Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From The VA

VA’s The American Veteran Wins Two Emmy Awards

VA’s video magazine, The American Veteran, recently received two Emmy Awards at the 52nd Annual Chesapeake Bay Area Emmy Awards in Washington, DC. Watch the two winning segments: Parrot Sanctuary and Project Compassion

Top Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1. Celebrate Independence Day with Disabled Veterans Washington – The Fourth of July celebration in Denver takes on special importance this year when more than 500 wheelchair athletes who are all military Veterans begin competition at the 30th National Veterans Wheelchair Games. The event, presented each year by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Paralyzed Veterans of America, runs July 4 through July 9. “Honoring those who have given so much to this Nation is appropriate on the day we celebrate America’s independence,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “The National Veterans Wheelchair Games exemplify America’s commitment to its disabled Veterans and the continuing heroism of these men and women.”
2. Veterans’ Affairs Slow to Implement Inspector General Recommendations Washington, DC – Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) conducted a hearing to evaluate and examine the progress made by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in complying with VA’s Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) recommendations. The OIG’s target date for VA implementation of OIG recommendations on how to improve in a specific area is within one year of publication of the report. Currently, there are a total of 115 open reports with 694 open recommendations. Most of the open recommendations are tracking the target date; however, 16 reports containing 45 recommendations are over one year old.
3. Official warned of staffing at state veterans program Columbus – Records released to a newspaper indicate that Ohio officials had been warned about openings at a state disabled veterans program that later lost $525,000 in federal funding because of understaffing. Ohio’s Disabled Veterans Outreach Program had its annual federal grant reduced in March from about $6.2 million to about $5.7 million because it wasn’t hiring and retaining vocational counselors at levels required by the government, The Columbus Dispatch reported Tuesday.
4. National Veterans Wheelchair Games The largest annual wheelchair sports competition in the world, this event offers 17 different sports to Veterans who use wheelchairs due to spinal cord injuries, amputations and neurological diseases. The Games promote rehabilitation through rigorous competition in such events as basketball, rugby, softball, handcycling and others. A special “Kids Day” program allows children with disabilities to meet the athletes and be introduced to wheelchair sports. While past Games have produced national and world-class champions, the Games also provide opportunities for newly disabled Veterans to gain sports skills and be exposed to other wheelchair athletes.
5. Webb wary of expanded Agent Orange benefits A $13.4 billion expansion of Agent Orange-related benefits for Vietnam veterans could be delayed because a key senator wants more information on why three new conditions are being added to the list of disabilities assumed to have been caused by the herbicide. This could delay payments by at least two months, maybe longer, from whatever date the Veterans Affairs Department publishes its final implementation rules.
6. Veterans in state homes won’t be able to smoke inside after ban takes effect Taps is sounding for old soldiers smoking at the retirement home. Military veterans (and spouses) living at the two state-run retirement homes in King and Union Grove will have to follow the statewide smoking ban when it goes into effect on July 5, according to the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs.
7. Navy Veterans charity lifts service members’ thank-you letters from other organizations Tampa – The U.S. Navy Veterans Association says it spends millions to send care packages to America’s fighting troops overseas, and as proof, the group has posted to its website thank-you letters from soldiers and sailors like Gina Pronzati. “Everyone in the unit who received a package from you wants to thank you so much,” reads the letter on navyvets.org from Pronzati, who served with a U.S. Navy K-9 unit in Afghanistan.
8. New VA benefits claim form: Just 6 pages After years of complaints from veterans about having to fill out a 26-page-long benefits claims form for the Veterans Affairs Department, the Office of Management and Budget has approved VA’s new six-page form. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have progressed, the 26-page application became particularly troublesome for veterans dealing with traumatic brain injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder, both of which can cause short-term memory loss and other cognitive issues.
9. Fisher House would give free boarding to veterans seeking health care A.J. Calabresi has to drive two hours each way and spend an entire day going from one doctor’s appointment to the next when she needs treatment for injuries she suffered in Operation Desert Storm. The Army veteran lives in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., but her doctors work at the Alvin C. York Medical Center, run by the Veterans Administration, in Murfreesboro. Once a month, she sets up as many doctors’ visits as she can. “I have to get five appointments in one day,” said Calabresi, 38. “It’s very stressful.”
10. HMS Awarded Audit Contract by Employees Retirement System of TexasNew York – HMS today announced that it has been awarded a contract by the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) to conduct contract and claims auditing of ERS’s Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM). The audit, which entails a 100% review of ERS prescription claims for State Fiscal Year 2009, will cover a range of services, including claims processing, rebate accuracy, and performance guarantees.