Sanders sees hiring vets to process claims as part of backlog solution
Navy Times
Rick Maze
Staff Writer
May. 13, 2013
Hiring veterans to process claims could be part of the solution to eliminating the backlog of disability claims, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman believes.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent who became the veterans’ committee chairman in January, sees hiring veterans for claims processing and adjudication positions as one step among many that are needed to improve the timeliness and accuracy of claims.
Sanders noted that the Veterans Affairs Department lost about 6 percent of its claims staff in fiscal 2012. This created openings that could be filled by veterans to “create a generation of adjudicators throughout VA who can identify with the experiences of the population they serve,” he said in a statement.
Sanders introduced a bill May 9 that calls for creation of a working group within VA that would look at how to hire veterans and also look at how to evaluate employees who work on claims.
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Maybe someone is paying attention to Wounded Times?
Department of Veterans Affairs should draft temps
Monday, May 13, 2013
Agent Orange tied to aggressive prostate cancer risk
Vietnam War chemical tied to aggressive prostate cancer risk
Published May 13, 2013
Reuters
Men who were exposed to Agent Orange chemicals used during the Vietnam War are at higher risk for life-threatening prostate cancer than unexposed veterans, researchers have found.
What's more, those who served where the herbicide was used were diagnosed with cancer about five years earlier than other men, on average, in the new study.
"This is a very, very strong predictor of lethal cancer," said urologist Dr. Mark Garzotto, who worked on the study at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Oregon.
"If you're a person who's otherwise healthy and you've been exposed to Agent Orange, that has important implications for whether you should be screened or not screened," he told Reuters Health.
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Published May 13, 2013
Reuters
Men who were exposed to Agent Orange chemicals used during the Vietnam War are at higher risk for life-threatening prostate cancer than unexposed veterans, researchers have found.
What's more, those who served where the herbicide was used were diagnosed with cancer about five years earlier than other men, on average, in the new study.
"This is a very, very strong predictor of lethal cancer," said urologist Dr. Mark Garzotto, who worked on the study at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Oregon.
"If you're a person who's otherwise healthy and you've been exposed to Agent Orange, that has important implications for whether you should be screened or not screened," he told Reuters Health.
read more here
Do you need more proof that "resilience" training does not work?
Do you need more proof that "resilience" training does not work?
Marine Corps studying spike in suicides
Marian University professor to help interview families
By Meg Jones
Journal Sentinel
May 12, 2013
Fond du Lac - A few years ago as the war in Iraq was winding down and fighting continued in Afghanistan, the number of Marines killing themselves spiked.
The U.S. Marine Corps wants to know why.
Though the Corps has previously studied suicides and attempted suicides by Marines, the military branch is launching a project this year to examine the complex reasons that Marines are dying by their own hand.
A team of researchers, including a professor at Marian University in Fond du Lac, will interview relatives and friends of active-duty Marines who died by suicide between 2010 and 2012. Their reports for the Marine Corps Suicide Prevention Psychological Autopsy Project will be used to identify suicide risk factors or trends that might be unique to Marines.
The reasons for suicide are often complex and can't be shoehorned into a simple explanation. But multiple deployments in more than a decade of war have taken a toll on military members and their families. And many are reluctant to ask for help because it could be considered a sign of weakness that could derail their military careers.
It's not just the Marines. Other military branches are coping with an increase in suicides.
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NAVY TAKES NEW TACK TO REDUCE SUICIDES
Chief of personnel outlines multipronged effort to reduce numbers
By Jeanette Steele
MAY 12, 2013
Veterans groups rang alarm bells in 2006, when suicide numbers began surging throughout the U.S. military. Self-inflicted deaths soared in 2009, then leveled off before climbing again in 2012.
But Navy numbers held fairly steady until 2011.
The Navy’s chief of personnel, Vice Adm. Scott R. Van Buskirk, recently sat down with U-T San Diego to discuss the issue.
Q: Why the uptick in suicides in 2011 and 2012?
A: We do a detailed investigation of each and every one. What we’ve found out is that it’s not consistent as to the reasons. Much of it has to do with relationships. Some of it has to do with issues that occurred in the lives of the sailors before they came into the service.
Q: What’s new in Navy prevention efforts?
A: We’ve put a task force together led by an admiral here recently to look at all of our programs that go toward the resiliency of our forces. That gets to the core of not just suicide but other behavior that may be indicators of stress. We’re attacking it from a much broader perspective.
Q: What are the programs?
A: We have several. Operational stress control. Recently we invested in mobile training teams that we positioned here in San Diego and in Norfolk, Va., professionals that are available to all of our units for training at the leadership and deck plate level that they can take advantage of. So our leaders and our men and women understand, when they see the symptoms of stress occur, so they can see the signals and get people the professional help.
Another key one is embedding behavioral health specialists where we see that we need them most. The Navy SEAL community has done a great job — one of our most-stressed communities. Embedding professionals (with troops) to reduce the stigma of seeking help, which was key. Because if you reduce that stigma, people will more readily seek that, when there’s no penalty associated with their career. Communicating that is really important.
read more here
Marine Corps studying spike in suicides
Marian University professor to help interview families
By Meg Jones
Journal Sentinel
May 12, 2013
Fond du Lac - A few years ago as the war in Iraq was winding down and fighting continued in Afghanistan, the number of Marines killing themselves spiked.
The U.S. Marine Corps wants to know why.
Though the Corps has previously studied suicides and attempted suicides by Marines, the military branch is launching a project this year to examine the complex reasons that Marines are dying by their own hand.
A team of researchers, including a professor at Marian University in Fond du Lac, will interview relatives and friends of active-duty Marines who died by suicide between 2010 and 2012. Their reports for the Marine Corps Suicide Prevention Psychological Autopsy Project will be used to identify suicide risk factors or trends that might be unique to Marines.
The reasons for suicide are often complex and can't be shoehorned into a simple explanation. But multiple deployments in more than a decade of war have taken a toll on military members and their families. And many are reluctant to ask for help because it could be considered a sign of weakness that could derail their military careers.
It's not just the Marines. Other military branches are coping with an increase in suicides.
read more here
NAVY TAKES NEW TACK TO REDUCE SUICIDES
Chief of personnel outlines multipronged effort to reduce numbers
By Jeanette Steele
MAY 12, 2013
Navy suicidesSuicide among Navy sailors spiked in 2011 and 2012, when the sea service began seeing more than 50 a year.
Suicides among active-duty troops:
2006: 38; rate 10.1 per 100,000 people
2007: 40; rate 11.1
2008: 39; rate 11.0
2009: 46; rate 13.1
2010: 39; rate 11.1
2011: 52; rate 14.6
2012: 59; rate 16.8
Source: U.S. Navy
Veterans groups rang alarm bells in 2006, when suicide numbers began surging throughout the U.S. military. Self-inflicted deaths soared in 2009, then leveled off before climbing again in 2012.
But Navy numbers held fairly steady until 2011.
The Navy’s chief of personnel, Vice Adm. Scott R. Van Buskirk, recently sat down with U-T San Diego to discuss the issue.
Q: Why the uptick in suicides in 2011 and 2012?
A: We do a detailed investigation of each and every one. What we’ve found out is that it’s not consistent as to the reasons. Much of it has to do with relationships. Some of it has to do with issues that occurred in the lives of the sailors before they came into the service.
Q: What’s new in Navy prevention efforts?
A: We’ve put a task force together led by an admiral here recently to look at all of our programs that go toward the resiliency of our forces. That gets to the core of not just suicide but other behavior that may be indicators of stress. We’re attacking it from a much broader perspective.
Q: What are the programs?
A: We have several. Operational stress control. Recently we invested in mobile training teams that we positioned here in San Diego and in Norfolk, Va., professionals that are available to all of our units for training at the leadership and deck plate level that they can take advantage of. So our leaders and our men and women understand, when they see the symptoms of stress occur, so they can see the signals and get people the professional help.
Another key one is embedding behavioral health specialists where we see that we need them most. The Navy SEAL community has done a great job — one of our most-stressed communities. Embedding professionals (with troops) to reduce the stigma of seeking help, which was key. Because if you reduce that stigma, people will more readily seek that, when there’s no penalty associated with their career. Communicating that is really important.
read more here
Agency Delays $765 Million in Spending for U.S. Veterans’ Care?
Agency Delays $765 Million in Spending for U.S. Veterans’ Care
Bloomberg Business Week
By Kathleen Miller
May 13, 2013
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs postponed purchases of cardiac monitors, radiological equipment and pain-medication pumps for patients last year. It didn’t replace old surgical tools, oxygen-delivery systems or deteriorating operating-room stretchers.
In all, the agency delayed more than $765 million it was authorized to spend, affecting veterans’ medical care in some cases, according to VA documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act.
The department, criticized by veterans for claims backlogs and bottlenecks in mental-health care, transferred the money into a holding account. It was the biggest amount deferred in at least 10 years and more than eight times the amount shifted to the fund two years earlier, the records show.
read more here
Bloomberg Business Week
By Kathleen Miller
May 13, 2013
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs postponed purchases of cardiac monitors, radiological equipment and pain-medication pumps for patients last year. It didn’t replace old surgical tools, oxygen-delivery systems or deteriorating operating-room stretchers.
In all, the agency delayed more than $765 million it was authorized to spend, affecting veterans’ medical care in some cases, according to VA documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act.
The department, criticized by veterans for claims backlogs and bottlenecks in mental-health care, transferred the money into a holding account. It was the biggest amount deferred in at least 10 years and more than eight times the amount shifted to the fund two years earlier, the records show.
read more here
Florida State legislators push for better veterans services
State legislators push for better veterans services
By Jeremy Wallace
Herald-Tribune
Sunday, May 12, 2013
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has added more workers, enjoys record funding and is installing better technology to address a backlog of unprocessed benefits claims for former soldiers.
Yet the backlog in processing medical and pension claims is not getting better, according to two key congressman from Florida who are vowing to put more public pressure on the VA.
"The situation is worse today than it ever has been before," said U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, a Pensacola-area Republican who is chairman of the House Veterans Committee.
Last year more than 800,000 claims were estimated to be in the backlog. That number has grown to almost 900,000, according to the most recent estimates. More Vietnam era soldiers seeking claims related to post traumatic stress and Agent Orange exposure, plus the returning soldiers from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have added to the list.
How many are on the waiting list from Sarasota and Manatee counties is uncertain, but VA records show the two counties have about 76,000 military veterans.
read more here
By Jeremy Wallace
Herald-Tribune
Sunday, May 12, 2013
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has added more workers, enjoys record funding and is installing better technology to address a backlog of unprocessed benefits claims for former soldiers.
Yet the backlog in processing medical and pension claims is not getting better, according to two key congressman from Florida who are vowing to put more public pressure on the VA.
"The situation is worse today than it ever has been before," said U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, a Pensacola-area Republican who is chairman of the House Veterans Committee.
Last year more than 800,000 claims were estimated to be in the backlog. That number has grown to almost 900,000, according to the most recent estimates. More Vietnam era soldiers seeking claims related to post traumatic stress and Agent Orange exposure, plus the returning soldiers from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have added to the list.
How many are on the waiting list from Sarasota and Manatee counties is uncertain, but VA records show the two counties have about 76,000 military veterans.
read more here
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