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VA Lawsuit ~ Frank Canfield
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- VA Caregiver Program Update 23 ► CHAMPVA Eligibility
- VA Claims Backlog Update 130 ► AL 2014 CBWG Report Released
- VA Claims Backlog Update 131 ► Death Impact on Claims
- Betty Osborne with a photograph of her late husband
- VA Claims Backlog Update 132 ► Failing VA Officials Gotta Go
- VA Fraud, Waste Abuse ► Reported 15 thru 31 Mar 2014 Philadelphia PA
- VA Loans ► ATR/QM Rule
- Requirement General QM Loans VA Loans
- Gulf War Syndrome Update 27 ► VA Presumptive Conditions Sought
- Traumatic Brain Injury Update 33
- GI Bill Update 170 ► SVA Degree Attainment Study
VA Lawsuit ~ Frank Canfield ► $2M Wrongful Death The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs denies any wrongdoing in the 2011 death of a Massena man at one of its hospitals. Sandra Canfield, as administrator of the estate of her husband, Frank L. Canfield, filed a $2 million wrongful-death lawsuit in January in U.S. District Court, Syracuse, against the United States of America, as operators of the Buffalo Veteran Affairs Medical Center. The suit claims Mr. Canfield was a patient at the hospital July 19, 2011, undergoing open heart surgery. It is alleged that a coronary bypass machine was “connected incorrectly,” specifically “in reverse,” causing Mr. Canfield to suffer a right ventricle tear, resulting in his death. The suit claims, among other things, that the death was a direct cause of hospital employees’ carelessness and negligence and that employees failed to follow proper procedures or protocols regarding the performance of a coronary bypass. It further is claimed that employees failed to properly and adequately follow up on Mr. Canfield’s care so as to timely recognize and respond to damage allegedly caused by the care. The action maintains that Mr. Canfield did not give his informed consent with respect to the course of care and treatment provided to him and that, had he been informed, he would not have agreed to the treatment provided. In a response filed 28 MAR, the department denied each of the claims, additionally arguing the lawsuit was brought too late, or more than the two years’ time limitation required to bring a claim. The department has asked to have the suit dismissed. [Source: Watertown Daily Times | Brian Kelly | 29 Mar 2014 ++] ********************************* VA Caregiver Program Update 23 ► CHAMPVA Eligibility It’s important for family Caregivers of Veterans to take care of their own health while taking care of the Veteran they love! VA offers a comprehensive health care program called the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) for family members of seriously ill or injured Veterans who meet specific criteria including Veterans who are rated permanently and totally disabled for a service-connected disability by VA. In addition, eligible Family Caregivers of eligible post 9/11 Veterans participating in VA’s Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers may also be eligible for CHAMPVA. For more information about CHAMPVA, go to http://www.va.gov/hac/forbeneficiaries/champva/champva.asp. In addition, the Affordable Care Act, also known as the health care law, was created to expand access to affordable health care coverage to all Americans, lower costs, and improve quality and care coordination. Under the health care law, people will have health coverage that meets a minimum standard (called "minimum essential coverage"). The health care law designates CHAMPVA as fulfilling "minimum essential coverage". Note that if you are not eligible for CHAMPVA and are interested in learning more about the Affordable Care Act, the deadline for enrollment for health coverage is March 31, 2014. There is information about the Affordable Care Act at http://www.va.gov/health/aca/. For more information about VA's Caregiver Support Program go to http://www.caregiver.va.gov/ [Source: DVA News release 17 Mar 2014 ++] ********************************* VA Claims Backlog Update 130 ► AL 2014 CBWG Report Released The March 2014 American Legion report of the DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs) Claims Backlog Working Group (CBWG) was recently released. The working group's report focused on three areas of improvement:
The report is available athttp://www.legion.org/documents/pdf/VA_Backlog_Report_(FINAL).pdf. [Source: Military.com article 17 Mar 2014 ++] ********************************* VA Claims Backlog Update 131 ► Death Impact on Claims Betty Osborne could only shake her head when she heard about World War II Marine veteran Millard Sells fighting for nearly two decades to get his veteran’s disability benefits. Sells, now 87, only recently got his disability rating increased after nearly two decades of fighting. He is still trying to get it raised to what he thinks it should be, based on his length of service and his injuries. Osbourne’s late husband, Jesse, who was sent to the South Pacific two times during World War II, died fighting for his benefits. The 85-year-old woman has continued the fight, but unlike Sells, her fight has proven fruitless. “I went to war,” she said of her efforts. “I really went after them.” 
Betty Osborne with a photograph of her late husband She said her husband came from a very patriotic family. His mother died in a Civilian Conservations Corps camp in 1940. After his mother died, she said, Jesse Osborne walked 10 miles to Nashville to enlist. After his final tour in the South Pacific in 1944, he was sent immediately for treatment to the psychiatric unit of a Washington State military hospital. He had post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments. “He was shell shocked,” she said.. “He was really bad.” Her husband, whom she first met when she was 14, wanted to leave the military hospital and return to Tennessee. He was finally discharged on the condition that he seek treatment immediately at the local VA. Though Osborne was immediately granted a 10 per cent disability by the VA, his initial attempts to get those benefits increased were rebuffed. “He was in and out of the hospital, more in than out,” his wife said. “He made sure he kept all his appointments, but he didn’t get better.” Like Sells, Osborne was told at one point that his files couldn’t be located. They had been destroyed in a fire, she was told. She said they kept filing records with the VA’s Nashville office and appeals in Washington, D.C.. With assistance from the Disabled American Veterans, she said his benefits gradually inched up as high as 50 percent. But then the VA began lowering those benefits contending that his condition was not as bad as he had claimed. Her efforts were also set back when the DAV representative assisting them retired. “We tried to get it increased again but they just said no,” she said. “That got me really mad.” After her husband died in 1988, she attempted to get her husband’s benefits transferred to her. But she said they told her that her husband’s benefits were too low for her to get them. They also insisted that his death from a heart attack was not related to his service injuries because he hadn’t been rated as fully disabled. Left with only minimal social security benefits, Osborne said she often had to forego medical treatments. “If I didn’t have the money I just wouldn’t go to the doctor,” she said. “They rejected me over and over and over again,” she said. Betty Osborne said recent stories about a VA employee assigned to the Nashville office to handle claims like hers caught her eye. According to a recent federal report, the employee actually worked for almost two years in Washington, D.C. without proper authorization. “I wondered if he was involved,” Osborne said. VA spokesman Drew Brookie said confidentiality rules barred him from discussing particular cases but added that the agency would be glad to look into specific situations involving an applicant for benefits. He also cited ongoing efforts by the VA to reduce a backlog of pending cases. “We are making real progress to better serve veterans and their survivors, and we know there is more work to do,” Brookie wrote Recent news about the VA has prompted other veterans to wonder if the government really means to pay them. Gary Griffen of Memphis, a Navy veteran who served on a ship enforcing a blockade during the Cuban missile crisis, said his record disappeared. His disability claims for hearing loss and PTSD have been on hold for well over a decade. He said that as guns fired, he was told to put Camel cigarette filters in his ears for protection. “I’ll bet they are trying to outlive me,” he said. (Editor’s Note: On approved claims benefits paid are retroactive to the date of the claim submission. Unfortunately for Mrs. Osbourne and all others in her situation, the law mandates that when a veteran dies the outstanding claim plus any appeal die with the veteran. There is no pending legislation to change this.) [Source: The Tennessean | Walter F. Roche | 17 Mar 2014 ++] ********************************* VA Claims Backlog Update 132 ► Failing VA Officials Gotta Go Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on 26 MAR slammed officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs for failing to reduce the huge disability claims backlog that has plagued the VA, adding that the failure means managers need to be fired or demoted. On the House floor, Boehner said that backlog is nothing short of a black eye for our government. "Reform won't get very far if it's carried out by managers who have proven that they're not up to the job," he said. To help solve the problem, Boehner encouraged all members to support H.R.4031, a bill that would streamline the process of firing or demoting officials at the VA. That bill was introduced back in February, and now has 46 co-sponsors in the House. Boehner said that, so far, VA officials charged with untangling the backlog of thousands of disability claims have only received half-measures or slaps on the wrist. "The principle here is simple: When you're not getting the job done, you gotta go," he said. "At the VA, it's been quite the opposite… The VA is failing our veterans and their families," he said. "It's time we hold these people accountable and get people in there who can fix this backlog once and for all." [Source: The Hill | Pete Kasperowicz | 26 Mar 2014 ++] ******************************** VA Fraud, Waste & Abuse ► Reported 15 thru 31 Mar 2014 Philadelphia PA – Richard M. Gordon, 65, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for conversion of government property. Gordon implemented a scheme to steal from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by using another veteran’s identity to obtain unauthorized healthcare benefits and to receive a VA non-service connected disability pension. For over seven and a half years, defendant Gordon continuously defrauded the VA, and ultimately converted more than $178,000 in government healthcare benefits and pension payments that he knew he was not entitled to receive. Gordon, who reported that he is the founder and director of Veterans Support Group of America, was convicted of conversion of government property after pleading guilty in July 2013. In addition to the prison term, Judge Eduardo C. Robreno also ordered the defendant to serve 3 years of supervised release, and to pay full restitution of $178,607.20. "Mr. Gordon went to great lengths to not only defraud the Department of Veterans Affairs, but to avoid detection," said Jeffrey G. Hughes, Special Agent in Charge of Northeast Field Office of the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs. "The VA Office of Inspector General is committed to bringing Mr. Gordon and other individuals, who take valuable resources away from deserving veterans and their families, to justice. We would like to extend our gratitude to the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS-ICE), and the Dutch International Police for their assistance with this investigation." [Source: DoJ | Press Release | 7 Feb 2014 ++] Copyright 2014 Merced Sun-Star. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ******************************** VA Loans ► ATR/QM Rule Lately, all eyes are on the new mortgage regulations and how will these affect VA loan benefits? Under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the supervision of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a new Ability to Repay and Qualified Mortgage (ATR/QM) Rule has been established. Broken down, to comply with the Ability to Repay portion of the rule, lenders must consider these eight types of information:
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s issued a statement about Qualified Mortgages which said, The rule presumes a lender has met the Ability-to-Repay requirements if the lender makes a Qualified Mortgage, or QM. A QM must meet certain requirements. For example, the loan cannot have certain risky features that harmed consumers during the mortgage crisis. Temporarily, QMs can also be loans that can be bought or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or insured by certain government agencies, such as the Federal Housing Administration." If you're concerned that the ATR/QM Rule has affected your VA loans benefits, don't be. At this time, if a loan is eligible for a VA guaranty, it is a Qualified Mortgage. Borrowers can be assured that the rule hasn't changed VA guidelines. The VA is set to publish its own policy around the new law soon. "VA-approved lenders like iFreedom Direct will carry on with the same sensible underwriting the VA has required for decades," shares Tim Lewis, iFreedom's Special Projects Director and Retired U.S. Army Major. It may be no coincidence that many of the requirements of QM loans closely mimic VA guidelines. The 70-year-old loan program for service members may have set the bar for the ATR/QM Rule. The fact is that VA loans have had one of the best five-year track records for fewest foreclosures compared to any other home loan program. According to a 7 NOV 2013 release by the Mortgage Brokers Association, last year these government-backed loans saw their lowest delinquency rate since 1980. Here's How ATR/QM Rule Compares to VA Guidelines:
What this mean is VA loans comply with the ATR/QM Rule. And, the VA will continue to make sure its guidelines are in line with the new standards. For more information on the ATR/QM rule, go to http://www.consumerfinance.gov/regulatory-implementation. For more information on VA loans, contact an approved lender and/or go to http://benefits.va.gov/homeloans/lenders.asp. [Source: Military.com article Mar 2014 ++] ******************************** Gulf War Syndrome Update 27 ► VA Presumptive Conditions Sought Gulf War veterans should have presumptive conditions associated with their service, including brain and lung cancer and chronic migraines, members of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs wrote in a letter 18 MAR. "As a veteran of the Persian Gulf war, I am keenly aware of issues adversely impacting the health of veterans who served in that theater beginning in 1990," wrote Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) in a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. If a veteran is diagnosed with a presumptive condition, Veterans Affairs is required to assume that it is military-connected, and that the veteran is then entitled to medical or disability benefits associated with the diagnosis. Coffman writes that research has connected brain cancer to the Sarin gas that troops were exposed to when the U.S. Air Force bombed a chemical factory in Khamisiyah, Iraq. Gulf War veterans have been found to have a higher percentage of lung cancer, and migraines are more likely in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, he wrote. If VA decides not to make the conditions presumptive, Coffman wrote, they should explain why. Ron Brown, president of the National Gulf War Resource Center, said he had worked with other veterans' organizations, including the American Legion, to try to get the presumptive conditions approved by VA. "This legislation is long overdue with the science and research that has been done to show these conditions warrant being presumptive for Desert Storm service," Brown said. Gulf War veterans already have presumptive status for chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, gastrointestinal disorders, and undiagnosed illnesses that include weight loss, fatigue, cardiovascular disease, muscle and joint pain, headache, menstrual disorders, neurological and psychological problems, skin conditions, respiratory disorders and sleep disturbances, according to VA. [Source: USA Today | Kelly Kennedy | 18 Mar 2014 ++] ******************************** Traumatic Brain Injury Update 33 ► Pseudobulbar Affect 
This is a laughing matter — but a medical situation that’s the farthest thing from funny for afflicted ex-troops. In a survey of more than 700 veterans who showed signs of traumatic brain injury, 60 percent said they struggle with a little-known, neurological condition that causes them to lapse into uncontrolled fits of laughter or crying, according to a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs survey released 19 MAR. Called pseudobulbar affect (PBA), the condition occurs in some 2 million Americans who have had strokes, brain injuries or been diagnosed with Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s diseases. But the surprisingly high portion of veterans who revealed they, too, experience unwanted bouts of giggles or tears may mean that hundreds of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are grappling with the stigmatizing malady, said a VA brain expert. “That’s probably very accurate,” said Regina McGlinchey, director of the VA’s Translational Research Center for Traumatic Brain Injury and Stress Disorders, based in Boston. She will present the findings Friday at the Tenth World Congress on Brain Injury, in San Francisco. More than 2 million U.S. troops served in the two wars. Between 12 and 23 percent of those men and women sustained TBIs, the VA estimates. “The data suggests over half of these people are having symptoms of PBA. And it really exacerbates their problem with reintegration (into society) and may facilitate greater isolation,” McGlinchey said. “These are veterans and service members who are very proud, very confident, and they’re not going to be out in social situations and not be in control of their emotions. That’s one thing I am extremely concerned about.” Crying jags seem slightly more common than laughing spells. Some people endure both. The frequency and length of the outbursts vary among individuals, McGlinchey said. The VA study was sponsored by Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which markets Nuedexta, a drug specifically approved to treat PBA. There are no known triggers for the emotional eruptions, which often run opposite to what a person is feeling internally, McGlinchey said. That’s one of the most fascinating but also debilitating aspects of PBA because, really, what you’re looking at is a disassociation between someone’s emotional experience in the moment and what their emotional expression is,” she said. “These acts of laughing or crying are completely uncontrollable. They can just happen.” [Source: NBC News | Bill Briggs | 19 Mar 2014 ++] ******************************** GI Bill Update 170 ► SVA Degree Attainment Study A Student Veterans of America (SVA) report combining data on U.S. college degree attainment with information on veterans who have used Montgomery and Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits shows that 51.7 percent have received a postsecondary degree or certificate, a completion rate similar to traditional college students, and greater than other nontraditional students. In recent years, the VA has processed more than 4 million education claims for student veterans. Until now, there has been no tracking of degree completion rates. The just-released report, part of the Million Records Project, an initiative of SVA, measures for the first time how the most recent generation of veterans perform in higher education. Among the study's top findings: Although many take longer than traditional students to graduate, most student veterans complete their initial studies and often earn additional higher level degrees as well. Their delayed time-to-completion is due in large part to the unique challenges facing student veterans who are atypical of traditional college students, including age differences, and sometimes pausing their studies to serve in the military-including going overseas. "Americans have invested substantial dollars in giving our veterans an opportunity to further their education and this report shows many positive signs that they are doing just that," said Wayne Robinson, SVA president and CEO. "The majority of student veterans accessing their GI Bill benefits are completing degrees and showing unparalleled determination to do so, despite many unique barriers. A single deployment can interrupt a student veteran's education for at least 9 to 13 months, but they're returning to the classroom and completing." For this first phase of the Million Records Project, SVA partnered with VA and the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to match two sets of data: a randomly selected sample of approximately 1 million Montgomery and Post-9/11 GI Bill veteran education beneficiary records from 2002 to 2010, and U.S. student postsecondary enrollment and completion records collected by the NSC. VA and the NSC removed all personal and institutional identifying information, and duplicates caused by students accessing more than one education benefit. A total of 788,915 records were analyzed, representing approximately 22 percent of the student veteran population receiving GI Bill benefits for that period. Google, The Kresge Foundation, Lumina Foundation and Raytheon awarded SVA more than $2.2 million in grants to support the project. The report shows the majority of students complete a bachelor's degree within four to six years; associate degrees within four. Unsurprisingly, many of these veterans do not typically follow the path of traditional college students. Some enroll in college after high school graduation, withdraw to join the military, and then re-enroll after military service. Other veterans enroll in postsecondary institutions after they complete their military service; still others earn college credit before, during and after military service but may need to repeat some coursework that was lost due to deployments. A breakdown of the data shows:
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