Florida veterans look for help

Notice how Democrats and Republicans can step up to try to make sure our veterans are taken care of? So how is it that the rest of us cannot put aside political differences and do the same? Florida had almost 2 million veterans! Brevard County, where they have been a lot more active doing things for veterans than Seminole and Orange County, had 77,169 veterans. We don't know how many veterans we have right now since the census was from 2008. It would be great to finally really take care of our veterans and step up.

Florida veterans look for help
Advocacy groups meet with congressional committee Wednesday
By Bart Jansen • Tallahassee Washington Bureau • January 19, 2010

WASHINGTON — Florida veterans are urging Congress to shorten the backlog for disability claims and to eliminate an overlap in survivors' benefits.

Veterans are also wary of cuts in Medicare for the elderly and disabled that could ripple through the military health-care system called TRICARE for troops, their dependents and retirees.

These are among the top concerns that advocacy groups will raise Wednesday at a roundtable with the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Florida is second only to California as a home for veterans, with 1.9 million, according to the U.S. Census. Brevard County has 77,169 veterans, Lee County 66,081, Escambia 38,510 and Leon 20,561, according to 2008 Census figures.

Rep. Jeff Miller, a Chumuckla Republican and committee member, recently met with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki about the backlog that is surging with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

"The disability-claims backlog has become a deteriorating issue for the Department of Veterans Affairs and is in need of much improvement," Miller said.

The department's spending bill that Congress approved in December included $1.7 billion to hire 1,200 new claims processors, in an effort to reduce a backlog with nearly 397,000 claims pending, according to the group Disabled American Veterans.

Reps. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, and Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, helped secure funding last year for a new VA Medical Center in Orlando. But lawmakers noted the need to do more to speed processing of disability claims and improve survivor benefits.

"I will continue working to protect and improve the benefits for our veterans who have so bravely sacrificed in service to their country," Kosmas said.

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Florida veterans look for help