1789 – A law was passed to give money to soldiers who fought in the American Revolutionary War.

1861 – The Civil War broke out. The number of Union veterans grew from 80,000 to 2 million!

1862 – President Lincoln started national cemeteries. This was to honor the many Union dead from the Civil War.

1865 – President Lincoln gave his second inaugural speech. He asked Congress “to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.” This became VA’s motto.

1912 – A new law called the Sherwood Act was passed. This gave pensions (money) to veterans of the Mexican and Civil Wars when they turned 62, even if they were not sick or disabled.

1930 – President Hoover signed a bill creating the Veterans Administration (VA).

1940 – Congress created a law to help World War II veterans find jobs when they came home from war.

1944 – A lot of people were hurt and killed in World War II. This left many families in need. On June 22, 1944, President Roosevelt signed the GI Bill of Rights. This helped veterans go to college and buy a home.

1946 – More hospitals were built to take care of veterans. VA was able to train and hire good doctors. VA also started research that has helped all of us.

1973 – The Army gave 82 cemeteries to the Veterans Administration. VA makes sure that veterans and family members have a respectful burial place forever.

1988 – Congress made VA a Cabinet Department. This means that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs meets with the President of the United States.

1998 – All eligible veterans could now enroll in VA’s health care system.

Visit us at www.hometown-heroes.org to learn more about Hometown Heroes, and to check out our video library of Veteran’s stories.

William Hase

1/13/1921 – N/A
Branch: Army
Rank: Corporal
Outfit: 96th Division
Service Dates: 1943 – 1946
Conflicts/Significant Events: World War II
Story uploaded/modified: Thursday, November 06, 2008

See Video Story HERE.

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Who’s eligible for V.A. long-term care benefits?

The V.A. provides nursing home and other long-term care — the V.A. calls it “extended care” — for many veterans. Those eligible for V.A. nursing home or noninstitutional long-term care include:

*      Veterans with a service-connected disability rating (or combined disability ratings) of 70 percent or higher.

*      Veterans with a 60-percent service-connected disability rating who are unemployable, or who have a rating of “permanent and totally disabled.”

Read more… http://www.caring.com/articles/va-nursing-home

Leave the legacy of a Veteran’s Story at www.hometown-heroes.org.

The United States has fought many wars throughout the world since that time to keep freedom here at home and continues to do so. From the beginning our country has established a program to care for the men and women of our military who fought in those wars.

The veterans assistance program goes back to 1636 when Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony fought with the Pequot Indians. The Pilgrims enacted a law from English law that reads, “If any man shall be sent forth as a soldier and shall return maimed, he shall be maintained competently by the colony during his life.” In 1789 U. S. congress passed as law that pensions were to be provided to disabled veterans and their dependents and in 1811 the first domiciliary and medical facility for veterans was completed.

Since that time the Department of Veterans Affairs has opened a multitude of care facilities nationwide. An article from the US Department of Veterans Affairs website states:

“VA’s health care system has grown from 54 hospitals in 1930 to 157 medical centers in 2005, with at least one in each state, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia . More than 5.3 million people received care in VA health care facilities in 2005, a 29 percent increase over the 4.1 million treated just four years earlier.
VA operates more than 1,300 sites of care including nearly 900 ambulatory care and community-based outpatient clinics, 136 nursing homes, 43 residential rehabilitation treatment programs, nearly 90 comprehensive home-care programs, and more than 200 Veterans Centers.”

State veterans homes have been built or are approved for future construction in many states. For a list of state veteran nursing homes go to http://www.longtermcarelink.net/ref_state_veterans_va_nursing_homes.htm#List

Here are some of the benefits provided for Veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs:

• Health Care Clinics
• Mental Health
• Counseling
• Job training
• Burial and Memorial benefits
• Education
• VA Home Loan
• DIC
• Compensation
• Pension
• Care Management
• Home Renovation for Disability
• Assisted Living
• Prosthetics
• Rehabilitation
• Weight management
• Nursing Homes
• Prescriptions
• Hospitals
  and much more

Thomas Day, founder and Director of the National Care Planning Council, has a deep gratitude for the services provided by the VA. He served as an Air Force pilot during Vietnam. Later he developed a crippling auto-immune disease. It was the doctors at the George A Wahlen VA Regional Medical Center who prescribed a new treatment that saved his life. Many of the VA programs continue to improve his life.

Tom is passionate about the Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit and the relief it brings to veterans and their families who need care services and ways to pay for it in their elder years.

“Aid and attendance” is a commonly used term for a little-known veterans’ disability income. The official title of this benefit is “Pension.” The reason for using “aid and attendance” to refer to Pension is that many veterans or their single surviving spouses can become eligible if they have a regular need for the aid and attendance of a caregiver or if they are housebound. Evidence of this need for care must be certified by VA as a “rating.” With a rating, certain veterans or their surviving spouses can now qualify for Pension. Pension is also available to low income veteran households without a rating, but it is a lesser dollar amount.

Pension is an underused benefit.

There are different income categories for Pension, but the highest could pay as much as $1,949 a month in disability income to a qualifying veteran household. A study commissioned by VA in 2001 estimated, over the next 14 years, only about 30% of eligible veterans would apply for Pension. This is likely due to the fact that most veterans simply don’t know about it. In fact, about a third of all seniors in this country, age 65 and older, could become eligible for pension under the right circumstances. That’s how many elderly war veterans or their surviving spouses there are.

To receive Pension, a veteran must have served on active duty, at least 90 days, with at least one of those days during a period of war. There must be a discharge under conditions other than dishonorable. Single surviving spouses of such veterans are also eligible. If younger than 65, the veteran must be totally disabled. If age 65 and older, there is no requirement for disability. There is no age or disability requirement for a single surviving spouse.

There are income requirements, but a special provision does allow household income to be reduced by 12 months worth of future, recurring medical expenses. Normally, income is only reduced by medical expenses incurred in the month of application. These allowable, annualized medical expenses are such things as insurance premiums, ongoing prescription drug costs, out-of-pocket cost of monthly medical equipment rental, the cost of home care, the cost of paying adult children to provide care, the cost of adult day services, the cost of assisted living and the cost of a nursing home facility. These are all considered medical costs and they can be deducted from income to receive this benefit.

According to Mr. Day,

“I talk to a number of people every day who are inquiring about this benefit. In many cases they don’t know that the benefit can pay members of the family to take care of the veteran, the veteran couple or the surviving spouse at home. I have literally had people who are sacrificing dearly to take care of their loved ones at home, break down and cry when they find they can receive some money from the government for that sacrifice.”

Thomas Day has written two books for the National Care Planning Council to educate and help veterans obtain this long term care benefit. The first, “How to apply for the Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit” is to educate the public what the benefit is and how to get it. The claims process for pension is described and information is provided to help understand what documentation is necessary to provide evidence of recurring medical expenses. All forms necessary for filing a claim are included in the form support section of the book. Here is a link to the book. http://www.longtermcarelink.net/a16Veterans_standard_book.htm

Although this is a do-it-yourself book, Tom recommends if you have excessive assets and income or are not sure how to apply medical deductions, use the services of a qualified consultant.

The second book, “Aid & Attendance Handbook for Professionals & Consultants,” is for the professional consultant. It is 782 pages of rules, forms, instruction on the submission process and Medicaid planning strategies as well as software for calculating income, benefit and medical expenses. Here is a link to that book. http://www.veteranbook.com

The secret for receiving a successful award for aid and attendance or housebound ratings is not in filling out the form but in knowing what documents and evidence must be submitted with the application. Knowing the secrets for a successful award — with the special case of long term care recipients — is 95% of the battle. Even though the form is challenging, filling out and filing a claim is a formality.

A knowledgeable consultant can provide information to shorten VA’s decision window of 6 to 12 months to possibly 3 or 4 months. The consultant also understands how to maximize the benefit or avoid a denial. The consultant can also provide guidance for meeting the asset test. Finally, the consultant can provide the actual strategies for reallocating assets and he or she can arrange for trusts or income conversions to allow for the best possible accommodation of assets for beneficiaries thus avoiding or reducing taxes, family disputes and Medicaid penalties.

“I would like to see every eligible veteran obtain the Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit for their long term care needs.” Thomas Day, Director, National Care Planning Council.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is launching a comprehensive study of women Veterans who served in the military during the Vietnam War to explore the effects of their military service upon their mental and physical health.

“One of my top priorities is to meet the needs of women Veterans,” said Secretary Shinseki.  “Our Veterans have earned the very best care.  VA realizes that women Veterans require specialized programs, and this study will help VA provide high-quality care for women Veterans of the Vietnam era.”

The study, which began in November and lasts more than four years, will contact approximately 10,000 women in a mailed survey, telephone interview and a review of their medical records.  

As women Vietnam Veterans approach their mid-sixties, it is important to understand the impact of wartime deployment on health and mental outcomes nearly 40 years later.  The study will assess the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental and physical health conditions for women Vietnam Veterans, and explore the relationship between PTSD and other conditions. 

VA will study women Vietnam Veterans who may have had direct exposure to traumatic events, and for the first time, study those who served in facilities near Vietnam.  These women may have had similar, but less direct exposures.  Both women Veterans who receive their health care from VA and those who receive health care from other providers will be contacted to determine the prevalence of a variety of health conditions.

About 250,000 women Veterans served in the military during the Vietnam War and about 7,000 were in or near Vietnam.  Those who were in Vietnam, those who served elsewhere in Southeast Asia and those who served in the United States are potential study participants.

The study represents to date the most comprehensive examination of a group of women Vietnam Veterans, and will be used to shape future research on women Veterans in future wars.  Such an understanding will lay the groundwork for planning and providing appropriate services for women Veterans, as well as for the aging Veteran population today.

Women Veterans are one of the fastest growing segments of the Veteran population.  There are approximately 1.8 million women Veterans among the nation’s total of 23 million living Veterans.  Women comprise 7.8 percent of the total Veteran population and nearly 5.5 percent of all Veterans who use VA health care services.  VA estimates women Veterans will constitute 10.5 percent of the Veteran population by 2020 and 9.5 percent of all VA patients.

In recent years, VA has undertaken a number of initiatives to create or enhance services for women Veterans, including the implementation of comprehensive primary care throughout the nation, staffing every VA medical center with a women Veterans program manager, supporting a multifaceted research program on women’s health, improving communication and outreach to women Veterans, and continuing the operation of organizations like the Center for Women Veterans and the Women Veterans Health Strategic Healthcare Group.

The study, to be managed by VA’s Cooperative Studies Program, is projected to cost $5.6 million.

For additional information or assistance, please visit us at www.hometown-heroes.org.

WASHINGTON – At the “VA National Summit Ending Homelessness among Veterans,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki unveiled the department’s comprehensive plan to end homelessness among Veterans by marshalling the resources of government, business and the private sector.

“President Obama and I are personally committed to ending homelessness among Veterans within the next five years,” said Shinseki.  “Those who have served this nation as Veterans should never find themselves on the streets, living without care and without hope.”

Shinseki’s comprehensive plan to end homelessness includes preventive measures like discharge planning for incarcerated Veterans re-entering society, supportive services for low-income Veterans and their families and a national referral center to link Veterans to local service providers.  Additionally, the plan calls for expanded efforts for education, jobs, health care and housing.  

“Our plan enlarges the scope of VA’s efforts to combat homelessness,” said Shinseki. “In the past, VA focused largely on getting homeless Veterans off the streets.  Our five-year plan aims also at preventing them from ever ending up homeless.”

Other features of the plan outlined by Shinseki include:

The new Post-9/11 GI Bill provides a powerful option for qualified Veterans to pursue a fully funded degree program at a state college or university.  It is a major component of the fight against Veteran homelessness.

VA is collaborating with the Small Business Administration and the General Services Administration to certify Veteran-owned small businesses and service-disabled Veteran-owned small businesses for listing on the Federal Supply Register, which enhances their visibility and competitiveness – creating jobs for Veterans.

VA will spend $3.2 billion next year to prevent and reduce homelessness among Veterans.  That includes $2.7 billion on medical services and more than $500 million on specific homeless programs.

VA aggressively diagnoses and treats the unseen wounds of war that often lead to homelessness – severe isolation, dysfunctional behaviors, depression and substance abuse.  Last week, VA and the Defense Department cosponsored a national summit on mental health that will help both agencies better coordinate mental health efforts.

VA partners with more than 600 community organizations to provide transitional housing to 20,000 Veterans.  It also works with 240 public housing authorities to provide permanent housing to homeless Veterans and their families under a partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.  The VA/HUD partnership will provide permanent housing to more than 20,000 Veterans and their families.

Over the duration of the conference it is expected that over 1,200 homeless service providers from federal and state agencies, the business community, and faith-based and community providers will attend and participate in the summit.

“This is not a summit on homelessness among Veterans,” added Shinseki “It’s a summit on ending homelessness among Veterans.”    

For additional information or assistance, please visit us at  www.hometown-heroes.org