BURLINGTON VETERANS' NEWSLETTERS

Bob Hogan, Director of Veterans' Services

Town Hall, Burlington, Massachusetts     781 270-1960

Spring 2005

Thank you for your service to your country.

30 th Anniversary Remembrance Party for end of our involvement in Vietnam

There will be a Remembrance-Welcome Home Party to acknowledge the 30^th Anniversary of the end of our involvement in the War in Vietnam. The pictures we all remember of those last helicopter rising from the rooftops leaving Vietnam for the last time on April 30^th 1975, are almost as famous as any military photograph in existence. Join us at the Burlington American Legion Hall on April 30^th from 7pm to 11pm. There will be a buffet dinner, music for dancing, a few special guests and recognition for every Vietnam Veteran in attendance. Join us and bring a quest.

One special guest will be Massachusetts Secretary of Veterans Services Tom Kelley. Secretary Kelley is the only Massachusetts Vietnam Veteran resident still alive who was awarded the Medal of Honor. Tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased from the Burlington Office of Veterans Services or the American Legion.

Congressional Committees Vote to Impose Enrollment Fees for Some Veterans

Both the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees have voted to impose an enrollment fee of at least $230 on some veterans. The enrollment fee will apply to priority categories 7 and 8 veterans

The House Veterans Affairs Committee, chaired by Congressman Steve Buyer, R-Ind, voted to set the enrollment fee at $230 for category 7 veterans, matching the enrollment fee of under 65 military retirees using TRICARE Prime. For category 8 veterans, Congressman Buyer proposed a sliding scale fee of $230 to $500 based on income. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee voted to set the enrollment fee at $250.

Both HVAC and SVAC voted to reject to the President's budget proposal to raise co-payments on VA filled prescriptions for category 7 and 8 veterans.

Veterans Services Web Page

The Burlington Office of Veterans Services wants to remind all veterans, families and active duty personnel about our Veterans Web Page, (www.veteransinfo.net) that all veterans can access and utilize.  By going onto the site, you will have access to all the information any veteran or active duty member of the military, reserves and National Guard could want. There is complete coverage of all federal benefits through the Veterans Administration, as well as all the state benefits from the Massachusetts Office of Veterans Services. Tricare has it’s own link here, and links to many active duty branches of service, as well as veterans sites.

The link will have the newsletter, monthly history articles and updated press releases. With this new technology, it is important that we keep up with it, in order to provide as much information as is possible.

Certain Veterans denied VA Benefits

            Each year the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines which priority groups will be enrolled in the VA Health care System. In order to ensure the VA’s ability to provide already enrolled veterans timely access to health care services, the Secretary has made a decision to suspend enrolling new applicants in priority Group 8.

            Unless you meet the financial means test or have a Purple Heart, are a former POW, or have a service connected disability, the VA will deny you enrollment for health care. Veterans are still urged to apply and to get their application on file in case things change for them, or for the VA. It is also important for veterans who are displeased that some veterans are being denied to write to their congressman and to the VA and complain.

Recently Discharged Veterans

            Recently discharged veterans who served in combat locations can receive health care for conditions potentially related to their service for two years after their release from active duty. If you believe you qualify for this enhanced benefit, please contact the Enrollment Coordinator at the Bedford VA Hospital by calling 781-275-7500. You can also get information by going tour web page at www.veteransinfo.net and click on the federal VA page.

VA To Grant Benefits To More Vietnam Veterans

Based upon a recently released review of scientific studies, former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi has decided to extend benefits to Vietnam Veterans with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). “Compelling evidence has emerged within the scientific community that exposure to herbicides such as Agent Orange is associated with CLL,” Principi said. “I’m exercising my legal authority to ensure the full range of VA benefits is available to Vietnam veterans with CLL.”

The ruling means that veterans with CLL who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War don’t have to prove that illness is related to their military service to qualify for Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation.  Additionally, for more than 20 years, VA has offered special access to medical care to Vietnam veterans with any health problems that may have resulted from Agent Orange exposure, and this decision will ensure higher-priority access to care in the future.

The decision to provide compensation was based upon a recent report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) that found among scientific studies “sufficient evidence of an association" between exposure to herbicides during the Vietnam War and CLL.

Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC)

vs.

Concurrent Retirement and Disability Payment (CRDP)

CRSC is for retirees who have a VA disability as service connected at 10% or greater resulting from combat, combat training, simulated war exercises, Agent Orange or radiation exposure. The veteran/retiree must apply for this benefit because each service branch must confirm that the disability is combat related.

CRDP is different in that retirees with 20 years of service and a 50% service connected disability or greater from the VA do not have to apply for this benefit, because you should have already started receiving the benefits. You do not need to be service connected for combat with this benefit.

An individual who is eligible for both the CRSC (nontaxable) and the CRDP (taxable) will have to choose which one is best for them.  More information can be obtained by going to our web page, www.veteransinfo.net.

Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) Offset

The recently passed FY2005 National Defense Appropriations Act contains a provision to gradually eliminate the offset to SBP annuities for survivors at age 62, over a period of 3 ˝ years. SBP provides an annuity of 55% of the base amount paid to survivors of a retiree participating in the program. Effective October 2005, those receiving 35% of the base amount will see an increase to 40%. It will increase to 45% in April 2006, to 50% in April 2007, and 55% in April 2008. Those who have been paying the Supplemental SBP will see a gradual decrease and eventual elimination of the extra premium.

Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery

We want to remind veterans about the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial cemetery in Winchendon Massachusetts. The requirements are the same as the federal VA Cemetery in Bourne Massachusetts, except you can pre-register for the state cemetery. You cannot choose a location, but the registration can be in place prior to the veterans death.

There is no fee for the veteran, but the spouse, if s/he is buried with the veteran, there will be a fee of up to $300 for a casket burial. Burials are Monday – Friday, with no burials on the weekends. They offer full casket burials, in ground cremains or a Columbarium Wall cremains, which is above ground. For more information contact Bob Hogan at 781-270-1960.

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library

In honor of your service to this great country, the JFK Library and Museum extends a special invitation to you as veterans, with free admission to the Museum and Library from Armed Forces Day, May 21, 2005 until Independence Day, July 4, 2005. This is a special anniversary year marking the 60^th anniversary of the end of WW-2 with a special exhibit on John F. Kennedy’s Military service to the United States of America.

Included in the exhibit are Kennedy’s own scrapbook of snapshots with his young comrades in arms, an actual logbook of the PT 109, Kennedy’s Navy uniform, the coconut shell on which he scratched his famous message, framed photos and many other documents.

Page Revised: December 29, 2005