| Veterans Update March 2009 |
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| Fighting For Veteran Benefits |
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| Serving the Veterans of Northern Arizona |
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C.B.O.C. @ BELLEMONT
The Clinic is open from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Thursday. Friday appointments will be available on a case-by-case basis.
Bellemont VA Clinic, Camp Navajo Army Depot (Blg. 68) PO Box 16196. Bellemont, Arizona 86015-6196.
Phone: 520-226-1056 or 1-800-949-1005 Ext. 7820.
APPOINTMENTS
If you wish to make an appointment or reschedule an appointment please call one of the above numbers. Note: Walk in patients will not be accepted. If you are going to miss an appointment be sure to call the day before, or first thing in the morning so the staff can accommodate acute care patients. Please call ahead for vaccinations!
EMERGENCY CARE
If you have an emergency go to FMC emergency room, or call 911. The clinic is not equipped to provide this type of care, and going there will only delay the proper treatment you need. Please note: That not all emergency care billed to the VA will be paid. The VA determines eligibility for emergency services on an individual basis. Please call the Urgent Care number below to inform them that you need emergency treatment, but don’t wait for Medical assistance! I have non -VA Emergency brochures in the office, please stop by and pick one up! Also be sure to tell the Urgent Care Operator that you are enrolled @ the VA CBOC @ Bellemont, AZ.
URGENT CARE
If you need medical assistance within a period of hours call the Urgent Care Center Toll Free 1-877-225-8262, or go to the FMC emergency room. Again, inform the operator that you are in the VA CBOC @ Bellemont, AZ. The reason for this is because some of these calls are answered by out of state operators, and they need to know that your primary care is @ the CBOC and NOT a VAMC!
ACUTE CARE
If you need medical attention in 24 - 48 hours call the clinic first thing in the morning, and they will make every effort to fit you in. Note: Again, if you are going to miss a scheduled appointment call the (Patient Services Assistant) @ the clinic ASAP, so she/he can help accommodate Acute care Patients.
INITIAL CLINIC VISIT
When you attend your initial visit at the clinic please bring the following: list of complaints, allergies, current physicians name and address, and your current medications, and past side effects (if any). It would be helpful if you brought along the medication vials. Also be prepared to provide a full medical history. You’re encouraged to bring along your spouse.
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| Fighting for Veterans Benefits |
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Thank You, American Legion Family! Your Voices were Heard on Capitol Hill |
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Sweeping Veterans and Caregivers Legislation Passes Congress |
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Congress cleared a sweeping veterans' omnibus health care measure last week that would also provide assistance to caregivers of veterans. The bill (S. 1963), which passed the House 419-0 on April 21 and the Senate the next day by voice vote, includes several of The American Legion's top legislative priorities: to improve women's services at VA health-care facilities, provide better support for caregivers of disabled veterans, expand mental-health services, reduce homelessness and commit the Federal government to a number of other initiatives to better serve veterans and their families. President Obama is expected to sign the bill before Memorial Day. Last September, The American Legion National Commander Clarence Hill testified before a joint session of the Veterans' Affairs Committees that women's health-care needs had to move up on the congressional agenda for VA. "The demographic of the American veteran is changing," he told the committees at that time. "This includes a growing and significant number of women veterans who sacrifice no less than their male counterparts." After S. 1963 passed last Wednesday, The American Legion Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Division Director Barry Searle said the nation's largest veterans' organization is "especially impressed by the attention this bill is giving to our 1.8 million women veterans. It specifically calls for VA mental-health professionals to be educated and trained to handle sexual trauma cases. It authorizes a study to find out what barriers are preventing women veterans from seeking the VA health-care benefits they've earned from their service. The bill creates a pilot program to provide childcare services for mothers who need VA services, and even provides seven days of health care to newborn children of women veterans." National Commander Hill added that The American Legion has worked closely with Congress over the last year and a half to set fresh, relevant priorities for VA health care and pass legislation that will make them a reality. "This omnibus bill really strengthens the quality and quantity of health care for the nation's veterans," Commander Hill explained. "It improves VA rural health care and increases access to mental health care. It even gives more care and services to veterans who've been exposed to Agent Orange and other chemicals in combat zones. This bill is a comprehensive response to many things The American Legion has been advocating for quite some time." The American Legion has worked for several years to improve VA access in rural areas. In many sparsely populated parts of the country, veterans are forced to drive hundreds of miles to receive medical care. Until recent years, their travel reimbursement was 11 cents a mile. While the reimbursement rate has more than quadrupled in response to pressure from The American Legion, the omnibus bill passed Wednesday is designed to do a better job of delivering care where veterans live. "This bill will do a lot for veterans living in rural and other remote areas," Searle explained. "It requires VA to focus on recruiting and retaining more health-care workers in rural areas, improve the overall quality of health care in rural communities, and to expand telemedicine services in those areas." Commander Hill has also spoken with leaders in Congress and the administration to extend help for families who struggle to take care of their wounded-warrior or disabled-veteran spouses or children. "This legislation will support family members and others who care for the disabled, ill, or injured veterans," Speaker of the HouseNancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, "This is very important to families, military families. Our wounded soldiers and their families have made a serious sacrifice for our country, and this bill will bring them some relief." The measure offers 24-hourrespite care in veterans' homes, caregiver training and mental health counseling, as well as financial support to cover travel costs for medical treatment. House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif., and Speaker Pelosi both praised The American Legion for its persistence, insight and support as the bill was crafted. "As the leaders of The American Legion have stated, this legislation offers bold solutions to major challenges facing service members, veterans and their families." Our sincere thanks to everyone who called, wrote and emailed Congress with regard to this matter. This significant and far-reaching bill will enhance VA's ability to furnish veterans with the quality health care and benefits they have earned through their service to country. The American Legion looks forward to timely implementation of the provisions of the legislation. |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Supreme Court concurs with The American Legion’s stand on public monuments
WASHINGTON, DC (Feb. 26, 2009) – A ruling announced this week by the U.S. Supreme Court gives weight to an argument by The American Legion against the placing of public monuments that could threaten the sanctity of veterans memorials. Justices ruled unanimously that an obscure religious group cannot use a “free speech” argument to force a small Utah city to erect a granite marker in a local park that is home to a long-standing monument to the Ten Commandments.
“At first glance, this ruling may seem unrelated to us, but it actually sets a precedent that is very important to veterans groups,” said David K. Rehbein, National Commander of The American Legion. “The Justices have said, in effect, that a local government can choose what donated public displays it cares to exhibit on public land – and what displays it can reject. This reduces the chance that a monument to an enemy or dissenting group, for instance, could be erected in the same space as a monument to our fallen warriors.”
The ruling stems from a case precipitated by a small Salt Lake City, Utah-based religious group called Summum. Summum went to federal court after its effort to erect a marker in Pleasant Grove City, Utah was rejected by the city. Summum maintained that the city violated its right to free speech by refusing the donated monument. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver agreed with the religious group, but the Supreme Court ruling reverses that decision.
The American Legion played an active role in the oral argument phase of the case. Last year, Liberty Legal Institute inPlano, Texas filed an amicus brief on behalf of The Legion and several colleague veterans and military service organizations. The brief’s argument summary stated: “The precedent established by the Tenth Circuit lays the foundation for the destruction of all donated veterans memorials nationwide and chills the erection of any future memorials. From the United States Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, VA, to the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial on The Mall in Washington, DC, to the myriad Spirit of the American Doughboy WWI memorials like that in Ft. Smith, AR, this precedent will require all governments, from the smallest municipality to the Congress itself, to make an impossible decision: either fail to honor our veterans by any donated monument whatsoever, tear down those that currently exist, or allow a monument honoring our veterans and then, upon donation, erect on the same hallowed ground one that dishonors them.”
In his favorable Supreme Court opinion, Justice Samuel Alito said that while efforts to suppress actual speech in public parks would ordinarily violate the First Amendment, erection of donated physical entities such as markers and monuments is a different matter. Justice Alito said "the display of a permanent monument in a public park" defines, in part, a community’s identity and, so, "cities and other jurisdictions take some care in accepting donated monuments."
Commander Rehbein notes that the Supreme Court has also agreed to hear a case later this year involving the suppression of a war memorial in the Mojave Desert. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled that the memorial to World War I veterans is unconstitutional because it is the shape of a cross, which might connote religious symbolism. A proposal to transfer the land upon which the now-cloaked monument rests to the VFW, which erected the cross in 1934, was also ruled unconstitutional by the court. “Obviously, we favor the full and free display of that monument,” said the Commander. “The Supreme Court ruling gives us hope for a good outcome in that matter, too".
Media contacts: Craig Roberts,(202) 263-2982, Cell (202) 406-088 or Joe March, (317) 630-1253; Cell (317) 748-1926. A high resolution photo of Nat. Cmdr. Rehbein is available at www.legion.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The American Legion strongly opposes lifting of ban on photography of flag-draped caskets
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 17, 2009)-The American Legion opposes a proposed lifting of the long-standing ban on the photography of flag-draped caskets arriving home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates indicated recently that he is not opposed to a review of the 18-year-old policy that generally restricts media coverage of the military caskets offloaded at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Secretary Gates also says he is "pretty open...to whatever the results of this review may be".
The national Commander of the American Legion has reacted strongly. "From our point of view", said David K. Rehbein, "there is nothing to discuss. Photographing the caskets containing the remains of men and women who have made the supreme sacrifice on behalf of our country and its freedoms is a little short of sacrelige. The practice would be intrusive and hurtful to the warriors' families. the return of fallen heroes is also a sacred moment for our armed forces , and should be respected".
"In our opinion, our fallen warriors deserve to be honored without compromise and not made the object of a media event or be made vulnerable to exploitation for propogandistic purposes", said Commander Rehbein, "Unless a warrior's family expressly wishes media coverage of the return of their son or daughter in this fashion, and respectful accomodations can be made, we can see no good reason to allow it".
Secretary gates ordered a review of the controversial policy after President Barack Obama said during a February 9th news conference that the White House is "in the process of reviewing those policies".
Media coverage of military remains arriving at ports of entry was once permitted but was banned by Pentagon decree during the 1991 Gulf War. "That policy should be upheld", concluded Commander Rehbein.
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NEW (VA) PRIORITY SYSTEM
Enrollment Priority 1
-Veterans with service-connected disabilities rated 50% or more disabling
Enrollment Priority 2
-Veterans with service-connected disabilities rated 30% or 40% disabling
Enrollment Priority 3
-Veterans who are former POWs
-Veterans awarded the Purple Heart
-Veterans whose discharge was for a disability that was incurred or aggravated in the line of duty
-Veterans with service-connected disabilities rated 10% or 20% disabling.
-Veterans awarded special eligibility classification under Title 38, U.S.C.,Section 1151, "benefits for individuals disabled by treatment or vocational rehabilitation"
Enrollment Priority 4
-Veterans who are receiving aid and attendance or housebound benefits
-Veterans who have been determined by VA to be catastrophically disabled
Enrollment Priority 5
-Nonservice-connected veterans and noncompensable service-connected veterans rated 0% disabled whose annual income and net worth are below the established VA Means Test thresholds
-Veterans receiving VA pension benefits
-Veterans eligible for Medicaid benefits
Enrollment Priority 6
-World War I veterans
-Mexican Border War veterans
-Veterans solely seeking care for disorders associated with: exposure to herbicides while serving in Vietnam; or exposure to ionizing radiation during atmospheric testing or during the occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; or for disorders associated with service in the Gulf War; or for any illness associated with service in combat in a war after the Gulf War or during a period of hostility after November 11, 1998
-Compensable 0% service-connected veterans
Enrollment Priority 7
-Veterans who agree to pay specified copayments with income and/or net worth above the VA Means Test threshold and income below the HUD geographic index
-Subpriority a: Noncompensable 0% service-connected veterans
-Subpriority c: Nonservice-connected veterans
Enrollment Priority 8
-Veterans who agree to pay specified copayments with income and/or net worth above the VA Means Test threshold and the HUD geographic index
-Subpriority a: Noncompensable 0% service-connected veterans
-Subpriority c: Nonservice-connected veterans
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