Legal Help for Veterans blog.
Claims Processing, News and Press, Veterans Law
Following the Supreme Court’s June 26 ruling that legalized gay marriage in all 50 states, same-sex couples will now be able to receive veterans pensions, medical services, home loan guarantees and other benefits, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials announced on June 29. The VA said that same-sex couples with military ties will be […]
READ MORE
News and Press, Veterans Law
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is battling a budget crisis and accusations of mismanagement after an unfinished veterans hospital in Aurora, Colorado, has gone more than $1 billion over its original budget of $328 million. The VA developed a plan a decade ago for the medical center to replace old, congested facilities for […]
READ MORE
News and Press, Veterans Law
The federal government will disburse $1.6 million to Michigan housing authorities and VA medical centers in an effort to fight homelessness among Michigan veterans. The bulk of the funding – just under $1 million – will go to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center, located in Detroit. […]
READ MORE
News and Press, Veterans Law
A simple rule change by the Department of Veterans Affairs resulted in a roughly 100 percent increase in the number of veterans eligible for the Veterans Choice Program. The Veterans Choice Program allows eligible veterans to receive health care outside the VA system. One of the criteria for eligibility is living more than 40 miles […]
READ MORE
News and Press, Veterans Law
Michigan state Sen. David Knezek, D-Dearborn Heights, has introduced bipartisan legislation that is designed to protect military veterans with service dogs from discrimination. Under the four-bill package, current statutes on service dogs for the blind, hearing impaired or physically disabled would be expanded to include protections for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries […]
READ MORE
Medical Issues / Disability, News and Press, Veterans Law
Nearly 100 veterans and their family members attended a community forum last week to get information on the effects of exposure to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. From the 1950s to 1987, some 750,000 people were exposed to polluted drinking water, which contained harmful chemicals from spills, a dump site on the […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, News and Press, Veterans Law
Kristina Derro Veteran Advocate The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) filed a join lawsuit on May 6 against the VA to force it to change its submission procedure for new claims. The procedure, says the VFW, was created solely to benefit the VA and not veterans. The primary issue […]
READ MORE
Medical Issues / Disability, News and Press, Veterans Law
We want to thank the Blue Water Navy Awareness group for sharing with us two critical pieces of legislation that were recently introduced in Congress. The pair of bills relate to Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and their ability to get service-connected disability benefits for diseases associated with Agent Orange and other herbicides used during […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, News and Press, Veterans Law
The Department of Veterans Affairs picked up another notch on their belt of scandals and mishaps earlier this month. USA Today recently reported that the VA has not publicly released the findings of 140 health care investigations going back to 2006. And so more problems for our veterans continued to fester without proper oversight, leaving […]
READ MORE
Claims Processing, News and Press, Veterans Law
After several reports on the horrendous customer service of the Department of Veterans Affairs toward veterans in 2014, the VA is now celebrating some “good news” on that front for 2015: VA officials have settled on a single map of the United States. Pop the Champagne for bureaucratic progress! It should be noted, the Department […]
READ MORE