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COASTAL LIVING        February 2003 Carteret County and the VA	Hank Gotard Veterans Services Officer
VA Seeks record Budget     Issues Health Care Changes       In a very recent VA press release that covered a lot of water, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it was seeking a record increase in the Presidents Fiscal 2004 Budget, was suspending health care enrollment for certain veterans, and was developing a new plan which would allow eligible veterans to utilize their Medicare benefits for VA care.      The Administrations proposed VA FY 2004 Budget includes a total of $63.6 billion, $30.2 billion for discretionary funding which is primarily health care and $33.4 billion for entitlement programs (mainly service connected disability compensation, dependency indemnity compensation, and non-service connected pension).  The VA proposed budget also includes new construction funding ($225 million) for VA's nation wide construction initiative to continue to build VA Primary Care Community Based Outreach Clinics, putting primary care where veterans live.  According to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Anthony Principi, the funding for fiscal year 2004 health care is 7.7 per cent higher then fiscal 2003 levels and the largest requested in VA history.      Secretary Principi also announced the suspension of new health care enrollments for veterans in Primary Group 8, the one group with the lowest statutory priority for benefits.  These are veterans with higher incomes and no military service related health problems.  Now, who constitutes high income Category 8 status depends on where the veteran lives and the size of the veteran's household.  For instance, unmarried veterans making more than $38,100 in Raleigh – Durham – Chapel Hill, NC, or more than $27,850 in Carteret County, would be considered Category 8 veterans.  (These dollar amounts are approximate, because the exact amount is determined by specific zip code.)      A note, the above criteria for the Category 8 Veterans only applies for enrollments on or after January 17, 2003.  Under this decision, Priority Group 8 Veterans already enrolled in the VA Health Care System, those who are enrolled and on a waiting list for care, have been grand-fathered in the VA Health Care Program and are not affected by this decision.      The VA rationale for this change were long delays in providing service.  The VA's patient population has ballooned from 2.9 million in 1996 to 6.9 million today.  The Secretary stated that the VA needs the enrollment "time out' to get a hold of, to get a handle on its current workload and to reduce waiting times for appointments that now can be as long as six months.      The press release also addresses a VA and the Federal Department of Health and Human Services "initative" to develop a program to give Priority Group 8 veterans age 65 or older the opportunity to participate in a "VA and Choice-Medicare" Program if they can't participate in the VA health care system.  In general terms, the plan has the VA functioning as a Medicare and Choice provider, where eligible veterans will be able to use their Medicare to obtain VA health care and in turn, the VA would recoup costs though payments from Medicare.  This plan could be in place by late 2003. Guidance to County Veterans Service Officers from the North Carolina Division of Veterans Affairs is to continue completing all applications for healthcare enrollment if veterans request assistance.  They further state, let the Department of Veterans Affairs determine who is Priority 8, which always should be the plan for the day.  Needless to say these actions by the VA have caused a flurry of articles and comments from the headquarters of numerous veterans' organizations and from members of the Congress.  To date, there is consensus from those who have stepped forward and that is, that this action dramatically highlights the need to develop permanent long term solutions to VA's healthcare funding problems, solutions that provide for mandatory funding legislation, that will guarantee funds to treat all veterans who enroll in the VA health care system. For more information about enrollment and eligibility for VA health care, call VA's Health Benefits Service Center Toll-Free at 1-877-222-VETS (8387) or call County Veterans Services at 252-728-8440 who can also provide you with a comprehensive handout on this important subject.   MOREHEAD CITY COMMUNITY BASED OUTREACH CLINIC STATUS.   Contract negotiations, and fine-tuning continues between the prospective builder and the VA Medical Center Durham.  In a recent conversation, Ms. Sarah Hague, Special Assistant to the Director of the VA medical Center, states that she anticipates a contract being signed within a few weeks.  The word will be passed as soon as it is received.     AGENT ORANGE UPDATE.   In a January 23, 2003 press release the VA announced that it was adding chronic lymphacytic leukemia (CLL) to the list of illnesses that the VA accepts as service-connected for Vietnam Veterans.  Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi stated that  "compelling evidence has emerged within the scientific community that exposure to herbicides such as Agent Orange is associated with CLL".  The bottom line is this ruling means that veterans with CLL who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War do not have to provide evidence to exposure to Agent Orange nor do they prove that their illness is related to military service to qualify for disability compensation.  This decision also guarantees veterans with CLL higher priority access to VA health care. Other illnesses that VA accepts as service-connected for Vietnam Veterans are Chloracne, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Soft-tissue sarcoma, Hodgkin's Disease, Porphyria, Cutanea tarde,  Multiple myeloma, Respiratory Cancers, Prostate Cancer, Acute and sub acute peripheral neuropathy, and Type II Diabetes.    Conditions recognized in children of Vietnam Veterans are Spina bifida and other birth defects in the children of women Vietnam Veterans. For more information on this important subject contact the VA Regional Office toll-free 1-800-827-1000 or call County Veterans Services at 252-728-8440.   FREE TELEPHONE CARDS TO SERVICE MEMBERS AND TO HOSPITALIZED VETERANS.   In the last four months the Veterans of Foreign Wars has provided over 1 million free phone cards to active and reserve component military members serving overseas and to hospitalized veteran.  According to the VFW leadership the program is "heating up" and in recent weeks they are receiving 50,000 requests for cards per week, from parents, spouses, other relatives and military commanders on behalf of deployed service members and hospitalized veterans.  To request a phone card by internet, visit www.operationuplink.org.  To make a contribution/donation toward the purchase of cards for distribution, visit website: www.operationuplink.org/donate.cfm.  If you don't have a computer with Internet access visit County Veterans Services and they will gladly assist you. Their office is located at 613 Cedar Street, Highway #70, in Beaufort.  They are open Monday thru Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm.  Their telephone numbers is 252-728-8440.

 

VA Claims Processing Times

    How long does it take to process a VA Regional Office claim? Below are the average processing times for compensation and pension claims.

Description Initial disability compensation claim with 7 or less issues Initial disability compensation claim with 8 or more issues Initial disability pension                                         Initial death & dependency indemnity compensation            Initial death pension Reopened compensation                     Reopened pension                                                 Income, estate & election issues                   Disability & death dependency

Average Days to Complete 220 122 140 190   94 250 136   86   49