March 11th, 2008
State Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, announced a new partnership with the Division of Apprenticeship Training and the Veterans Administration that will help to speed up the process of collecting GI Bill benefits for veteran constituents.
The DAT came to an agreement with the VA on the terms for the application process to receive GI Bill benefits while enrolled in an apprentice program. The DAT has been awarded its first three-year contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs for administrative oversight to help veterans in the commonwealth access the educational and monetary benefits they have earned through their service.
The DAT as authorized by Chapter 23 of the Massachusetts General Laws is the state approving agency for all apprentice education and training programs. As a condition of the agreement between the parties, once veterans are enrolled in an apprenticeship program that is registered with DAT, they willneed to submit their paperwork through this office only. Apprentice veterans should not submit their paperwork to the VA before submitting it to DAT. It will be returned by the VA, slowing down receipt of benefits. Once the paperwork has been examined by this office for accuracy and recorded, it will be forwarded to the VA office at the Kennedy Federal Building in Boston for processing.
This new procedure will speed up the time it takes for veterans to receive their benefits.
Please contact the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development’s Division of Apprentice Training at 617-626-5407 with any questions regarding GI Bill benefits for veterans while they are enrolled in an apprenticeship program.
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February 13th, 2008
Certain veterans who travel to VA medical facilities are getting their first travel mileage reimbursement increase in 30 years. The new rates went into effect Feb. 1.
The rates increase from 11 cents per mile to 28.5 cents per mile, said an Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs press release. A maximum deductible is set at $46.62, $15.54 for round trip, and $7.77 for one-way visits. Deductible amounts can be waived upon approval of financial hardship to the veteran. Deductible increases were packaged as part of the 2008 appropriations act.
“The earned benefit will make an immediate difference in the lives of many Oregon veterans. Veterans who travel many miles to a VA medical facilities will have more money in their pocket at the end of the day” said Oregon VA Director Jim Willis.
Veterans wounded or disabled in service are able to claim this benefit when traveling in relation to a Compensation and Pension Examination. Free VA health care is available to returning combat veterans. For assistance with VA Benefits for veterans, survivors and dependents, those interested should contact the Coos County veterans service officer by calling 396-2121, ext. 362.
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January 23rd, 2008
A bill that would block the Department of Veterans Affairs from trying to collect money from the estates of service members who die in combat was introduced Tuesday by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
Her bill, S 2536, applies only to debts to the VA, and not to money owed to private-sector creditors or other federal agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service.
Hutchison is asking Senate leaders for quick passage of the bill, hoping to bypass the normal process in which new bills are sent to committee for consideration.
She could get high-level support. VA Secretary Dr. James Peake is expected to write a letter to the Senate endorsing her call for expedited passage of the bill, according to Senate sources.
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January 10th, 2008
Many veterans never receive the federal and state benefits to which they’re entitled because they’re unaware they qualify for health care, tax breaks and other compensation, local liaisons to former troops say.
“They’re entitled to these benefits. They just don’t know they exist,” says veterans service officer Darlene McMartin, who works in a county-funded office in Council Bluffs, Iowa. McMartin says she encounters veterans every day who don’t know about her office and the services they provide.
There are 25 million veterans, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says. In fiscal year 2006, it provided disability pay to 2.6 million of them, pensions to 320,000, education benefits to 500,000, guaranteed home loans to 180,000 and health care to 5.5 million. It provided insurance to 4.5 million veterans and active-duty personnel.
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January 9th, 2008
In addition to benefits offered by the The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, military veterans and their families may also qualify for a variety of other perks offered by every state and the District of Columbia.LIAISONS: Vets missing out on benefits
ALABAMA: Free tuition at state colleges and technical schools for disabled veterans and dependents.
ALASKA: One-time 25% discounts for some veterans on the purchase of residential or recreational land.
ARIZONA: Exemptions from vehicle license taxes and registration fees for fully disabled veterans and surviving spouses.
ARKANSAS: Income tax exemption of the first $6,000 of service or retirement pay.
CALIFORNIA: Home loans below market interest rates with low or no down payments.
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January 7th, 2008
A change in the law that allows certain seriously injured veterans and servicemembers to receive multiple grants for constructing or modifying homes has resulted in many new grants, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today.
Before the change, eligible veterans and servicemembers could receive special adaptive housing grants of $10,000 or $50,000 from VA only once. Now they may use the benefit up to three times, so long as the total grants stay within specified limits outlined in the law.
“Veterans seriously disabled during their military service have earned this benefit,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. “This change ensures that every eligible veteran and servicemember has the chance to use the maximum amount afforded to them by our grateful nation.”
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January 2nd, 2008
The men and women discharged after Iraqi Freedom will receive the same veterans benefits usually associated with the GI Bill Home Loan guarantees, Educational Assistance, Disability Compensation if they qualify and Survivor Benefits. Iraqi Freedom veterans will also receive one important benefit not available at the time of Desert Storm.
Under rules that went into effect last year, everyone who served in the combat zone will be eligible for two years of free health care from the VA without having to prove that a medical problem is connected to military service. This new benefit is an outgrowth of the VA’s experience with Gulf War illnesses after the first Gulf War and Agent Orange after the Vietnam War. It will increase the chances that VA health care workers can detect early any unusual health care problems that develop among Iraqi veterans.
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December 21st, 2007
THE OFFICE of Personnel Management recently released a report showing a modest increase in the number of veterans working in the federal government.
OPM reported increases in both the number of veterans employed and new hires since fiscal 2005 began on Oct. 1, 2004.
The number of veterans in the federal work force increased by 1,711–from 456,254 in 2005 to 457,965 in 2006. The number of disabled veterans in the work force increased from 92,642 to 97,828 during the same time period.
The number of newly hired veterans increased from 48,257 to 50,108. This represented 22.1 percent of all new federal workers hired–the highest percentage in four years.
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December 20th, 2007
In the Navy, Joe Venovich never questioned what the government told him.
But now in retirement, he wonders why the country is shafting him and other veterans with shortchanged and shortsighted medical coverage.
Venovich, 69, lives in Tremont. He went into the Navy in 1955 and was honorably discharged in 1959.
Now retired, Venovich has heart troubles, including atherosclerosis, or clogged arteries. Two years ago, he had quadruple-bypass surgery.
He has been doing all right but remains on medication. One is clopidogrel, sold under the brand name Plavix. His cardiologist prescribed Plavix to keep his arteries unclogged.
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October 18th, 2007
Several key financial benefits enjoyed by service members on active duty, such as the ability to make penalty-free withdrawals from retirement plans, are set to expire at the end of the year.
Two House subcommittees met Wednesday to consider whether to make those benefits permanent and to set into law other tax-related measures, some of which would benefit military families who lose a service member in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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