Recognizing that many veterans live far away from major centers and clinics, the Department of Veterans Affairs took steps to ensure they would receive the care and benefits they earned while in uniform. On Feb. 20, VA Secretary James B. Peake announced the formation of an advisory panel on rural health, which would provide the department's senior leaders with input and advice on providing care for rural veterans. The action is one more step in a continuing series, which includes opening more clinics in rural areas and creating better avenues of coordination among the VA, state and local providers, and veterans' service organizations.

Department of Veterans Affairs

For Immediate Release

February 27, 2008

VA Has Added 20 New Vet Centers

Peake: Expansion Comes a Year Early to Help Combat Vets

PHILADELPHIA – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake today said an expansion by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of its Vet Centers, which provide readjustment counseling and outreach services to returning combat veterans, is well ahead of schedule.

In February 2007, VA announced it would open 23 new centers during the next two years. Fifteen of those centers are already operational, and five others are seeing patients in temporary facilities while finalizing their leases. The other three facilities will begin operations later this year.

"Building on our past successes, 2008 will see a permanent increase in the number of Vet Centers, as we bring the remaining facilities on line to reach a record 232 Vet Centers by the end of the year," Peake said.

"To support this expansion and augment the staff at 61 existing Vet Centers, this year we are channeling a 44 percent increase in funding to the Readjustment Counseling Service, which operates the Vet Centers --nearly $50 million more than last year's budget," he added.

The community-based Vet Centers are a key component of VA’s mental health program, providing veterans with mental health screening and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) counseling, along with help for family members dealing with bereavement and loved ones with PTSD.

The 15 new Vet Centers that are open in permanent locations are in Binghamton, N.Y.; Middletown, N.Y.; Watertown, N.Y.; Hyannis, Conn.; DuBois, Pa.; Gainesville, Fla.; Melbourne, Fla.; Macon, Ga.; Manhattan, Kansas; Escanaba, Mich.; Saginaw, Mich.; Grand Junction, Colo.; Baton Rouge, La., Killeen, Texas; and Las Cruces, N.M.

Five additional Vet Centers are providing services in temporary space while they finalize their leases: They are in Toledo, Ohio; Ft. Myers, Fla.; Montgomery, Ala.; Everett, Wash.; and Modesto, Calif.

The final three locations where Vet Centers will open for clients later this year are in Berlin, N.H., Nassau County, N.Y., and Fayetteville, Ark.

Vet Centers provide counseling on employment, plus services on family issues, education and outreach, to combat veterans and their families. Vet Centers are staffed by small teams of professional counselors, outreach specialists and other specialists, many of whom are combat veterans themselves.

VA's Vet Centers have hired 100 combat veterans back from Iraq and Afghanistan as outreach specialists, often placing them near military processing stations, to brief servicemen and women leaving the military about VA benefits.

These outreach specialists meet with returning veterans, work through family assistance centers and visit military installations to carry the message that VA will be there for the troops and family members after discharge.

DOD has approved the moving of several drugs used in treating enlarged prostate, cardiovascular disorders, and immune disease to the $22 co-pay/ third tier level. For prostate treatment DoD is also creating a new prior authorization requirement that requires a patient to try Uroxatral before Hytrin, Cardura, or Flomax. This requirement starts on April 16, but anyone who has a prescription for Hytrin, Cardura, or Flomax within the last 180 days is grandfathered in to the $9 co-pay. Otherwise there will be a $22 co-pay unless your doctor states there is a medical necessity for the patient to take one of the 3.

The changes for the cardiovascular drugs are even more complicated. Zebeta, Coreg, Toprol XL, and Lopressor, chronic heart failure drugs will remain on the formulary at Tier 1 and 2 with $3 or $9 copays. However, Exforge, a drug for high blood pressure, will move to the $22 co-pay. On the other hand Norvasc’s co-pay will drop from $22 to $9. All these changes will go into effect on April 16.

Drugs that treat immune diseases: Enbrel and Kineret which treat arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis, will have a $22 co-pay on June 18th while the drugs Humira’s, Raptiva’s and Amevive’s will not change.
Finally both a contraceptive Lybrel, and a ADHD medication Vyvnase will be moved to the $22 co-pay level on April 16.

Free File Federal Taxes Online

If your adjusted gross income was $54,000 or less in 2007, you may be able to use the IRS’s Free File to prepare and e-file your taxes online.

Free File allows you to:

• Get a faster refund (approximately 10 days with direct deposit)

• File your taxes anytime of the day or night

• Receive a confirmation that your return was received

• Save paper

If you made more than $54,000 in 2007, you’ll experience many similar benefits by e-filing your taxes. Visit USA.gov’s Tax page for additional resources on completing your federal and state returns.

GAO: Privatize Medical Jobs Carefully

While privatizing many medical and dental services jobs has allowed more people in uniform to contribute to the high pace of operations in the global war on terror, and could cost less at the same time, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says Congress could use more thorough information about its ramifications. The privatization process, which started in FY 2004, has resulted in transferal of more than 10,000 medical and dental jobs to civilian contractors before the program entered a moratorium period that began last Oct. 1 and will remain in effect until Sept. 30, 2012. But because the Defense Department is scheduled to grow considerably within the next two years, DoD health care and comptroller officials may have to reexamine privatization sooner than that, the GAO stated in a Feb. 8 report. The expansion "will continue to tax the military health system in several areas, including manpower management," the report stated. The Defense Department must carefully keep track of how expansion affects health care delivery to the military system's nine million service members and dependents, and deliver that data to Congress in a timely fashion, in order to ensure that care delivery does not suffer and quality-of-life goals are met. To view the entire report, visit http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/pastweek.html.

Army, VA Sign Mutual Support Agreement

Feb 13, 2008

BY Army Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Feb. 13, 2008) -- Secretary of the Army Pete Geren and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake signed a mutual support agreement, Feb. 12, outlining continued assistance to service members and their families transitioning through the military Disability Evaluation System.

The document formalized an understanding that has already been providing care to wounded, ill and injured service members in the Disability Evaluation System

"By providing VA support to Soldiers, this agreement formalizes a resource that will help them get the health care and benefits they earned with their service," Secretary Geren said. "We must look at our policies through the eyes of our Soldiers and their Families, as we have done in developing this agreement."

"Today's agreement reaffirms VA's commitment with the Army to provide the care and benefits our veterans deserve," said Secretary Peake. "We share a duty to do what's right for our soldiers and their families."

Under the agreement, the Army will continue providing nurse case managers, legal assistance, physical evaluation board liaison officers, chain of command, primary care managers and other service-specific support. Soldiers also may call the Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline at 1-800-984-8523 (overseas DSN 312-328-0002) or e-mail: wsfsupport@conus.army.mil.

VA service representatives will continue providing information and advice regarding how medical evidence is used in the evaluation of disabilities under the Department of Veterans Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities. VA service representatives will assist and advise service members as they prepare documentation for VA benefit claims. VA benefit claims include the VA portion of joint claims processed through the Disability Evaluation System Pilot Program.

At military installations where the VA does not have permanent staff available, service members may contact VA service representatives via phone or e-mail. A listing of veterans' service organizations recognized by VA to help with VA benefits claims can be found at www.va.gov. VSOs also may provide assistance with this process.