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Veterans
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"This incremental approach to expanding enrollment ensures that access to VA health care for a greater number of beneficiaries does not sacrifice timely access or quality medical care for those veterans already enrolled in VA's health care system," Dr. Gerald Cross, VA's acting under secretary for Health, said. "Over the next four years, we hope to provide enrollment to more than 500,000 veterans."
Under a new regulation effective June 15, VA will enroll veterans whose income exceeds current means-tested thresholds by up to 10 percent. These veterans were excluded from VA health care enrollment when income limits were imposed in 2003 on veterans with no service-connected disabilities or other special eligibility for care.
There is no income limit for veterans with compensable service-connected disabilities or for veterans being seen for their service-connected disabilities.
Veterans who have applied for VA health care but were rejected due to income at any point in 2009 will have their applications reconsidered under the new income threshold formula.
Those who applied before 2009, but were rejected due to income, must reapply. VA will contact these veterans through a direct-mail campaign, veterans service organizations, and a national and regional marketing campaign.
Information about enrollment and an income and assets calculator are available at www.va.gov/healtheligibility .
The calculator provides a format in which veterans enter their household income, number of dependents and zip codes to see if they may qualify for VA health care enrollment.
In addition to applying online, veterans may also contact VA's Health Benefits Service Center at 1-877-222 VETS (1-877-222-8387).
Each VA medical center across the country has an enrollment coordinator available to provide veterans with enrollment and eligibility information.
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HOPLAND – Hopland Shokawah Casino has donated a total of 1,296 decks of playing cards to members of the US Marine Corp stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Table Games Manager Mike Bull, who arranged the donation, explained the highly unusual nature of the gift.
“These casino playing cards had never been opened or used,” Bull said. “Their cases were still sealed and the decks inside of the cases still contained their original factory seals as well.”
Bull said casinos use security seals, tape, labels, holograms and other tamper evident devices on their decks to prevent cheating. The donated decks were not marked, disfigured or drilled, and didn't have shaved corners to prevent them from being tampered with in order to sneak them back into the casino.
It turned out that the casino did not break internal security protocols with its donation as they had just switched card manufacturers and the new decks were totally different from the old decks which would never be allowed in the casino again and consequently did not have to be disfigured.
Gunnery Sergeant Corry Wilhoit who, along with Gunnery Sergeant Sheryl Wilhoit, accepted the gift, expressed the Marines' appreciation.
“Thank you sir, Our people in Iraq and Afghanistan will really appreciate these,” he told Bull.
Sho-Ka-Wah Casino is an enterprise of the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians and opened in August of 1998 and has steadily expanded to over 580 slot machines, nine table games, three restaurants (Taqueria Villa, Hawk’s Nest Bar and Grill and The Many Fires Steakhouse).
Over the course of the past eleven years, the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians has succeeded in building a strong support system for their members (including health benefits, educational assistance, housing and social services) and upgrading infrastructure for their schools and libraries while providing financial assistance and services to many local organizations.
Visit Shokawah online at www.shokawah.com .
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The doors will open at 5 p.m., with dinner served at 6 p.m.
The requested donation is $7.
American Legion Post 194 is located at Second and Gaddy Lane in Kelseyville.
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The advertisements carry a message of hope for those who have served their country and are undergoing an emotional crisis.
"We continue to look for new, innovative ways to reach our veterans," Assistant Secretary Tammy Duckworth said. "VA wants to make sure to exhaust all avenues to reach those in need of our services."
VA is partnering with Blu Line Media, an outdoor advertising company which specializes in helping businesses and government tell their stories through educational outreach campaigns, cause-related social marketing and integrated communications.
Since its inception in July 2007, the VA Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK, has rescued more than 3,000 Veterans and provided counseling for more than 120,000 veterans and their loved ones at home and overseas.
The lifeline is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by trained mental health professionals prepared to deal with immediate crises.
Marketing the lifeline through mass transit campaigns was piloted in the Washington D.C. area during the summer of 2008 with great success.
VA has also promoted awareness of the toll-free number through national public service announcements featuring actor Gary Sinise and television journalist Deborah Norville.
The bus advertisement and public service announcements are available for download via YouTube and at www.mentalhealth.va.gov/suicide_prevention .
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The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) met Thursday for the first time under the Obama Administration.
U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki chaired the meeting, at which U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan was elected rotating chair for the upcoming year and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was elected vice chair.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, attended the meeting.
The mission of the USICH is to coordinate the federal response to homelessness and to create a national partnership with every level of government and the private sector to address homelessness in the nation.
"It is simply unacceptable for individuals, children, families and our nation's veterans to be faced with homelessness in this country," said President Obama. "I am confident that the Interagency Council on Homelessness, under Secretary Donovan's leadership, will have a renewed focus on coordinating efforts across federal agencies and working closely with our state, local, community-based, and faith-based partners to address these serious issues."
"Ending the continuing tragedy of homelessness demands thoughtful and focused leadership," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "President Obama and I are committed to working through the USICH, the agencies it represents and our state, local and non-profit partners to build a thoughtful and compassionate response to this crisis. The bottom line is that through our combined efforts every man, woman and child in this nation should have access to a safe, affordable place to lay their head at night."
Secretaries Donovan and Shinseki also announced the allocation of $75 million to local public housing authorities across the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam to provide permanent supportive housing and dedicated VA case managers for an estimated 10,000 homeless Veterans.
This innovative joint initiative is called Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH). This funding will provide local public housing agencies with approximately 10,000 rental assistance vouchers specifically targeted to assist homeless Veterans in their area.
Public housing authorities, that administer HUD's Housing Choice Voucher Program, work closely with Department of Veteran Affairs medical centers to manage the program. In addition to the rental assistance, VA medical centers provide supportive services and case management to eligible homeless Veterans.
"It is shameful that after serving our nation so well, some of our veterans leave their military life only to fall into homelessness," said Donovan. "Working closely with the Department of Veterans Affairs, we're able to offer a permanent home, along with critically needed supportive services, to the very people to whom we owe so much."
"No one, especially veterans who have faithfully served our country should become homeless," said VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. "This council's work is critical to providing for those at risk and on the streets. This interagency partnership allows us to leverage our resources, programs, talent and experience to create viable solutions that will eliminate homelessness."
"With new service members returning home every day and the economy sputtering, we must step up our efforts to provide all veterans with housing and the dignity that comes with it," said Senator Murray, chairman of the Senate Housing Appropriations Subcommittee. "For too long homeless Veterans have been forgotten heroes. HUD-VASH grants are making a real difference in ensuring that those who have sacrificed for our nation are not coming home to sleep on our streets."
Under HUD-VASH, HUD will provide housing assistance through its Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) which allows Veterans to rent privately owned housing. The VA will provide to eligible homeless veterans clinical and supportive services through its health care system across the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. VA addresses the needs of the more than 100,000 homeless veterans who access VA health care annually.
The USICH is an interagency council made up of members from federal agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Interior, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of Transportation, Corporation for National and Community Service, Social Security Administration, General Services Administration and United States Postal Service.
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"Thank you, Dr. Janet Kemp and Dr. Audrey Nelson, for your tremendous contributions to the Department and to our country," Deputy Secretary Gould said. "Your work has saved Veterans' lives and promoted the well being of our employees. The devotion and leadership you have shown
humbles us all, and we look forward to September when the winners are announced."
Dr. Janet Kemp, national director of VA's suicide prevention program, is a finalist for the Citizen Services Medal.
She established a national suicide prevention hotline for Veterans – 1-800-273-TALK – which has resulted in more than 3,000 immediate rescues.
"Making the hotline a reality took a leap of faith by many people," Dr. Kemp said. "We had many barriers to overcome, but we are succeeding because of the strong partners we have across the country."
Dr. Audrey Nelson, director of the Patient Safety Center in Tampa, Fla., is a finalist for the Career Achievement Medal. She said many nurses have what she calls the "Florence Nightingale syndrome – they will sacrifice themselves for the patient."
She explored ways to help nurses and medical practitioners avoid back injuries, which resulted in a $200 million program across the VA to use mechanical lifts and transfer devices when moving patients.
"You have a 125-pound female nurse trying to move a 250-pound male patient using her own body. It's a dangerous situation – for the nurse and the patient," Nelson said.
Sponsored by the Partnership for Public Service, the Service to America Medals ("Sammies") pay tribute to America's dedicated federal workforce, highlighting those who have made significant contributions to our country.
Awardees are announced each fall at a dinner and awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.
The 2009 finalists come from more than 20 federal agencies, including the departments of Commerce, Defense, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Treasury and Veteran Affairs; the Central Intelligence Agency, Government Accountability Office, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, General Services Administration, Social Security Administration, U.S. Agency for International Development and NASA.
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"This arm is a high-tech example of how VA researchers are continually modernizing the materials, design, and clinical use of artificial limbs to meet Veterans' lifestyle and medical needs," said Dr. Joel
Kupersmith, VA's Chief Research and Development Officer.
In collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the study marks the first large-scale testing of the arm, which allows those who have lost a limb up to their shoulder joint to perform movements while reaching over their head, a previously impossible maneuver for people with a prosthetic arm.
The study is under the direction of Dr. Linda Resnik at the Providence, R.I., VA Medical Center. Veterans fitted with the arm will provide feedback to guide engineers in refining the prototype, before it is commercialized and also made available through the VA health care system.
A unique feature of the advanced arm is its control system, which works almost like a foot-operated joystick. An array of sensors embedded in a shoe allows users to maneuver the arm by putting pressure on different parts of the foot. The current version uses wires to relay the signals to the arm, but future versions will be wireless.
The arm can also be adapted to work with other control systems, including myoelectric switches, which are wired to residual nerves and muscles in the upper body and respond to movement impulses from the brain, shoulder joysticks or other conventional inputs.
Frederick Downs Jr., director of VA's Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service who lost his left arm during combat in Vietnam, said he was "brought to tears" recently when the prosthetic arm allowed him to
smoothly bring a water bottle to his mouth and drink.
"Learning to use the controls is not difficult," he said, due in part to a sensor in the artificial hand that sends a vibration signal that tells how strong the grip is. A stronger grip causes more vibration.
VA prosthetics research also includes vision and hearing aids, wheelchairs and propulsion aids, devices to help people with brain injuries to become mobile, and adaptive equipment for automobiles and
homes – "everything that's necessary to help Veterans regain their mobility and independence," said Downs.
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The Veterans Network of Care Web site, http://networkofcare.org/index2.cfm?productid=17&stateid=6, links private-sector service providers, nonprofit service providers, county, state and national resources in one location – drilling down information to the local community level.
"There has never been a more important time to find cost-effective ways to connect our veterans and military service members with the critical services they need,” said Schwarzenegger. “Our brave men and women in uniform risk their lives for our freedom and ask for very little in return, and we want them to know this remarkable resource is now here to serve them.”
Veterans Network of Care was created through a partnership with County Mental Health Directors, the State Department of Mental Health, the California Department of Veterans Affairs, the County Veteran Service Officers and Trilogy.
It was developed at no additional cost to taxpayers and is being supported as part of an on-going contract for the statewide Network of Care system that was started with a grant from Proposition 63.
Through the Veterans Network of Care, California, along with Maryland, is one of only two states in the nation to provide a statewide Internet-based network of services with information tailored specifically for veterans, military personnel and their families.
The Web site contains more than 15,000 web links and 250,000 pages of information.
“This is the kind of innovative public-private partnership, one that brings technology, neighborhood services and direct care together, that allows us to better serve the residents of California,” Schwarzenegger said.
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"Many of our newest veterans are beginning their post-service lives by furthering their educations," said Dr. Gerald M. Cross, VA's acting under secretary for health. "This initiative is designed to ensure that colleges and universities are able to assist with any special mental health needs they may have."
The Web site, www.mentalhealth.va.gov/College, features recommended training for college and university counselors, with online modules including "Operation SAVE" for suicide prevention, "PTSD 101" and "Helping Students Who Drink Too Much." It also will feature a resource list that will be updated regularly.
Although the Web site is designed primarily for counselors, it also serves as a resource for veteran-students who wish to learn more about the challenges they may face in adjusting to their lives after leaving the military.
"We hope counselors and our returning veterans find this site helpful and easy to use," Cross said. "As the site grows, we expect it will become an increasingly valuable resource."
The new site is one of several Web-based tools VA has developed to assist veterans in dealing with mental health issues. Others include a guide for families of military members returning from deployment and information about a suicide prevention hotline for veterans.