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VETERANS-FOR-CHANGE VOWS TO WAKE UP CONGRESS AND THE NATION BY EXPOSING THE ENDLESS PSYCHOLOGICAL WAR VETERANS BATTLE – JUST
Written by Barbie Perkins-Cooper/Jim Davis
GARDEN GROVE, CA – The mission of Veterans-for-Change is a simple one and it should be shared with all. According to Jim Davis, the founder of Veterans-for-Change, the mission for Veterans-for-Change is, “To wake up Congress and the President to meet the needs and fulfill the promises made to care for and treat Veterans. As a member of Veterans-For-Change, an expanding vocal group for Veterans rights, benefits, and treatment, I as well as my co-members and veterans nationwide, are extremely upset that the following areas are not being addressed by Congress or the Veterans Affairs adequately or properly.
Veterans-For-Change finds this an outrage and would like to request your consideration to correct and improve the system that has forgotten how to care for Veterans, and how to service their needs. When called to duty, to service America and its freedom, our Veterans stood tall, fought the battle, and now when needing our service the most, the VA ignores, or procrastinates to service their needs. This is a disgrace to all serving in the military.
A) VSO TRAINING: After extensive research, Veterans-For-Change through extensive research nationwide has discovered VSO’s (Veteran Service Officers) are generally trained by the organization they work for however, this training is not uniform amongst the various Veteran Service Organizations.
- This causes delays in claims, appeals, and remands far too countless to track consistently.
- What Congress should do and we very strongly request all of its members to support is to work with the VA to establish a minimum mandatory one-year-training program for all new service officers to be completed with a passing grade prior to being certified to process and handle claims.
- Additionally there should be a minimum mandatory 10-day annual refresher course for all service officers to stay up to speed on program changes and illnesses approved by Congress and the VA so that there are fewer mistakes and fewer veterans turned down for improper training on the part of the VA to their VSO’s, all in order to maintain their certification.
- Fail the recertification, then the VSO is suspended until such time they can pass and/or be required to complete the initial 1 year training program again.
- The VA rules and regulations for each type of claim are far too complex and complicated and no set of application templates for required documents is available to afford the veteran of a speedy claim approval process. In this, the twenty-first century, and the availability of all the technology, research tools, and Internet capability, there should be a way to ‘template’ or build a consistency for the benefit of Veterans. Consistency is the key! While it is true, every case is different, the VSO’s need to be compassionate enough, professional enough, and well trained enough to assist the Veterans without denying, declining, and procrastinating.
B) Eliminating Avoidable Remands: Veterans-for-Change has discovered there are far too many reports of claims being remanded back to the VARO or DRO for various reasons, most in part due to lack of proper documentation, incomplete or improperly completed claims forms.
- This can be eliminated or greatly reduced by putting in place a computerized claims system with all the necessary checks and balances of proper documentation, and all needed information completed properly before the claims processor can move on to the next field or screen and complete the claim application.
- Establishing standards — by setting standards for each type of claim so both the claims processor and the veteran knows what is needed in detail via a “missing document” check list, thereby the ability to report the system could generate and be given to the veteran so there could be no mistakes made thus reducing the number of remands annually as well as the serious backlog.
- Additionally this computer claims system should also be able to access both military and medical records, again reducing labor time in requests and photo copying as well as postage to send out. US Mail is famous for losing the mail, or delivering to an incorrect address. When this happens, the vicious cycle must be repeated. A computer claims system process would be electronic, thus having the ability to track delivery date, and tracking, checking the claim and processing of the claim.
- If members of Congress were to work with the VA and push for this kind of system, the monetary savings on paid staff alone would surely offset the costs involved on a daily basis.
- This electronically computerized process would also reduce the number of claims and appeals now currently pending which are in excess of one million, and steadily growing.
President Barack Obama has said: “We have a sacred trust with those who wear the uniform of the United States of America, a commitment that begins with enlistment and must never end.”
You, as Americans, and politicians of a free society, do have a moral, ethical, and Patriotic obligation to provide benefits and care, regardless of the costs involved! You do have a moral, ethical, and Patriotic obligation to care for those who did the job you failed to do, or the many millions of Americans who chose to escape the effects, physical ailments, illnesses, and emotional wounds of war. Freedom is not free; it comes with a price tag. Veterans paid a gigantic price, emotionally, physically, and psychologically. Only a war veteran can comprehend how that price was paid for in full by our military and war veterans, along with their spouses and children! The price they paid for their devotion to their freedom does not have a monetary amount and it could be considered priceless since the effects of war leave so many emotional and physical scars that cannot be repaired. The price our war veterans paid was distributed in full with blood, sweat and many tears! Veterans-for-Change finds this unforgivable.
Isn’t it about time Congress, the President, and the Veterans Affairs actually stood tall and paid that bill? Isn’t it time to help our wounded warriors, including those who suffer with PTSD, medical care and improperly cleaned or sterilized equipment, and Blue Water Navy Dioxin Exposure, along with the emotional scars, to be compensated?
The actions of Congress and the actions and policies of the VA seem to express so loud and clear that it would have been far better had our men and women not served or died at war than to suffer the denials, the schemes, shenanigans, and the maltreatment provided by the government of the United States. The choice is yours. You must decide.
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Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=7578
Posted by Jim Davis on Jun 27 2009, With 0 Reads, Filed under Benefits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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It is easy to tell just who the SOCIALISTS /COMMUNISTS ARE. They are always against VIOLANCE. The thing is “THERE WOULD BE NO UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IF NOT FOR VIOLANCE” ~~~~~So should you be having desire for CHANGE, go buy a weapon get some friends cook up some explosives and CAUSE CHANGE the old fashion way. THIS IS THE KIND OF CHANGE GOVERNMENT UNDERSTANDS CLEARLY, because their little chicken shit cock sucken ass just donot get the picture. LOOK AT WHAT OUR CONGRESS HAS DONE TO AMERICA AND the sisies are still yapping and not fighting. Just like a flock of chickens clucking about who laid the most eggs. My opinion: FRY THE EGGS. EAT THE CHICKEN. BBQ THE POLITICANS.
Violence isn’t the answer! Not in the USA. Never would be!
The real answer is for those who served this country proudly to stand up and speak out for what they are long over due to receive without question!
To tell every single politician MY VOTE COUNTS and if you can’t do the job properly, don’t count on my vote next election!
Then have the guts to follow thru on that promise!
The 109th and 110th Congress failed to present one single bill for veterans, now we have with the 111th Congress more than 100 bills for veterans!
We’ve already seen a few pass, some are still stalled in committee, some are on the floor for vote. But if veterans, spouses, family members, friends don’t all do their part and contact these idiots and tell them how badly these bills need to pass.
Bottom line it still won’t happen!
Jim: I appriceate your posistion. An you are correct in what you are representating. But 1 Trillion dollars has been thrown out the door to help a SOCIALIST rooted corporate structor of CORPORACRACY. There is no intention to allow any Veteran to get ahead for his service to this country. American Government( this means Congress Senate and all Presidents for the last 20 years) will give over whelming amounts of money to frivilous projects across the u.s. and around the world before “IT” allows one veteran to recive his full allowance wothout placing a minus for all offsets it can discover. The reason for this is “ALL REPRESENTATIVES OF AMERICA DO NOT WANT ANY VETERAN TO RECIEVE MORE THAN “they” ANALIZE AND BELIEVE A VETERAN DESERVES, YET GOVERNMENT ALLOWS FRADUS TO TAKE PLACE AND TAKES AWAY PROPERTY RIGHTS BY ELIMINATING THE HOME STEAD ACT, CHANGING BANKRUPCY RULES TO EXTRACT THE BENIFIT FROM INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS WHILE AT THE SAME TIME SAVING PRIVATE CORPORATIONS FROM FAILURE. Then Government(meaning congress senate and the president) allow monitization of mortages which has brought America to where we are today. I’ve got more. Just ask.
All the more reason why veterans need to become active, speak out, make their voices be heard!
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I say many times there is POWER IN NUMBERS, and trust me the higher the numbers, the more action we will see!
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But… if people sit by while they are stripped of every thing imaginable, then of course nothing will change.
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And if people aren’t happy with those currently in office, come the next election… simple solution, vote them out!
To “Here’s A Response” although you didn’t name names I can only guess by what you have said you mean bush and crew, As they are the ones who started this giveaway to banks and car companies and other undesirables!!!!!
To; the old warent. NO , I AM SAYING ALL POLITICANS ARE CROOKS… CRIMINALS WHO HAVE NOT BEEN CAUGHT. THIS INCLUDES THE LAST 5 PRESIDENTS. FOR AND OLD WARRENT SEEMS THE SYSTEM HAS FOOLED YOU BUT MAYBE YOU LOVE ACORNS ?
Hey, JIM: People have been voting and it is still “BUSINESS AS USUAL” I can tell you this dude, Government is keeping records better than any time in the history of the planet. It is about time to kick some asses, OBAMA has introduced legistation and Congress, just passed it, the legisation I’m talking about revises building codes in every city on every home in America. This is intrusive invasive and done to extract funds in the form of revine from every person in America, and devalue homes (in other words stealing). If in fact your solution is to VOTE, Why has nothing changed? I just don’t think you have a clue as to what that big “C” shape on the floor of the UN stand for, I’ll give you credit for all your efforts to corporate with CORPORACRACY, but do you have any idea just who and what “THEY stand for? An why “IT” is in existance.
Change? yep we are getting change alright,short change.Not only are we getting short changed in having claims delayed,shredded and otherwise forgotten,we are getting short changed by the fact that va doctors,va rating specialists and va medical centers just dont give a damn one way or the other if a veteran gets the proper medical treatment,just move em in and move em out,reminds me of that old theme song on rawhide.
In 1981 I had 2 va doctors,of the 2 one has since lost his medical license for mal practice and the other has not had any license in any state for 10 years.Not only that,but these same 2 doctors completely ignored my report of MST and recently I was told (by the doctor who has no license)that MST was not an issue in 1981.Well I beg your pardon,it was an issue with me,that is why I went to the VA Hospital in the first place back in 1981.My diagnosis? Organic Brain Syndrome and I was prescribed Ritlin and kept in the hospital for 171 days.what a crock of BS.
I thank all of you for your comments on my article, but what I see is more of the same thing I can get at the local VFW bar.
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Lots of blame, lots of finger pointing when we all know it’s the VA and Congress who has created this monster of a mess that needs to be cleaned up badly.
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My point on voting is whether you are comfortable with the current seat holder or not, if they’re NOT supporting veterans issues, then vote them out of office!
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Nationwide 8-9% of voters are Veterans. And that 8-9% can make or break an election win for any politician!
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Trust me in California alone we have two, Senator Boxer and Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez both need to be removed from office and I’m working on a campaign to get them removed!
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But, if veterans don’t speak out and all be heard and continue to accept the Veteran Service Organizations as looking out for them, you’re sadly mistaken! They’ve all had 40+ years to fight for veterans benefits and rights, yet all of you still have to continue to fight the same battle, so this tells me they’re not doing one damn thing for veterans but collecting the membership dues!
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I very strongly encourage everyone to use the CapWiz system at: http://capwiz.com/usdr/home/
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And send out ALL E-Mails listed to your representatives in Congress and I also suggest strongly doing it every two weeks until the bill falls off the list.
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If you have the time, join a veteran’s advocacy group and help them in the fight too! But as long as the majority of veterans sit back and wait to see what does or doesn’t happen, nothing ever will improve or change.
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Last year due to advocacy groups NOT service organizations we saw ALS added to the presumtives list, we saw Amyloidosis added to the presumtives list, now we’re fighting to get Parkinson’s added this year.
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We also fight for better facilities, better treatment not just medical but emotional and physical. We’re also fighting for top of the line equipment to be standard in all facilities and that all medical personnel be of high quality and very professional.
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We’d also like to see that the various VAMC Directors/Administrators are not given the usual slap on the hand or simply moved from one VAMC to another just like the Catholic church has been known to do with their Priest pedophiles. We want them terminated and replaced with highly trained and the best qualified people available.
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Our veterans should not be held hostage to a “budget” they should be receiving the best medical care, facilities and benefits in the world! We have the funds, there’s no doubt.
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So you can all sit back, point fingers, lay blame, but in the end it’s up to the veterans, spouses, family and friends to help push for change and I do mean radical change!
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This year we received the biggest budget ever granted the VA, however my problem with it is that 59% of it is “discretionary” this must be changed! Programs supported, new equipment, this list just goes on and on and on.
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Groups such as Veterans-For-Change can only help by providing the direction and the tools, it’s up to the veterans and their families and friends to use those tools to see that we effect all the changes we need and demand.
Correct, Jim. Veterans have to take the lead not just talk. when i lived in Fla. we formed a veterans colition in our county, each veterans orginazation sent a member to the meeting held once each month. We shared info and suggestions and if a congressman or senator wanted to be elected he better show up at the colition meeting, then if elected do things for veterans.
Getting orginized is just the first step, keeping up the pressure is also good, have the collition members show up at county and state meetings as well. reoprt back to each orginization how each senator or congressman has handled his obligation to veterans, then work to erplace those who don’t.
Just a suggestion, act or be acted upon., Bob Mason, life member: VVA,DAV,VFW, NAUS and American Legion. Not just a veteran, but a suvivior of VA abuse.
Jim, you are quite right. I applaud you in your efforts. I think the problem lies in that the veterans are afraid of rebuttals for speaking out. Today’s society is very quick to label us when we speak the truth about an issue ( homegrown terrroist ). What they fail to realize is that if it wasn’t for us this nation would be run by terroist. Some think it already is. Just as the veterans like to talk so do the congressman. It needs to be mandated that the veterans run their own programs and the civilians support us. I am not talking about those that get these big fat retirement checks and could do a lot more with a lot less, I am talking about those of us that have done with a lot less or without any for so long. We are all suvivors of VA abuse. Isn’t it time we try to do something about it?
On July 14,2009, the Senate committee of Veterans Affairs will met to discuss Women Veteran care at the VA. If you can-come. I will be there