Tag: Department of Veterans Affairs

Just going to give some updated news on Agent Orange without much commentary, but wanted to get out this information, especially related to the just released, today, rules for compensation for the Brothers of the Vietnam Conflict but also continuing, and growing Action as to contamination from Agent Orange and Defoliants sprayed near bases here in the United States as well as Overseas.

The Kristen Renee Foundation Continues Its Fight for Frederick, Md.

FREDERICK, Md., Aug. 31 PRNewswire — Angie Pieper, President of The Kristen Renee Foundation will be holding a second press conference to release remarkable information that has transpired over the last four weeks, including the foundation’s future plans in its fight against Fort Detrick on behalf of many residents in Frederick County who have been affected by what is believed to be a cancer cluster. {read more}

This was posted prior to Shinseki’s press conference.

Breaking down the FY 2011 Veterans Affairs Budget

While most of the DC military press is focused down on the Pentagon today, the Department of Veterans Affairs is also unveiling its fiscal 2011 spending plans and ambitious goals for the near future.

But even though the $125 billion VA budget proposal is only a fraction of the proposed Defense Department budget, the plans could have wide-reaching ramifications for current servicemembers as well as veterans. For example: >>>>>

Crisis at the VA as Benefits Claims Backlog Nearly Tops One Million

by Jason Leopold, June 5, 2009

   During the past four months, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) backlog of unfinished disability claims grew by more than 100,000, adding to an already mountainous backlog that is now close to topping one million.

   The VA’s claims backlog, which includes all benefits claims and all appeals at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and the Board of Veterans Appeals at VA, was 803,000 on January 5, 2009. The backlog hit 915,000 on May 4, 2009, a staggering 14 percent increase in four months.

   The issue has become so dire that veterans now wait an average of six months to receive disability benefits and as long as four years for their appeals to be heard in cases where their benefits were denied.

   Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minnesota), a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said during a hearing in March that the VA is “almost criminally behind in processing claims.”

   Overhauling the VA represents one of the most daunting challenges facing the Obama administration after years of mismanagement and neglect by the Bush administration, which stacked the agency with political cronies and kept the agency underfunded, wrapped in bureaucratic red tape and placed the interests of veterans last on a list of priorities.

   Indeed, one of the VA’s biggest failures during the Bush administration’s tenure was its inability to fully implement critical components of the Mental Health Strategic Plan (MHSP) at regional offices throughout the country.

   The MHSP, unveiled in 2004, would have provided veterans who show signs of being at risk of suicide or are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with immediate mental health care and eliminated the waiting period for receiving treatment.

   But according to a November 2006 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), spending for the program was substantially less than what the VA had proposed – leaving untreated tens of thousands of veterans who were at risk of suicide.