseki said, reduces dead time right at the start of putting together the claims package. Once the paperwork is gathered, VA then will “work with the veteran to put together the best and strongest argument to win the case,” he said. That’s a major change, Secretary Shinseki noted, making VA the veteran’s advocate rather than adversary as the claim makes its way through the system. Secretary Shinseki said he’s impressed by what he’s seen since the pilot program kicked off in January, and credits the self-named “Delta Team” there with showing solid progress in improving the claims process. A pilot under way at the Providence, RI VARO will introduce new automated tools to make claims processing faster and more accurate, efficient and secure. A pilot program at the Little Rock, Ark., VARO is focused on re-engineering the claims process to make it more efficient, investigating questions such as “How to simplify the claims process to reduce procedural delays?” A fourth promising pilot program being tested in Baltimore is taking best practices from the others to create what Secretary Shinseki called the “virtual VA regional office of the future.” Ultimately, he said, he expects it to be a model for 57 VA regional offices nationwide. He said he’s committed to creating a disciplined, high-performing and transparent organization tailored being more responsive to the needs of Veterans.

Top Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1. Shinseki Announces VA Cutting Insurance Premiums for Families Washington, DC – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced today that military personnel insuring their families under the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) program, which is administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, will have reduced out-of-pocket expenses beginning July 1. “VA hopes these reductions will allow more military personnel to obtain affordable life insurance coverage for their spouses, particularly in these difficult economic times,” said Shinseki. “Without insurance protection, life after the loss of a spouse can be not only challenging emotionally, but can place a severe financial strain on a family.”
2. U.S. Labor Department announces grant program for homeless vets and vets with families Washington, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service has announced a $5 million grant competition to provide job training, counseling and placement services (including job readiness, and literacy and skills training) to expedite the reintegration of homeless female veterans and veterans with families into the labor force. “We are reminded every day of the tremendous sacrifices made by our service men and women, and by their families. Yet a staggering number of our homeless population are veterans,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.
3. Researchers find Mass. health care reform improved access to inpatient procedures among minorities Minneapolis, Minnesota – Researchers from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University School of Medicine have found that health care reform in Massachusetts has improved minority access for some inpatient procedures. These findings are being presented today at the annual Society of General Internal Medicine annual meetings in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
4. Tuition Waivers For Wounded Veterans Long Time Coming: Antenori Breaks Through Tucson, Arizona – “Those without vision perish.” That is not the case for Arizona State Representative Frank Antenori, and his colleagues who had the vision and courage to penetrate decades of denial of benefits to disabled veterans that have been granted in many States for 40 years. House Bill 2350: Tuition Waivers For Wounded Veterans, was signed by Governor Brewer on Friday. But with all the hoopla and circus of the Immigration Bill, the advocacy and diligence it took to get this fine piece of legislation pass the Board of Regents, has remained in the shade. Ironically that is often the way with Veterans Affairs. We give lip service to supporting veterans of war, but so seldom are there substantive results.
5. Landmark Legislation for Wounded Veterans & Women Veterans Washington, DC – Pete Viscloky recently addressed the topic of America’s wounded and women veterans. “I am committed to addressing the needs of America’s service men and women and their families. Over the last three years, I have supported numerous historic initiatives for America’s veterans, including enacting the Post 9/11 GI Bill, making historic investments to strengthen the quality of veterans’ health care, and building better military family housing and more military child care centers. I am proud that last week I added a vote in support of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act to that list.”
6. VA, Tricare to get millions from settlement Naples, Italy – Federal agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs and Tricare stand to share more than $300 million following settlement of a fraud case brought by the Department of Justice against pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. The case centered around AstraZeneca’s marketing strategy for its anti-psychotic drug Seroquel, which was only approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in treating bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, according to the justice department.
7. Discovery on how breast cancer may spread San Francisco, California – (UPI) – U.S. researchers say they have discovered how to predict if the most common form of breast cancer may later spread. Lead author Karla Kerlikowske of the University of California, San Francisco, and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, says the most common form of breast cancer –ductal carcinoma
   in situ — rarely leads to death, but approximately 11 out of 100 women treated by lumpectomy develop invasive cancer within eight years of the initial diagnosis.
8. Bill: Bring chiropractors to more vet centers Washington, DC – Chiropractic care would have to be available at a minimum of 75 veterans’ medical centers by the end of 2011 and at all 153 medical centers by the end of 2013, under a bill passed Thursday by a House subcommittee. Passed by voice vote by the health subcommittee of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the bill, HR 1017, marks a major step in a 10-year fight in Congress to make chiropractic care and services available to veterans. Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., the veterans’ committee chairman, is the chief sponsor.
9. State gets no bids to privatize veterans homes Winfield, Kansas – Plans to seek privatization of services at the Kansas Veterans Home in Winfield and the Kansas Soldiers Home at Fort Dodge have been put on hold, KVH superintendent Jim Hays said today. A request for proposal had been posted on the Kansas Department of Administration’s Web site, seeking bids for health care services at both facilities. Bids were taken until Tuesday.
10. DNC Veterans Council Commends President Obama on Support for Veterans – Washington, DC / PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – Today, the Washington Times published a story highlighting President Obama’s progress in meeting campaign promises to America’s veterans. Specifically, the Washington Times notes, “All sides agree the President Obama has made big strides on promises he made in 2008 when competing for military votes against Republican nominee and Vietnam veteran Sen. John McCain – to fully fund the Veterans Administration, expand access to care in rural areas and improve treatment for mental health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.”