VA News for Monday, January 3, 2011

1.      Veterans Commission Representative Says One In Three Homeless Men Is A Veteran.  PolitiFact.org (1/1) evanluates a claim by a representative of the Texas Veterans Commission that one in three homeless men in the state is a veteran. Asked for documentation of the claim, the Texas agency points to a similar claim by homeless housing group HelpUSA, which cites a study published on HUD's website. But the study is silent of nethodology, and the head of the Washington-based National Coalition for the Homeless "said the latest research indicates the share of homeless men who are veterans is not 1 in 3. HUD has completed an Annual Homeless Assessment Report since 2005; its latest rendition, issued in June 2010, says veterans accounted for 11 percent of the nation's 1.2 million sheltered homeless adults in 2009 -- or about 132,000 people -- down from 13 percent in 2007." A HUD spokesman dismisses the claim on its website as based on 1996 data "not considered terribly relevant" today. It also notes that a speech last month by VA Secretary Shinseki "estimates the number of homeless veterans at 107,000 -- down, he said, from 131,000 two years earlier and 250,000 a decade ago." PolitiFact's gives as its bottom-line asessement of the claim that "Experts outside Texas agree the claim... is based on obsolete data, though some cautioned that it's hard to pinpoint how many homeless men are veterans and one sorting of the data appears to justify the claim. We rate the statement Barely True."

2.      For Many Returning Veterans, Home Is Where The Trouble Is.  According to New York Times (1/3, A20, 1.01M) editorial board member Lawrence Downes, veterans "and their advocates in Utica and elsewhere" have "good words for the Veterans Affairs Department, which they said has begun realizing that one of the best ways to help veterans...is through community-based services. The agency is steering money to local nonprofits and beginning its own efforts" to "seek out veterans at risk of homelessness," as part of a "welcome campaign" by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki "to end...veterans' homelessness in five years." But Downes said Congress "must do better" in this area than it did in its lame-duck session, when a "bill to give the V.A. $50 million more to address homelessness went nowhere."
     The Casper (WY) Tribune (1/2, O'Sullivan, 25K), meanwhile, noted, "Under VA guidelines, homeless veterans are entitled to free medical care, free dental care and other services, according" to David Allhusen, who is a social worker "for the US Department of Veterans Services in Casper." After pointing out that Allhusen also said VA and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development have agreed to provide housing vouchers for homeless veterans, the Tribune quoted VA public affairs officer William Mitchell, who said his agency is "making sure...veterans are not forgotten."
     VA Program To Fund Services To Vets At Risk Of Becoming Homeless. The Houston, Texas-based Montgomery County Courier (1/2) said VA's Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program, "which seeks to help veterans and families who are on the verge of becoming homeless, has moved closer to implementation." Shinseki "noted the program marks the first time...VA will fund services for the spouses and children of veterans at imminent risk of  

becoming homeless." The Courier added, "Shinseki's comments came as VA formally announced that it is taking applications from private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives interested in providing needed services," such as counseling and child care, to at-risk veterans and their families.

3.      Veterans Urged to Sign Up for Direct Deposits.  USNavySeals.com (12/30) reports that the VA "is urging Veterans to sign up for electronic payment of their benefits, in response to an announcement made by the Department of Treasury regarding the scheduled phase out of paper check for federal benefits." A new Treasury regulation says that paper benefits checks will be phased out by March 2013. Veterans who have not signed up for electronic payment of benefits by that time will receiveda preaid debit card, known as he Direct Express card, issued by Comerica Bank.

4.      Hickenlooper Appoints Agency Chiefs For Health Care, Energy, Veterans.  The Denver Post (1/1, Post, 364K) reports that Gov.-elect John Hickenlooper (D) "announced appointments Friday to head three agencies responsible for health care, energy, and military and veterans affairs." He "announced that Maj. Gen. Michael Edwards will continue as executive director of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Edwards is the state's adjutant general, overseeing Colorado's Army and Air National Guard units." KXRM-TV Colorado Springs, CO (12/31, 8:32 p.m. EDT) and KRDO-TV Colorado Springs, CO (1/1, 8:04 a.m. EST) also report Gen. Edwards' re-appointment.

5.      Michigan Governor Hopes To Name MVA Head In Next Week. WJRT-TV Flint, MI (12/30, Brown, 4:06 p.m. EST) reports that a spokeswoman for Michigan Gov.-elect Rick Snyder (R) says that he hopes to fill the two last remaining Cabinet vacancies, Military and Veterans Affairs and also the Office for the Great Lakes, in the next week.

6.      Prescott Woman Inducted Into Veterans Hall of Fame.  CNBC (12/31) reports on K. Renee Ball, inducted into Arizona's Veterans Hall Of Fame. Looking for a way to give back to other veterans, she used her background in agriculture to create an orchard at the Bob Stump Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Prescott and later to develop a gardening therapy program for veterans in the Community Living Center." An Air Force veteran, Ball also volunteered more than 5,000 hours at the VA Medical Center.

7.      South Gains, Northeast Loses Committee Chairmen.  CQ Weekly (1/3, Vanderbilt) reports, "Nowhere is the change in Congress wrought by the November election more starkly drawn than between two states at opposite ends of the Eastern Seaboard: New York and Florida." New York, which is "largely dominated by Democrats," is down to a "sole Republican committee chairman, Peter T. King of Homeland Security," while Florida, which is "largely dominated...by Republicans," now has three committee chairmen, including Republican US Rep. Jeff Miller at Veterans Affairs. A separate CQ (12/31) listing House committee assignments in the 112th Congress article also noted that Miller will chair the Veterans Affairs panel.

8.      Expansion of HIV Screening Cost-Effective in Reducing Spread of AIDS, Study Shows.  Science Daily (12/31) reports, "An expanded US program of HIV screening and treatment could prevent as many as 212,000 new infections over the next 20 years and prove to be very cost-effective, according to a new study by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers." The researchers found that screening high-risk people annually and low-risk people once in their lifetimes, coupled with treatment of those infected and programs aimed at changing risky behavior, "was a worthwhile and cost-effective approach to help curtail the epidemic." Researchers on the study, the first to use a national model of AIDS transmission to study the impact of increased screening and treatment, came from Yale, Stanford and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.

9.      Military Insurer Denies Coverage Of New Brain Injury Treatment.  USA Today /Military Times (1/2, Tilghman, 1.83M) reported, "Military health officials are refusing to pay" for a cognitive rehabilitation therapy, or CRT, a "costly and time-consuming" traumatic brain injury (TBI) treatment, "despite widespread support for the therapy among doctors and lawmakers." The military, however, has "asked the National Academy of Sciences' Institutes of Medicine to study the effectiveness of CRT in TBI cases and identify specific treatments that may have enough scientific evidence to warrant coverage by Tricare. Officials say that review will be completed by the end of 2011."

10.    Lost Money For Veterans.  The Wall Street Journal (1/2, Glazer, 2.09M) reports on ways that veterans and their families can locate unclaimed life insurance policy proceeds, dividend checks or premium refunds, which the VA holds indefinitely. In addition to checking on the agency's website https://insurance.va.gov/liability/ufsearch.htm, unpaid VA money can be claimed on a toll-free phoneline (1-800-669-8477), or by contacting a VA regional office.

11.    MVisum To Work On Electronic Records Transmission For VA.  The Philadelphia Business Journal (12/30, Key) reports that MVisum Inc. "has been awarded a $721,000 grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs to adapt its secure communications technology for health-care workers to better serve military veterans. The company got the grant through the Veterans Affairs Innovation Initiative, a grant competition launched last June to fund proposals for improving the quality of the services provided by the VA, making them more accessible and reducing their cost."

12.    Questions Raised About Medical Device Testing At Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Bangor (ME) Daily News (12/30) reports that the testing of a bone-growth medical product on military veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, perhaps without their consent, "has raised questions from two US senators. The New York Times reports that Hydrosorb Mesh, manufactured by Medtronics, was used in spinal fusion procedures in 35 patients at the medical center during an 18-month period. A 2004 report authored by Walter Reed physicians and published in 2004 in the journal Neurosurgical Focus found the material, which is FDA-approved for non-weight-bearing bone applications but not for spinal implants, might be 'ideally suited, for spinal use," even though the material has not received approval for weight-bearing uses. Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) "have asked the Army to investigate the study and whether patients were appropriately informed that they were taking part. The three doctors have received payments from Medtronics for consultancy or other services."

13.    First Responders, Rescuers Come Forward With PTSD.  NPR (12/30) reports that rescue and first response workers also have to cope with post-traumatic stress. A writer for Outside magazine, who wrote for the magazine's January issue, says that it has "only recently become apparent that PTSD is rampant among the community of first responders." He adds, "I think now, with the lead that the Veterans Administration has given us in terms of dealing with and talking about this condition, now it's OK for first responders and all other situations to come forward and try to deal with it before it becomes acute."

14.    Soldiers' Families Bearing Brunt Of Deployments.  The New York Times (12/31, Dao, Einhorn, 1.01M) reports, "Nearly 6 in 10 of the troops deployed today are married, and just under half have children. Those families...have borne the brunt of the psychological and emotional strain of deployments," as "siblings and grandparents have become surrogate parents. Spouses have struggled with loneliness and the stress of single parenting. Children have felt confused and abandoned during the long separations. All have felt anxieties about the distant dangers of war." The Times adds that "social scientists are just beginning to document the rippling effects of multiple combat deployments on families -- effects that those families themselves have intimately understood for years." The Times goes on to note a New England Journal of Medicine study on "wives of deployed soldiers" and "a paper published in the journal Pediatrics in late 2009" which "found that children in military families were more likely to report anxiety than children in civilian families."

15.    Medical Research Is Part Of The Military's Combat Mission, Too.  The Washington Post (12/31, Brown, 605K) reports on the growing importance to medical research to the US military, "even during one of the most intense periods of a nine-year war." The Armed Services "are dedicated to saving every life, limb and eye of battle-wounded service members in afghanistan and Iraq," a task that "requires not only skill and energy, but also the capacity to learn from failure and broadcast success." Carolyn Clancy, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, said, "Among the big challenges in medicine is taking up new stuff that works and letting go of the things that don't. My sense is that the military kind of has a handle on both."

16.    Torment's Intensive Carer.  In a front page story, the Philadelphia Inquirer (1/3, A1, Burling, 373K) says that since 2008, approximately "1,000 counselors in the Department of Veterans Affairs have been trained" in how to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with "prolonged exposure," an "imaginal" technique developed by Edna Foa, "one of the world's experts on treating PTSD." While Antonette Zeiss, VA's "deputy chief of mental health services," said "people who've gone through the training love" it, "some worry that prolonged exposure will be too hard on patients." Zeiss acknowledged such concerns, telling the Inquirer that because prolonged exposure is an "emotionally demanding experience," VA is "not going to tell everybody this is the treatment they will do."

17.    Guardsman's Plea For Help To Protect Service Dog Helping Him Cope With Iraq War Injury Labeled Hoax. A syndicated FOX News reports carried on at least half a dozen southeastern stations including KATV-TV Little Rock, AR (12/31, Hawes, 10 11:11 p.m. EDT), reports on a hoax by Steven Woods, a former Arkansas National Guardsman living in Fort Worth, who claimed that he had been injured in Iraq, was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and needed money to protect a service dog being threatened by local authorities. More than $17,000 in donations were received, but on Monday, "a VA spokesman confirmed it shows that Woods never served in Iraq nor anywhere else overseas."

18.    Agent Orange Cleanup To Start At Former US Base In Vietnam. AFP (12/30) reports that Vietnam and the United States "aim to start cleaning up contamination from Agent Orange at a former wartime US base in the middle of next year, the US embassy said Thursday. A memorandum signed between the two sides 'confirms the mutual desire of both governments to cooperate in hopes that cleanup can begin in July 2011 and be completed in October 2013,' the statement said. The agreement covers contamination at the Danang airport in central Vietnam."

19.    Omaha Center Helps Wounded Warriors Recover.  The KETV-TV Omaha, NE (1/2) website reported, "Omaha's Polytrauma Clinic for combat veterans," located at the Veterans Affairs hospital in the same city, is "helping local veterans recover from traumatic brain injuries, and preparing to treat a flood of new patients in the year ahead." After noting that in the "Nebraska-western Iowa area, 100 service members that have returned from combat suffered traumatic brain injuries in 2010, many after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan," KETV said the "Polytrauma Center is preparing for a surge in patients in 2011." Omaha's "VA office told KETV it'll be staffed and ready."

20.    WWII Vets' Kin Getting Own Group.  The San Antonio Express-News (1/1, Huddleston, 165K) reports, "Starting today, a new genealogical society for relatives of World War II veterans will begin accepting applications online. The primary purpose of the new will be to preserve stories of sacrifice and achievement of America's "greatest generation" -- the 16 million men and women who served in the armed services during the war." The new group will be overseen by the Admiral Nimitz Foundation, which also runs the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas.

21.    Kansas City's World War I Museum Seeks To Boost National Profile.  In a story run by at least 18 publications, the AP (1/3) reports, "The National World War I Museum in Kansas City is seeking to enhance its profile so it can raise more money" as the 2018 "centennial of the fighting approaches." The "private, nonprofit association that operates the Liberty Memorial, where the museum is located," has "set ambitious fundraising targets. The association also wants to boost attendance with new attractions and more marketing."

22.    An Anniversary Marred On The Mall. In a letter to the editor of the Washington Post (1/2, 605K), Wisconsin resident Robert Schneider criticized a "uniformed park ranger" for delaying a Battle of the Bulge anniversary ceremony held recently on the National Mall.

23.    Women's Group Gives Back Through Project. In her "Neighbors" column for the Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette (1/3, 22K), Jennifer Kingsley says a support group "called Trust in the Lives of Older Women" recently "crafted table decorations and napkin holders -- 125 in all -- out of recycled materials and donated them to two area organizations – ProAction's Lakeview meal site" and the Veterans Affairs hospital in Bath.

24.    Teen Steadfast In Effort To Thwart Funeral Protests. In his Waterville (ME) Morning Sentinel (1/3, 20K) column, Bill Nemitz says it is "easy to root" for high school student Zach Parker – "and many Mainers are -- as he proposes a federal law that would ban the notorious Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., from using military funerals as the stage for the tiny congregation's protests against all things homosexual." The Portland (ME) Press Herald (1/3, 59K) publishes the same column, under the headline "Teen Activist Dares To Defy Church Protesters."

25.    One Mighty Fine VA. In a letter to the editor of the Alexandria Town Talk (1/2), Louisiana resident Sherry Perkins praised the care her recently deceased father-in-law received at an unnamed Veterans Affairs hospital.

26.    Unclaimed Remains To Be Buried At County Veterans' Cemetery.  The Goshen (NY) Chronicle (1/2) reports, "This past Veteran's Day, New York State announced the passing of a new law regarding the interment of veterans' remains. Under this law, if a funeral home is in possession of the unclaimed remains of a veteran for which they've received no direction regarding delivery or burial of the remains, they may now be relinquished to a veterans' service organization so that they may be appropriately interred as befits their service to our country."