IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Secretary Carter Opens Vietnam War Commemoration Pentagon Corridor Honoring Vietnam Veterans and Their Families

Press Operations

Release No: NR-452-16
Dec. 20, 2016

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, along with former Defense Secretary and Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel, provided remarks before cutting the ribbon and officially opening a corridor in the Pentagon honoring Vietnam veterans and their families.

The secretaries joined 15 Vietnam veterans Tuesday afternoon to mark the official opening of the museum-quality exhibit.  The permanent exhibit, located on the 3rd floor of the Pentagon between corridors 2 and 3, uniquely documents and illustrates the history of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War through a variety of media outlets of the time.  It exhibits historically accurate material and interactive experiences that will help today’s American public better understand and appreciate the service of our Vietnam veterans and their families, and the history of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
The commemoration took place at the center of the exhibit, an alcove that features two Huey helicopters.  Other highlights in the corridor include a binnacle from the SS Mayaguez, iconic memorabilia left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, statues and paintings, and chronological and thematic timelines of the Vietnam War.
“Today's unveiling and the government-wide commemoration that accompany it are an important part of commitment to honor veterans from Vietnam and their families, for service, for valor, for sacrifice,” said Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.
"This exhibit really and truly represents the service of a generation of citizens who were asked to do something for their country at a difficult time, as difficult a time as probably we've seen in our lifetimes,” said former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.  “This exhibit very much reflects all that and pays tribute to men and women who never asked for anything in return; they never came back to any expectations. They wanted to get on with their lives and put that war experience behind them.” 
The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration leads the nation’s effort to thank and honor the more than seven million living Vietnam veterans and the families of the nine million who served.  The commemoration was authorized by Congress, established under the secretary of defense, and launched in 2012 by President Barack Obama. The commemoration has partnered with more than 10,000 organizations to thank veterans and their families in their hometowns across the country.
Further information regarding The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration, including how organizations can become commemorative partners and how individual veterans can find events in their hometowns,  can be found at http://www.vietnamwar50th.com/
For information regarding arranging a tour of the Pentagon, please visit https://pentagontours.osd.mil/Tours/

5

VOLUNTEERS WANTED FOR 2016/2017

Re: VVA: Four staff members have resigned from a southeastern Oklahoma VA facility after a veteran was found to have maggots in his

 

Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs executive director Myles Deering said the maggots were discovered while the patient was still alive at the Talihina facility, although he said the maggots did not cause his death, the Associated Press reported.

Deering said the veteran came to the facility with an infection and died of sepsis, the Tulsa World reported.

The VA said a physician’s assistant and three nurses, including the director of nursing, all resigned after an investigation was conducted.

Spokesman Shane Faulkner said all four decided to resign before anyone could be terminated.

Since the government will do nothing.

I suggest we crowd fund a civil lawsuit against this four VA thugs.

Let take their homes, cars and saving.

Your thougths

John Schmidt

Before we go ballistics, sepsis is a serious problem that affects a person's ability to deal with reality and has no relation to maggots unless the person who has the wounds so infected has been in a state wherein they could not or would not seek medical help. There is a lot more to this issue than this article states and has much broader implications than medical care. for example homelessness and the reasons for same, mental illness and the reason for same, and on and on. The article implies that the maggots that were found in this man's wounds, incurred after he was hospitalized, which is ludicrous. While it is possible for such an event to occur, the inception of that condition would have to have been prior to hospitalization, not during hospitalization. For those of you who don't know, maggots come from fly eggs and for maggots to grow a hospital room and a person's wounds,  would have to be overcome with flies for a period of several days, and to suggest that any hospital, even VA hospitals, to allow that to happen is ludicrous. Let us not jump to  conclusions from the rantings of someone who wants to disparage VA care, but let us instead address the etiological conditions that lead up to this situation, which has nothing to do with the medical care that was given to this veteran after his hospitalization, but rather the lack of medical care prior to his hospitalization.

Ed Ryan, Ph.D.

REMINDER: CALL IN DAY NOVEMBER 30, 2016

REMINDER: CALL IN DAY NOVEMBER 30, 2016

This is in regards to our Agent Orange Bills HR 1769 and S.901.

Everyone's help is needed on calling in for this Bill to be approved!!!

Thanks,

Neil

On Tuesday, November 29, 2016 8:34 PM, Dick Southern <southern@lodelink.com> wrote:

Call your Senators on November 30th, supporting passage of S.2921, the Veterans First Act
We Need a Senate Floor Vote NOW

WE NEED YOUR VOICES TO BE HEARD IN THE HALLS OF CONGRESS
Supporting passage of the S.2921, Veterans First Act NOW !
The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee has done its job, and NOW it is time for Senate leadership to hold a floor vote on S. 2921, the Veterans First Act.
At 9:00 a.m. on November 30th, please call (202) 224 3121 give the operator your state or zip code, and he/she will connect you with your elected officials' office.
Ask to speak to the LA for Veterans Affairs.
Hello, my name is (identify yourself) and I am a constituent in your state. I am calling today to urge you to contact Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada asking that S.2921, the Veterans First Act, be moved to the floor of the Senate for vote and passage.
This important legislation would establish within the Department of Veterans Affairs a national center for the research on diagnosis and treatment of the health conditions of the descendants of veterans exposed to toxic substances during service in the Armed Forces (S.901) and provides Caregivers benefits to Vietnam Veterans in your state.
Thank you for your attention to my request.
(Leave your name, home address and phone number so the office can follow up with you later).
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the only national Vietnam veterans’ organization congressionally chartered and exclusively dedicated to Vietnam-era veterans and their families. WWW.VVA.org

USS Arizona/Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony

Tucson Chapter 106 Vietnam Veterans of America

Yesterday, 3:19 PM

The USS Arizona Memorial Dedication at the University of Arizona Mall will take place this coming Sunday, December 4^th at 1500, on the Mall. This is the 75^th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, during which the USS Arizona was sunk, taking with her, 1,177 Sailors and Marines.

Let’s try to make as good a showing as we can with as many members in uniform as possible. I don’t have any information on the parking in the area. There is also a special collections exhibit of artifacts from the Arizona at the U of A library that will be open from 1330-1430 on Sunday.

For those of you that are unaware, the Arizona Memorial is a low wall that stretches the dimensions of the ships main deck (approx. 600’) that has been built on the Mall. Along this wall, brass tokens are inlaid that have been inscribed with the names of each of the sailors and marines killed on that day.

Let us show our Honor and Respect for our fallen.

Non-Service Connected Emergency Care Claims

 

 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS Decision on

Non-Service Connected Emergency Care Claims

Issue Brief

August 2016

Background

On April 8, 2016, a U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) ruling invalidated a VA regulation governing reimbursement or payment for unauthorized emergency treatment of a Veteran's non-service-connected condition furnished by a non-VA provider. Prior to the ruling, VA’s regulation barred reimbursement or payment when the Veteran has other health insurance (OHI), including Medicare and employee-sponsored and private health insurance, in addition to their VA health care benefits. The CAVC ruling contradicts VA’s longstanding interpretation of the statutory authority and our business practices.

What is the impact of this ruling?

· The CAVC ruling impacts claims for reimbursement or payment of non-VA emergency treatment of Veterans’ non-service connected conditions if the Veterans also have OHI. It also impacts related claims for reimbursement or payment of the costs of emergency transportation, which are dependent on VA making payment on the related emergency treatment claim.

· The CAVC ruling significantly expands a benefit without providing additional resources. Unless funds are appropriated for this purpose, implementing the decision will adversely affect resources available for medical services and hospital care for other enrolled Veterans.

· If the CAVC ruling is upheld, it means the way VA was processing claims for reimbursement or payment of Veterans’ non-VA emergency treatment of non-service-connected conditions is no longer valid. Regulations need to be developed to determine the way these claims should be paid.

· If upheld, the ruling would require VA to pay claims that are currently denied today, resulting in an unbudgeted cost. As of August 2016, the high-end estimate for the first year of implementation is $1.6 billion and the low-end estimate is $529 million. These estimates may change with time and will increase if Veterans’ reliance on non-VA emergency treatment grows in response to the ruling.

What does this mean for Veterans and Community Providers?

· Many claims for non-VA emergency treatment of non-service-connected conditions will be held in a pending status and will not be paid. At this time, VA is unable to state how long these claims will be held. This will affect the claims of Veterans with OHI that otherwise would be eligible for reimbursement. VA estimates it will hold approximately 6,000-7,000 claims per week.

· VA is notifying Community Providers and Veterans that they should submit claims to OHI plans to ensure timely filing deadlines are met while VA challenges the CAVC ruling. This should be done prior to submitting claims to VA.

How is VA responding?

· VA is taking steps to challenge the Court’s ruling since it does not provide a comprehensive and sustainable solution to emergency care.

· VA is advocating for comprehensive reforms to improve all enrollees’ access to care in the community as outlined in the Plan to Consolidate Community Care Programs as submitted to Congress in October 2015. The reforms identified in the Plan will assist in delivering a program that is easy to understand, simple to administer, and meets the needs of Veterans, community providers, and VA staff.

· VA is moving forward with developing regulations needed to implement the April 8, 2016, decision to ensure VA is able to quickly process affected claims if the ruling is upheld.

· VA is working closely with Veterans, Community Providers, Veterans Service Organizations, Congress, and other key stakeholders to help them understand the implications of the April 8, 2016, ruling and to keep them abreast of VA’s actions.