Veterans Report - Week of October 20, 2014

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Veterans Report - Week of October 20, 2014

VA Processes Over 1 Million Claims
More than 1.3 million Veterans received decisions on their Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation and pension claims in fiscal year (FY) 2014 -- the highest number in VA's history, surpassing last year's record-breaking production by more than 150,000 claims. At the end of the 2013, the disability claims backlog (defined as any disability claim pending longer than 125 days) was reduced by 60-percent from the peak backlog in March, 2013 and is now at its lowest number in nearly 4 years. Veterans waited, on average, 119 fewer days for a decision on their claim than Veterans did in FY 2013. VA is on target to hit its 2015 goal. For more information on VA's Transformation, benefits and programs, visit the Veterans Benefits Administration website at (http://www.benefits.va.gov/) www.benefits.va.gov, VA's eBenefits website at (http://www.ebenefits.va.gov/) www.ebenefits.va.gov and VA's Fully Developed Claims webpage at (http://www.benefits.va.gov/fdc) www.benefits.va.gov/fdc.
For more veterans benefits info and updates, visit the (http://militaryadvantage.military.com) Military Advantage blog.


Buy or Refi with $0 Down, No PMI, and Low Rates
Now is the time to use your VA Loan. You don't have to pay PMI or have a large down payment. Plus you can get financing up to $417,000. (https://secure.military.com/leads/VALoa ... rvr1020.nl) Use your VA Loan Benefit today.
(http://www.military.com/money/va-loans?ESRC=mrvr1020.nl) Want more information about this great benefit?


Parks Offer Free Tickets
As Veterans Day approaches, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment(TM) is launching a special offer to honor all the men and women who have previously served as members of the U.S. Armed services. The "Waves of Honor" salute to veterans offers 50 percent off single-day admission to the SeaWorld(R) and Busch Gardens(R) Parks, and Sesame Place(R) for veterans, and as many as five guests. Qualified service members and veterans include active duty, retired, honorably separated officers and enlisted personnel of the U.S. Military. Tickets must be purchased by November 11 (Veterans Day), 2014 and redeemed by December 21, 2014. Qualified U.S. service members and veterans must purchase discounted tickets in advance or at participating military bases. Proof of service required. For more on this discount, visit the (http://www.military.com/discounts/seawo ... y-discount) Military.com Discount Center.


Teach for America Wants Veterans
Teach For America, the nonprofit organization that sends recent college graduates and professionals to teaching positions at low-income schools, wants to enlist military veterans into its ranks. The organization helps its "corps members" earn teaching certifications in exchange for a two-year teaching commitment. Participants who go on to become TFA alumni have access to additional resources such as leadership training and job opportunities provided by TFA and its vast network of alumni. For more information, visit the (http://www.teachforamerica.org/our-orga ... initiative) Teach For America website.
For more veteran job news, job postings and transition advice, visit the (http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs) Military.com Veteran Jobs Center.


Save Up to 66% on TRICARE Costs
Save on the out of pocket costs that TRICARE doesn't cover. (http://offers.military.com/i/tricare/in ... rvr1020.nl) Save now.


AUSA: News and Video Highlights
Soldiers and defense industry officials gathered in Washington D.C. last week for the Association of the U.S. Army's 2014 Annual Meeting. In addition to displays of new technologies available to the Army, talk focused on the future of the Army given current budget woes, and the Army's ongoing role in global conflicts and humanitarian missions. For news and video highlights from the conference, visit (http://www.military.com/topics/ausa-ass ... tates-army) Military.com's AUSA page.


Military Career Fair in DC
A complimentary career fair for all officers, enlisted, active duty, retired, former and National Guard/Reserve servicemembers and their spouses and government employees will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (pre-career fair seminars begin at 8 a.m.) Tuesday, Oct. 28 at the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel, 900 S. Orme St., Arlington, VA 22204. The career fair is hosted by the (http://www.moaa.org) Military Officers Association of America (MOAA).
Contact (http://www.moaa.org) Military Officers Association of America for more details.


Military.com and "Fury"
"Fury," the new David Ayer movie about the 2nd Armored Division's mission behind enemy lines in World War II, is in theatres now, and Military.com was recently at Ft. Benning to interview Ayer, star Brad Pitt, and other members of the cast about recreating the raw combat of that era. For the complete interviews and more about the film, visit (http://undertheradar.military.com/2014/ ... t-benning/) Military.com's Under the Radar blog.


VA Telehealth Services
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced that its national telehealth programs served more than 690,000 Veterans during fiscal year 2014. That total represents approximately 12 percent of the overall veteran population enrolled for VA healthcare, and accounted for more than 2 million telehealth visits. Of that number, approximately 55 percent were veterans living in rural areas with limited access to VA healthcare. With more veterans seeking health care, telehealth is rapidly becoming an attractive option, especially for those veterans who do not have a VA health care facility close to home. For more information about VA's telehealth program, visit the VA Telehealth Services website at (http://www.telehealth.va.gov/) www.telehealth.va.gov.
For more veterans benefits info and updates, visit the (http://militaryadvantage.military.com) Military Advantage blog.


Start Your Sales Career at Combined Insurance
As a leader in supplemental insurance, Combined Insurance offers rewarding sales careers for veteran employees and provides the tools needed for a successful transition into a new civilian career. Combined Insurance is looking for outgoing, goal-oriented individuals to join their sales team in both agent and field management roles. (http://www.military.com/veteran-employe ... =vr1020.nl) Read more.


What is Continuing Resolution and Why is it Necessary?
The term "continuing resolution" is one that you hear more and more in recent years in conjunction with legislative news. Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) has received questions about what the term means and why it has become a regular feature of the legislative process. Despite its ubiquity in modern times, the legislative procedure is not a new invention. Read more about it on MOAA's Battle of the Bilge blog: (http://www.moaa.org/MRCR) www.moaa.org/MRCR.


GI Film Collection Available
The GI Film Group (GIFG), producers of the award-winning GI Film Festival, have announced the launch of the GIFF Movies website at (http://www.giffmovies.com/) www.giffmovies.com, a community screening platform that will provide organizations and screening venues across the country easy and affordable access to an exclusive collection of "Best of the GI Film Festival" films and select military movies, just in time for Veterans Day celebrations. Visitors to the website can select films in the collection to screen for their audiences by purchasing the appropriate screening license through the Tugg platform. To browse Tugg's current community screening library, visit (http://licenses.tugg.com/) this site. To learn more about how Tugg's community screening platform works, visit the (http://resources.tugg.com/school/) Tugg School website. For more information about GIFG and the GI Film Festival, visit the GI Film Festival website at (http://www.gifilmfestival.com/) www.gifilmfestival.com.
For more military videos, visit the (http://www.military.com/video) Military.com Video Center.


Beware of Medicare Scammers
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports that some scammers claimed to be calling on behalf of the government to verify information for a new Medicare card or Medicare-related package. In fact, it was a ruse to get people's bank account information to make unauthorized withdrawals from their accounts. The callers said they needed to verify people's identities using information that included the consumers' bank account numbers. According to the FTC, the scammers told people that their information would not be used to debit their bank accounts and that there was no charge for their services. But the FTC alleges that was a lie as bank accounts were debited for $400 or more within a couple of months. Never give out your bank account information to someone who contacts you over the phone.
For more on credit and debt, and personal finance tips, visit the (http://www.military.com/money) Military.com Money section.


$300k Coverage: As Little as $21 a Month
Protection for less. Get $300k Coverage from as little as $21 a month. (http://www.military.com/insurance/?lpid ... rvr1020.nl) Could your family survive if something happened to you?


Register Now for the Free Spouse Experience Event at Fort Bragg
Join us for the free Military.com Spouse Experience event at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on Thursday, October 30th from 10am to 2pm. This event is an opportunity for all military spouses to get together, learn from each other, share the joys and challenges of military life, and laugh at the inevitable and incredible "oops" moments that all milspouses have. (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-milita ... rvr1020.nl) Register today.


Some Seek to Rename PTSD
Physicians Eugene Lipov, M.D. (developer of Stellate Ganglion Block for treatment of PTSD) and Frank Ochberg, M.D. Of East Lansing, Mich. agree that the word "disorder," when associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), completely misses the mark because the condition is medically and technically a biological phenomenon. In recent years, Dr. Ochberg has led a movement to drop "disorder" and replace it with "injury," essentially rebranding the acronym as Post-Traumatic Stress Injury (PTSI). Dr. Lipov, along with U.S. military physicians at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, were able to demonstrate that a biologic effect of numbing the nerves in the neck via a sympathetic ganglion block treatment appears to reboot the brain to a pre-trauma state with a 72-percent success rate. The results were published in the October 2014 edition of (http://publications.amsus.org/doi/abs/1 ... D-14-00151) AMSUS, Military Medicine's International Journal.
For mental health guides and tips, visit the (http://www.military.com/benefits/vetera ... d-wellness) Military.com Mental Health and Wellness section.


Entrepreneurship for Veterans
The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) hosted by the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration (SHA), offers cutting-edge, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small-business management to soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who were disabled as a result of their service to the country in post-9/11 wars. EBV is entirely free to disabled veterans and does not require them to use any benefits. They start with an online course in business and entrepreneurship followed by a residency on the Cornell campus where they take classes. They are then given one year of continued support and mentoring as they launch their businesses. Cornell's program is one of eight offered by a consortium of colleges and universities across the country. It is the first EBV program to offer training focused on hospitality management. For more information, visit the (https://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/ind ... vents/ebv/) Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans With Disabilities website.
For more veteran job news, job postings and transition advice, visit the (http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs) Military.com Veteran Jobs Center.


VA 'Choice Card': Uncertainties Swirl as Deadline Nears
Congress last August gave the Department of Veteran Affairs 90 days to issue medical "Choice Cards" to 9.1 million veterans enrolled in VA care. The tight deadline of Nov. 5 won't be met, say representatives of major veteran organizations who attend periodic VA briefings on plans for rollout of the Choice Card. The card will ensure veterans have access to private sector health care if they reside more than 40 miles from a VA clinic or hospital, or if they face unacceptable waits, usually longer than 30 days, to access VA healthcare. The simple guarantee, centerpiece of the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014, is not so simple to deliver, at least in 90 days. For more details, see (http://militaryadvantage.military.com/2 ... ine-nears/) this Military.com article.


What to do When Voc-Rehab Says No
The VA has taken a stronger stance on meeting veteran's needs, but some may continue to find the path to getting tuition approval difficult. There are some concrete ways to help get the help you need. Author and lawyer Ben Krause has developed four strategies to help. (http://militaryadvantage.military.com/2 ... y-tuition/) Read Ben's latest column on the Military Advantage.


VA Reduces Infections
A Department of Veterans Affairs initiative targeting the potentially life-threatening staph infection methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitalized patients has produced significant positive results, according to recent statistics released by VA. VA's prevention practices consist of patient screening programs for MRSA, contact precautions for hospitalized patients found to have MRSA, and hand hygiene reminders with readily available hand sanitizer stations placed throughout medical centers. Computerized reminders, online training, frequent measurement, and continual feedback to medical staff reinforce such practices. In a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2012 MRSA surveillance report from its (http://www.cdc.gov/abcs/reports-finding ... rsa12.html) Active Bacterial Core surveillance (ABCs), the CDC cites that there were 75,309 cases of invasive MRSA infections and 9,670 deaths due to invasive MRSA in 2012.
For more veterans benefits info and updates, visit the (http://militaryadvantage.military.com) Military Advantage blog.


Marines Postpone Uniform Changes
Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James F. Amos has decided against the proposed insignia modification that would have changed the enlisted rank worn on woodland utilities from black to brushed brass, and against the proposed requirement for all officers to own and wear the Sam Browne belt while in the dress blue uniform. The uniform board had sent out a survey to Marines on these proposed uniform changes. After reviewing the survey results, Amos made his decision not to change the current regulation. Currently there has not been a decision regarding the utility changeover dates. The decision is slated to be revisited in the future.
For more on Marine Corps and other military uniforms, check the (http://www.military.com/join-armed-forc ... guide.html) Military.com Uniform section.


Military Child of the Year Awards
Operation Homefront is seeking nominations for the 2015 Military Child of the Year awards. Parents, grandparents, Scout leaders, teachers, counselors, priests, rabbis, imams, pastors and others can nominate a military child for the honor. Operation Homefront presents the award to an outstanding military child from each branch. The nominees must be the legal dependents of service members and be between 8 and 18 years old. They must be able to travel to Washington, D.C. to receive the award. Nominees selected as finalists must provide letters of recommendation and agree to a background check. Winners receive the award, a $5,000 cash prize and a laptop computer. Nominations close Dec. 12. For more information, visit the Military Child of the Year webpage at (http://www.militarychildoftheyear.org/) www.militarychildoftheyear.org.
For more family support resources, see this (http://www.military.com/spouse/military ... vices.html) Military.com Spouse Channel article.


VA Continues Town Hall Events
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald has directed all Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare and benefits facilities to continue to hold quarterly town-hall events to improve communication with, and hear directly from, Veterans nationwide. This follows the recent completion of town-halls at these facilities held between August and the end of September of this year. Details of events at each location will be forthcoming from local facilities. In addition to Veterans and their families, the quarterly meetings are open to Congressional stakeholders, Veterans Service Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations and other community partners.
For more veterans benefits info and updates, visit the (http://militaryadvantage.military.com) Military Advantage blog.


New Study Looks at Transition
A newly-published survey entitled 'The State of the American Veteran: The Los Angeles County Veterans Study' breaks new ground in detailing the challenges of transitioning from military duty to civilian life. The study found that half the surveyed veterans reported a significant physical or mental health issue for which they are not receiving care, and 45.8 percent of post-9/11 veterans screened positive for depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). More than two-thirds of the veterans surveyed reported difficulties adjusting to civilian life, and not knowing where to go or whom to contact for help. The report is available (http://cir.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2 ... _FPpgs.pdf) online.
For more military transition tips, and to create a customized transition plan, visit the (http://www.military.com/military-transition) Military.com Transition Center.


Toys for Tots
The 2014 U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program recently kicked off its annual campaign to collect new, unwrapped toys for the less fortunate children of local communities. The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens. Those wishing to contribute can donate a toy valued at $15 or less in a local Toys for Tots bin. Since its inception in 1947, the Toys for Tots national campaign distributed 476 million toys to 223 million less fortunate children. For more information, and to find a drop-off bin in your area, visit the Toys for Tots website at (http://www.toysfortots.org/) www.toysfortots.org.
For more family support resources, see this (http://www.military.com/spouse/military ... vices.html) Military.com Spouse Channel article.