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FINANCIAL BENEFITS
"FILING A CLAIM FOR VA BENEFITS"

How do I know whether it's worth filing a claim?  Before you file, you'll need to understand the basic requirements.

1) Who can file? At any point after you have completed military service, you may file an application for disability compensation. Here are the basic tests: you believe that military service has caused an injury or illness (called a "condition" by the VA) 

2) Evidence: You must have evidence to support your claim. The best evidence is an event that is recorded in a Service Medical Record (SMR). This is a detailed description of the cause of the injury or illness leading to your condition, how it was treated, and any residual effects of the event. 

Before you file, you'll need to understand the basic requirements.

1. Eligible military service: You must have done military service, and you must have a discharge that is other than dishonorable. If your discharge is other than honorable but not dishonorable, you may be qualified for only some types of benefits. 

2.  Current "condition": You must have a current injury or illness (condition) that can be connected to your military service. This means that you should have a fairly clear diagnosis. It should be stated in a medical record prepared by a qualified health care provider (preferably a doctor). The more precisely defined the condition is in the record, the better. 

3. Evidence: You must have evidence to support your claim. The best evidence is an event that is recorded in a Service Medical Record (SMR). This is a detailed description of the cause of the injury or illness leading to your condition, how it was treated, and any residual effects of the event. If the condition is related to a non-combat event, you will need documentation of: 

4. A clear service connection: Your medical evidence must be clear enough to prove that your current condition is connected to the in-service event. This is called "service connection" or "nexus." If you can't prove the service connection, you will not receive benefits. 

What else do I need to know? I suggest that you consider another set of requirements before you file a claim. You should be well organized and prepared to deal with a lot of paperwork, including copying of files and searching for evidence. It helps if you:

  • are familiar with searching for records on the Internet,
  • know how to use a word processor,
  • own or have access to a scanner and copier
  • are confident that you have the patience to deal with details.

The VA process, even at its best, is slow, prone to error, and requires constant attention. You are much more likely to be successful if you can organize your information and keep good records of interactions with VA. If you believe that you meet these requirements, I encourage you to apply for your deserved benefits. If you have trouble with these kinds of tasks, you may want to seek help from someone trained as a VSO or your state veterans affairs office. The VA in 2015 updated how to file your claim. 

HEALTHCARE BENEFITS
About Veterans Choice Program

The Veterans Access, Choice, Accountability Act (VACAA) of 2014 is a law that expands the number of options Veterans have for receiving care to ensure Veterans have timely access to high-quality care. Veterans Choice Program (VCP) provides primary care, inpatient and outpatient specialty care, and mental health care for eligible Veterans when the local U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care facility cannot provide the services due to:

  • lack of available specialists.
  • long wait times.
  • extraordinary distance from the Veteran?s home.

While millions of Veterans will receive a Choice Card, only a subset of those who hold the card will be eligible to use it at any given time. Verification of eligibility in the form of an authorization from Health Net is required for reimbursement of costs associated with care provided to a Veteran. 

Eligible Veterans must contact Health Net Federal Services, LLC (Health Net) to obtain authorization for all care under VCP. Veterans are encouraged to access health care through Health Net?s comprehensive network of community-based, non-VA medical professionals who meet VA quality standards. These highly qualified providers are contracted as part of Health Net?s URAC accredited Patient-Centered Community Care (PCCC) network and proudly serve our Veterans today in PCCC and VCP. 

However, VCP allows a Veteran to choose a provider outside of the PCCC preferred network when a PCCC provider is not available or the Veteran has a preference for another community provider. Health Net must verify the provider outside of the PCCC preferred network meets the certification and license requirements of VCP and the provider must agree with program requirements prior to scheduling an appointment. 

To learn more about the program, view frequently asked questions and access the most up-to-date resources, visit www.hnfs.com. Call Center: 1-866-606-8198, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern time, excluding certain holidays. 

EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

MILITARY TIMES
November 6, 2015

Unemployment among all veterans reached a seven-year low last month, and the jobless rate among Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans set a new record low in October, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday. The announcement continues a run of positive news for both groups in recent years, a stark change from the double-digit unemployment rates for some veterans groups in the early part of the decade. According to BLS researchers, the overall veterans unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in October, down from 4.3 percent in September and from 6.9 percent just two years ago. The mark is the lowest for veterans seeking work since April 2008, and continues an almost five-year-long streak of the veterans unemployment outpacing the national rate. The jobless rate among younger veterans has generally stayed above those national numbers, but October marked the third consecutive month that group also saw better employment statistics than the general population. BLS estimates that 4.6 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans seeking work in October could not find employment, the lowest mark since the agency began tracking that population in 2008. The previous low was set in August. 

Seniors boost number of veterans deemed unemployable ... 
September 6, 2014 - Los Angeles Times  

Senior citizens have helped make the benefit - known as individual unemployability - one of the fastest-growing expenditures in the VA disability system. The number of "unemployable" veterans has nearly tripled since 2000, to 321,451, with the majority at ages when most people have already stopped working. Government data show that 56% of the beneficiaries are at least 65 years old. Eleven percent are 80 and older.

HOUSING BENEFITS

Housing assistance for homeless Veterans and their families is available through several federal programs.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and VA Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH) partner to provide permanent, supportive housing and treatment services for homeless Veterans. As of September 30, 2013, HUD had allocated more than 58,000 Housing Choice vouchers across the country, which allows Veterans and their families to live in market rate rental housing while VA provides case management services. A housing subsidy is paid to the landlord directly by the local public housing authority on behalf of the participating Veteran. The Veteran then pays the difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized by the program. The case management services facilitate the attainment of the Veteran?s recovery goals. The HUD-VASH Program is for the most vulnerable Veterans, and provides special services for women Veterans, those recently returning from combat zones, and Veterans with disabilities.

 EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Message from Derrick S. Boone, Ph.D.  
   
Greetings, I wanted to let you know about a great opportunity here at Wake Forest where you can get a FREE education and get PAID while you're doing it. Our Dean of the Schools of Business is the former CEO of PepsiCo and very committed to diversity. He's gone around to his CEO friends, who have agreed to donate a bunch of money to pay tuition and fees, provide a stipend, and a job, to diverse students. The details are below. The problem is, response to the program has been dismal! As a faculty member, I would be embarrassed for him to have to tell his CEO friends, "thanks so much for your donation, but unfortunately I have to give it back because we couldn't find Any students who wanted it." So, I need your help. Please contact me if you, or ANYONE you know is interested in the program. I want to help out as many young scholars as I can. Don't worry about whether or not you (or they) have taken the GMAT, etc. All you need to do at this point is JUST APPLY.  
   
About the Program: The Master of Art in Management program is designed specifically for liberal arts majors only. The MA degree program is a 10 month intense study of the basic functional areas ofBusiness. After graduation and working for approximately two years, all MA graduates are eligible to apply to Wake Forest as part of the MA/MBA joint degree program and get the MBA in one year. The new Dean, Steve Reinemund, has created a new scholarship for diverse students pursuing the MA degree called the Corporate Fellowship.  
   
The Corporate Fellowship provides full tuition and a $21,000 stipend to cover living expenses. Additionally, each Corporate Fellow will participate in a practicum. The practicum has two components, educational and professional development. Each student will be assigned a mentor that is a high level executive with their sponsor corporation. The mentor will oversee an educational project covering 4 of the functional areas of business using their own corporation as the subject.  
   
The student will visit the corporation 3-4 times during the program to present his/her results of their research project. Additionally, the "professional development" component of the fellowship provides career coaching and leadership development for the students.  
   
The goal for the corporation is to be able to groom and hopefully, hire a top candidate from a diverse background for their organization. Of course, there is no obligation that the students accept any offer of employment. Still, the student benefits, even if they are not ultimately hired by their sponsor corporation in that they have the MA degree and the type of experience that will make them more marketable.

 
 

Forever GI Bill - Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act

August 17, 2017 3:30 PM… The President signed into law the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act also known as the “Forever GI Bill,” which will bring significant changes to Veterans education benefits. The law is named after the American Legion national commander who wrote the original GI Bill language in 1944, and will allow more Veterans to use the GI Bill and more time to use it. Some of the changes will go into effect immediately, and some are written to go into effect shortly after.

Some new provisions that go into effect immediately include:

·       The 15-year time limitation for using Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits is eliminated for Veterans who left active duty on or after January 1, 2013, and qualifying dependents (Fry children who became eligible on or after January 1, 2013 and all Fry spouses).

·       Reservists who had eligibility under the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) and lost it due to the program sunset provision will have that service credited toward the Post-9/11 GI Bill program.

·       Certain work-study is permanently authorized; previously it had to be re-approved by Congress every few years.

·       The VetSuccess on Campus program will be available to students across the country

·       VA will help Veterans to more clearly identify schools that offer them priority enrollment

The majority of the changes enhances or expands education benefits for Veterans, Servicemembers, Families and Survivors.  Simple breakdowns to a portion of the provisions can be found on VA GI Bill Homepage. 

Resources

·       See communications on the Forever GI Bill.