President Promises "to move Heaven and Earth." VBA Ops Out.

The President's commitment on behalf of America to "move Heaven and Earth" should have been vetted first by Veterans Benefits Administration and Veterans Health Administration. His promise was made at the dedication of the monument to us.

With the greatest respect to the President, he should know that VBA and VHA both instead prefer tactics to hold claims decisions off, at least in the case of C-123 veterans' Agent Orange. With officials at all levels promising "case by case" evaluations while the Institute of Medicine study progresses, the fact remains that all claims are either denied, or postponed for decisions only after the IOM report is released. Someday.

"Heaven and Earth" apparently does not refer to our claims. Maybe our claims are VA anti-matter?

Apparently, the fewer C-123 veterans left alive once the dust settles, the less VA has to pay, the fewer for whom to provide medical care. And year by year, veteran by veteran, we're doing our bit to help out as fewer and fewer of us remain.

That IOM C-123 report was first officially promised by VA in 2012 by Dr. Wendi Dick of VHA's Post Deployment Health. The promise somehow disappeared without VA comment. It was renewed in 2014 only with legislative pressure and after peer-reviewed scientific articles appeared supporting C-123 veterans' arguments, as VA's stall to prevent any awards based on evolving scientific understanding.

Now, postponed another month, the IOM report is yet unpublished, and C-123 veterans are denied VA medical care for soft tissue sarcomas, ALS, prostate cancer, heart disease, lung cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

Waiting for an Air Force to Die? What about moving Heaven and Earth?

President's Executive Orders Address Veterans' Issues

Speaking today at the American Legion's 2014 National Convention, President Obama announced nineteen steps he is taking through executive orders to address the ongoing scandal in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Unfortunately, nothing was mentioned about the claims or appeals process. (CLICK for complete speech)

Yesterday, the VA itself released an Inspector General report which indicates no deaths can be positively attributed to the delays in patient care in Phoenix, despite whistle-blower allegations.

Among the key points in the President's orders are:

• A new recruiting campaign to fill shortages of doctors and nurses at VA hospitals.

• Automatically enrolling military personnel receiving mental health care into mental health treatment programs by the VA.

• A partnership with five national banks to help veterans get lower rate mortgages easier.

• New efforts to better understand traumatic brain injuries, including a $34.4 million VA suicide prevention study involving 1800 veterans at 29 VA hospitals, and more suicide prevention training for military and VA personnel.

• Automatic enrollment of separating service personnel in transition programs.

In recent weeks the VA has also trumpeted grants for homeless veterans throughout the country, dedicating millions towards this serious need.

The VA scandal erupted in April when a retired doctor at the VA hospital in Phoenix disclosed that long wait times may have contributed to the deaths of as many as 40 veterans. A preliminary investigation found that delays and falsified records were widespread through the VA system.

The President assured the Legionnaires, "We are going to fix what is wrong. We are going to do right by you and your families, and that is a solid pledge and commitment I’m making to you here.”

The American Legion has long been a supporter of C-123 veterans' Agent Orange exposure claims, for which we continue to express our gratitude.

Good News On Claims Backlog

(we congratulate the VA on this noteworthy achievement –but note that much of the "improvement" in backlog has been through the too-rapid, too-little-considered claims being denied to get them from one pile (backlog) into another (appeals.)

Stars and Stripes: For the first time since Barack Obama was elected president, the veterans claims backlog will end this year lower than it began.

Department of Veterans Affairs officials say they’re on track to end the backlog entirely sometime in 2015.

At the start of December, the claims backlog — the number of cases unfinished for more than 125 days — sat just under 393,000 cases. Critics call that an embarrassingly large number, especially considering that the White House pledged to fix the problem almost four years ago.

But VA officials say eliminating the backlog was always expected to be a multiyear process, with the bulk of the progress coming this year. In March, the backlog total peaked at more than 608,000 cases. More than one-third of that caseload was gone by the end of the fall.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has credited new computer processing systems, mandatory overtime for claims processors and new filing options for this year’s decrease.

The department also benefited from a slowdown in the number of new claims filed this year, allowing more resources to clear older ones. Fiscal 2013 was the first time in five years that the department processed more cases than it received.

In November, Shinseki told reporters that “this trend line is in the right direction” but “I’m not dusting my hands off and saying this is a done deal.”

More than half of the department’s claims inventory is still in backlog, underscoring the work still to be done.

Based on the nine-month trend, the department could clear out the backlog in early 2015. Last spring, many veterans groups and lawmakers were questioning whether the end of 2015 was a realistic goal.

The department’s current backlog efforts don’t include the growing number of claim decision appeals, which has topped 266,000 cases. Shinseki has promised that will be the next focus for department officials.

shane.leo@stripes.com 

Scaled Back "Questions" about C-123 Agent Orange Exposure

On our August 14 blog entry I posted a list of thirty questions we veterans have about the C-123 Agent Orange contamination saga. In preparing the more detailed materials to be posted to President Obama, I've reconsidered a few of the issues. I'll drop them. I don't want to seem vindictive or malign the Air Force.

The questions which will be dropped reflect on individual DOD civilian employee actions and are genuine concerns. DOD civilians stole certain items from the various C-123 aircraft stored at Davis-Monthan before the airplanes were destroyed. Further, DOD civilians falsified certain certificates - important certificates!

And there were other events which could bear exposure. But in doing so, nothing would be resolved to advance our goal of VA acceptance of our Agent Orange exposure claims. We'd only bring the actions of individuals to the light of day and I don't see the point of it. These individuals made mistakes but probably none which affect our veterans' claims before the VA. I don't see how what they did causes any further harm to us or the Air Force itself.

Contaminated C-123 Quarantine Area, Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ

Instead, we'll focus very tightly throughout September in our address to President Obama, dealing with those issues which make our case that the C-123 fleet was contaminated to the point that aircrews, maintenance personnel and aerial port personnel were exposed. We'll tear into the VA's construction - a false construction - of "dry dioxin transfer." We'll show how the VA spent 2011 and most of 2012 preventing our veterans' legitimate claims for service connection.

Camp Lejune Relief Becomes Law - President Signs Bill!

Obama Signs Lejeune Water Bill! courtesy of US Army veteran Charles Harris in Maryland:

Aug 06, 2012              Military.com by Bryant Jordan President Obama Signs Camp Lejeune Law Marines and their families assigned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., finally will receive medical care for illnesses caused by exposure to toxins in the base water following years of waiting and a tally of sickness and death that could reach close to one million. President Barack Obama on Monday signed a law to extend medical care to people sickened by what has been called the largest episode of military base water contamination. The president said at the White House ceremony the country has a “moral and sacred duty” to care for those sickened by the contaminated drinking water. Under the new law, those who served at or lived on Camp Lejeune at least 30 days between Jan. 1, 1957, and Dec. 31, 1987, will be able to receive medical care for cancer of the esophagus, lung, breast, bladder and kidney, as well as for leukemia, multiple myeloma, myleodysplasic syndromes, renal toxicity, hepatic steatosis, female infertility, miscarriage, scleroderma, neurobehavioral effects and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Sen. Richard Burr of NC, ranking member of Senate Veterans Affairs Committee “This has been a long time coming, and unfortunately, many who were exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune over the years have died as a result and are not with us to receive the care this bill will provide,” said Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., in a statement in July after the Senate passed the bill. Reports have put the number of people exposed to the contaminated water anywhere from 750,000 to one million. Chemicals found in the water included trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, benzene and vinyl chloride. Burr said the base water contamination “is the largest recorded environmental incident on a domestic Department of Defense installation.” Parents like retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger, whose 9-year-old daughter died from a rare form of leukemia in 1985, have fought for years to draw attention to the contaminated drinking water at Lejeune. He has vowed to continue his fight to hold Marine leaders accountable even after the bill passed the Senate. Before Burr’s bill reached the House -- where it also passed overwhelmingly -- he first had to press fellow Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina to release the bill for a Senate vote. DeMint used a Senate privilege to block a vote on the law because he was afraid people who were never assigned or lived at Lejeune would get care fraudulently. The conservative senator’s hold on the bill was roundly criticized by veterans. “Senator DeMint's concern for some insignificant, possible, future fraud stands in stark contrast to the tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands of current, proven suffering of persons already exposed to these poisonous chemicals. The senator needs to re-evaluate his priorities!” wrote one commenter on the Military.com forums, who identified himself as a Navy retiree. “Maybe Mr. DeMint should be required to drink & use the same water that these Marine victims and their families suffered from,” wrote Bob Bousquet, who also identified himself as a Navy veteran. DeMint was holding out to amend the bill to include specific language addressing fraud. He relented, satisfied that Department of Veterans Affairs already has in place provisions for dealing with fraudulent claims. Though the bill signed Monday had widespread support in both houses of Congress, it took many years to win approval and represents only the latest example of the Pentagon and VA's history of ignoring or delaying health care for collaterally sickened servicemembers. As with post-traumatic stress disorder and Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War, officials initially denied any links to the psychological and health problems to combat or exposure to defoliants sprayed widely over Vietnam. The same pattern played out in the decade following Operation Desert Storm as veterans of the war began turning up with chronic headache, widespread pain, cognitive difficulties, debilitating fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory symptoms and more. It was only in 2010 that the VA began encouraging Gulf War vets to reapply for compensation after having been turned down previously. Even with the bill to address health problems arising from contaminated water at Lejeune, the government is not actually blaming the chemical-tainted water. What the new law says is that veterans and family members who were at the base longer than 30 days between Jan. 1, 1957, and Dec. 31, 1987, are “eligible for hospital care and medical services [for certain illnesses or conditions] notwithstanding that there is insufficient medical evidence to conclude that such illnesses or conditions are attributable to” being at Lejeune.