Top Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1. Disabled veteran’s mission: to help wounded soldiers and kin Washington, DC – “The soldiers will arrive three times a week by air evac from Germany,” he said. “Always on Sunday evening, Tuesday evening and Friday evening undefined about 5:30ish. They land at Andrews, then the big superbus brings them over here.” “Here” is Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
2. Roseburg employers prepare for veterans to come back to civilian work Roseburg, Oregon (KMTR) – As over 2000 Oregon troops head home in the coming weeks, a push today to prepare employers for what to expect when they bring veterans back to the work force. The Roseburg VA Health Care System’s hospital campus played host to a veteran employer seminar today. VA Hospital employees and other specialists want employers to know the rules when it comes to veterans returning to the work force, and how interactions in the work environment could be different.
3. VFW: Protect vets from health care penalty Washington, DC – While the head of the nation’s largest organization for combat veterans is pleased that Congress stepped in to assure Tricare beneficiaries that the new health care reform law will not penalize them for having military group health coverage, he says lawmakers need to do the same for veterans. On Monday, Congress gave final approval to the Tricare Assurance Act, which officially exempts Tricare beneficiaries from a health care reform requirement to purchase private health care insurance or face a $750 annual penalty.
4. New rules proposed on garnishing federal benefits Washington, DC – The Obama administration on Wednesday proposed rules aimed at closing a legal loophole that debt collectors have used to seize Social Security and veterans’ benefits from bank accounts. The Treasury Department and other agencies published the proposed new rules on garnishment, or seizure, of government benefits in the Federal Register, opening them to a 60-day public comment period.
5. VA laboring under surge of wounded veterans Chicago, Illinois – In a sobering reminder of the long-term costs of war, a dramatic spike in disability claims during the last seven years has overwhelmed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and nearly doubled the cost of compensating wounded veterans, according to an unprecedented Chicago Tribune analysis. The bulk of the increases didn’t come from veterans of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but from those who served years or even decades before. Veterans from the Vietnam and Persian Gulf eras accounted for roughly 84 percent of the rise in spending, which hit $34.3 billion last year.
6. VA will not appeal fine for radiation rule violations Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Officials of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs decided to pay a $227,500 fine and accept findings that it violated multiple radiation regulations in the treatment of 97 veterans in Philadelphia suffering from prostate cancer. In a letter released today to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, VA Undersecretary for Health Robert A. Petzel said he was affirming “acceptance of the violations.”
7. Veterans Strongly In Favor of Clean Energy Legislation A new poll from VoteVets.org finds that 73 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans support clean energy and climate change legislation in Congress. Of veterans polled, 79 percent believe that ending US dependence on foreign oil is important to national security, and 67 percent believe that climate legislation will help their economic prospects.
8. Louisville VA Hiring 25 New Employees Louisville, Kentucky – U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Louisville) announced Wednesday that 25 new employees would be hired in Louisville thanks to Recovery Act funding directed to the Louisville Regional Department of Veterans Affairs. The Louisville VA will hire the new workers to help process claims made by the region’s veterans, helping to deliver benefits as quickly as possible.
9. Forum to address veterans and Agent Orange Minneapolis, Minnesota – An estimated 7,000 African American veterans live in the state of Minnesota, and nearly 40 percent of those veterans may have served during the Vietnam War era and could be eligible for both medical and financial support related to Agent Orange exposure, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. During an upcoming forum on the topic, the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) will explore several issues surrounding Vietnam veterans, Agent Orange exposure and what services, benefits and financial compensation this generation of veterans has earned.
10. Seacoast soldier turns to Twitter trying to get G.I. benefits Portsmouth, New Hampshire – Frustrated by a series of mistakes that prevented him from getting the education benefits he was owed, a Seacoast resident sought a solution through Twitter. The online firestorm that followed revealed that veterans around the country have encountered similar problems accessing their benefits. After his Tweets drew the attention of the White House appointed special assistant for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs as well as the VA’s director of new media, among others, Justin Herman has been invited to Washington, D.C., on May 11 and 12 to discuss his grievances with U.S. Senate staff.