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Department Service Office Business Hours: The Department Service Office will be open each Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM until 4:00 PM. Appointments are not necessary for visits. You may contact the Department Service Office by calling (603) 222-5784, faxing (603) 222-5787; or by using the following e-mail address: Gary.Wayman@VBA.VA.GOV.

assisting veterans with healthcare cost: For veterans struggling financially due to a job loss or decreased income, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers an assortment of programs that can relieve the costs of health care or provide care at no cost.

Veterans whose previous income was ruled too high for VA health care may be able to enter the VA system based upon a hardship if their current year's income is projected to fall below federal income thresholds due to a job loss, separation from service or some other financial setback.

Veterans determined eligible due to hardship can avoid co-pays applied to higher-income veterans.

Qualifying veterans may be eligible for enrollment and receive health care at no cost.

Also eligible for no-cost VA care are most veterans who recently returned from a combat zone.

They are entitled to five years of free VA care. The five-year "clock" begins with their discharge from the military, not their departure from the combat zone.

Each VA medical center across the country has an enrollment coordinator available to provide veterans information about these programs.

Veterans may also contact VA's Health Benefits Service Center at 1-877-222 VETS (8387) or visit the VA health eligibility website at http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility.

Department of veterans’s affairs (VA) addresses month of death discrepencis: WASHINGTON, DC—In mid December, 2008, Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Senator Daniel Akaka, sent a letter to VA Secretary James Peake questioning the implementation of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy with regards to surviving spouses of veterans and the payment of benefits during the veterans’ “month of death”. Senator Akaka expressed concerns that because of an apparent glitch in VA systems, widows may have been denied millions of dollars in benefits over the last twelve years.

In 1996, the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act (PL 104-275) gave veterans' spouses the right to keep their partners' final month of benefits. It instructed VA to make changes as needed to comply with the law, which took effect for spouses of veterans who died after Dec. 31, 1996. What appears to be the problematic part is that VA’s system was never updated. As a result many surviving spouses were either denied the final month of payment or asked to send the checks back. In many cases, if the checks were already deposited or spent, the U.S. Treasury moved to seize the money directly from their accounts.

Brad Mayes, Director of Compensation and Pension Service (C&P), stated that VA had been working with Akaka’s office on this issue, and will continue to do so. He further stated that VA is presently stepping up their outreach to reach spouses who may have been affected by this VA oversight, and to ensure that they receive the proper benefits due to them. VA is providing a fully staffed phone call center, reachable at 1-800-827-1000, to attempt to rectify the situation for those affected. Surviving spouses can call the number and VA will immediately begin the process of checking to ensure eligibility and delivering payments to those who need it.

As the automated system was apparently not changed when the changes went into place in 1996, VA is fighting through a backlog of information to determine who has been denied benefits over a 12 year period. This is made even more difficult by the fact 2 that VA is in the process of shifting data collection and storage to a “virtual VA” mode through “paperless” initiatives such as VETSNET.

VA has asked Veterans’ Service Organizations (VSOs) to reach out to their constituencies and help those affected by this situation to make contact with VA and begin the process of receiving the compensation that they are entitled to. Any surviving spouses who feel that they may have been affected by this error on the part of VA should contact the 1-800-827-1000 phone number as soon as possible. American Legion service officers are also strongly encouraged to check their files for any surviving spouse that may have been adversely impacted by this glitch.

Department of Veterans Affairs Mortgage Assistance: Many borrowers, including veterans, are being hard-hit by recent events unfolding in the nation’s housing and mortgage markets. It is the goal of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to help keep veterans in their homes. To this end, VA has established a toll-free number for veterans seeking assistance with their mortgages.

What VA can do for veterans with VA loans: VA may be able to help avoid foreclosure through counseling and or special financing arrangements.

VA may be able to intercede with the borrower on the veteran’s behalf to pursue options that would allow a veteran to keep his/her home.

What VA can do for a veteran who has a non-VA loan: VA can provide advice/counseling on how to work with their lender to avoid foreclosure.

What VA cannot do: VA cannot provide assistance with non-mortgage related issues (i.e. car payments, credit card debt, etc.).

Veterans in need of mortgage-related assistance should call VA at (877) 827-3702.

Disabled vets: sign up for free online business training: For those service-disabled veterans who are - or plan to be - small-business owners, online training is now available free of charge. Walter Cotton, a veteran and small business expert, has introduced a comprehensive online program on joint-venture development for service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs).

"Government contracting will be one of the few business growth areas within our economy in the near term," Cotton said. "And capable SDVOSBs will be solid investment targets for investors who are seeking a dependable alternative to the volatile financial markets."

Cotton said that SDVOSBs have an advantage in their ability to capture new federal contracting growth for several reasons, including the elimination of capital gains taxes on small business investment, a congressional initiative to allow venture-capital companies to invest directly in small businesses, and the Obama administration's creation of the chief performance officer position.

The course teaches a proven system for joint-venture partner capture. It also explains why private investors are now including SDVOSBs in their investment strategies, and how veteran business owners can capitalize on that trend.

Online courses are scheduled for Jan. 26 and Feb. 2, 9 and 16; seats are limited and will be assigned on a first-come, first served basis. Online registration is available.

. Cotton encourages all who take the course to participate in the SDVOSB continuing education community of practice (known as "The Patriot Report"). Cotton serves as a member of The American Legion Small Business Task Force. He is a pioneer in SDVOSB joint-venturing who provides training for the Legion, Small Business Administration, DoD and contractors such as Lockheed Martin.

Click here: TO REGISTER

traumatic injury servicemembers group life insursance (tsgli) new regulations and program additions effective november 26, 2008 re 38 cfr 9.20: TSGLI was established by Congress in May 2005 to provide monetary assistance to severely injured service members covered under the Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI) program, who suffer a physical loss as a direct result of a serious traumatic injury in order to help the member and his or her family through the resultant treatment and rehabilitation period. This monetary assistance is in the form of one sum payments ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 per traumatic event and the related loss, as defined by a schedule of losses since published for this benefit.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) conducted an extensive review after the first year of the program for its effectiveness and to determine whether it was meeting the intent of Congress. Many of the findings of this review have now been included in these new regulations, effective November 26, 2008. These regulations are now applicable to all qualifying injuries incurred on or after December 1, 2005, the inception date of the TSGLI program, and to those qualifying injuries incurred between October 7, 2001 and November 30, 2005 for injuries directly resulting from Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), a conditional retroactive period previously included in the enabling law (PL 109-13). The new TSGLI regulations provide for the following:

Certification of Eligibility for TSGLI -The definition of “ medical professional “ for purposes of TSGLI certification in an application for these benefits has been broadened to include a “ licensed practitioner of the healing arts acting within the scope of his or her practice “ in order to include a wider range of qualified medical professionals able to certify eligibility.

Injuries Resulting from Medical or Surgical Procedures - The term “traumatic event” is revised to specify such event does not include a medical or surgical procedure in and of itself. An injury directly resulting from either a medical or surgical procedure does not constitute eligibility for TSGLI payments. TSGLI is also not payable if a traumatic injury is caused by diagnostic procedures, or any complications arising from such procedures, by medical or surgical treatment of an illness or disease, or by preventive medical procedures such as inoculations.

TSGLI Coverage Time Limit - Previously, TSGLI loss coverage ceased at midnight on the date of the termination of the member’s duty status in the uniformed services that established eligibility for regular SGLI coverage. TSGLI loss coverage now will cover a qualifying injury occurring prior to midnight on the date of termination, even if the member’s scheduled loss itself does not occur until after the termination date. This revision is due to situations being experienced, such as injuries resulting in amputations with the actual amputation taking place some time after termination of service, where the actual scheduled loss is incurred at a later date from the causative injury.

Controlled Substances - A scheduled loss caused by a traumatic injury resulting from the willful use of a controlled substance as a separate event (e.g. member is a driver in a vehicle accident) legally administered or consumed on the advice of a medical professional (e.g. nurse practitioner), who is legally authorized to provide such a controlled substance, is eligible for TSGLI payment. The previous rule required that a legally authorized medical doctor administer or prescribe the substance.

Schedule of Losses - Generally, for losses listed in CFR 9.20 (f) (1) through (18) payment may be made for multiple losses resulting from a single traumatic event, not to exceed $100,000.

Total and Permanent Loss of Sight -This is now defined as (1) visual acuity in the eye of 20/200 or less with corrective lenses lasting at least 120 days, (2) visual acuity in the eye of greater than 20/200 with corrective lenses and a visual field of 20 degrees or less lasting at least 120 days, or (3) anatomical loss of the eye. The 120 day period is included for the benefit of medical professionals responsible for certification for TSGLI as a benchmark guide in their evaluations.

Total and Permanent Loss of Hearing -The losses for total and permanent loss of hearing in one ear and both ears are being combined with the definition of total and permanent hearing loss to mean an average hearing threshold sensitivity for air conduction of at least 80 decibels, clinically stable and unlikely to improve, and based on hearing measured at 500, 1000 and 2000 Hertz as an objective standard for TSGLI purposes.

Total and Permanent Loss of Speech - This is being defined as organic loss of speech, or the ability to express oneself, both by voice and whisper, through normal organs of speech, notwithstanding the use of an artificial appliance to simulate speech, such loss being clinically stable and unlikely to improve.

Uniplegia - Uniplegia, the complete and irreversible paralysis of one limb of the body, is now added as a qualifying loss for TSGLI payment. The payment for this loss is $50,000 due to the reported similar effect this has with amputation of one hand or foot. A payment for uniplegia cannot be combined with the payments for amputation or limb salvage as the initial payment for uniplegia loss provides payment to the member during the rehabilitation period.

Quadriplegia, Paraplegia, Hemiplegia and Unipegia Definition The definition for these losses is now the total loss of voluntary movement resulting from damage to the spinal cord or associated nerves, or to the brain, that is deemed clinically stable and unlikely to improve.

Burns - TSGLI coverage is expanded from third degree burns or worse to 30% or more of the face or body to second degree burns or worse covering at least 20% of the body or the face, based on recent experience of U.S. Army and VA burn specialist physicians.

Amputation - The phrase “loss of” hand or foot in the Schedule of Losses is now replaced with “amputation of”. Amputation is defined as severance or removal of a limb or part of a limb resulting from trauma or surgery. Further, an amputation above a joint means severance or removal that is closer to the body than the specified joint is. TSGLI coverage is expanded with respect to amputation of part of a limb. For amputation of a thumb, or the other four fingers, at or above the metacarpophalangeal joint, $ 50,000 is payable. For part of the foot, amputation at or above the metatarsophalageal joints on all toes on one foot, $50,000 is payable. For amputation of the big toe, or the other four toes, $25,000 is payable.

Limb Salvage - Limb salvage of an arm or leg is now added to the Schedule of Losses. Limb salvage is defined as a series of operations designed to save an arm or leg with all its associated parts rather than amputate it. This requires a surgeon’s certification that the option of amputation of the limb was a medically justified alternative to salvage, and that the service member chose to pursue salvage. The payment for salvage is $50,000. This addition recognizes the severity of rehabilitation members undergo with the election of a salvage option.

Facial Reconstruction - Facial reconstruction is also a new addition to the Schedule as consultation with medical experts treating OEF/OIF injuries report 20-25% of such occur to the head, face and neck, and often include severe functional losses in basic body functions such as eating, breathing, and vision, even though they may not entail loss of activities of daily living per se. The Schedule of Losses now provides a graduated scale of TSGLI payments for facial reconstruction running from $25,000 to $75,000, based on location and severity of the injury. Relatively minor injuries are, however, excluded.

Coma - Coma is to be defined to mean a state of profound unconsciousness that is measured at a Glasgow Coma Score of 8 or less (a neurological scale based on tests of eye, voice and motor responses). This is to establish an objective method of evaluating a member’s conscious state.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Other Traumatic Injuries (OTI) and Hospitalizations - A $25,000 TSGLI payment is added to the Schedule of Losses for hospitalization due to TBI or OTI injuries if the member’s injury results in 15 consecutive days of inpatient hospitalization. Hospitalization means an inpatient stay at a facility that is accredited by the Joint Commission or its predecessor, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, or accredited or approved by a program of the qualified governmental unit in which such institution is located, if determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to be essentially equivalent, providing diagnostic and therapeutic services, physician care for each patient, and 24 hour registered and licensed nursing services. This is to exclude facilities that do not provide traditional hospital level care, unless as a result of military necessity.

$25,000 TSGLI payments for TBI or OTI hospitalization, and for TBI or OTI causing the inability to perform at least two Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) cannot both be paid. This hospitalization addition to the Schedule allows a member, who may quite likely be unable to properly document his or her inability to perform ADLs in the early stages of the traumatic injury, with another method to establish the consequences of the injury through easily obtainable inpatient hospital records, etc.

Agents for Members Unable to Receive TSGLI Payments Directly - The Secretaries of the Uniformed Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, will develop a process for the designation of a fiduciary or trustee to receive TSGLI payments for members who are medically incapacitated or are experiencing an extended loss of consciousness, as determined by the regulations of the involved service department. For such members who do not have a guardian or agent authorized to act as their legal representative, a trustee may be appointed by the military department involved to receive TSGLI payments, in order to achieve the intent of Congress in providing payment to legally incapacitated members and their families who are so entitled as soon as possible. Military trustees may now apply for and receive TSGLI on behalf of a legally incapacitated member.

A comprehensive overview of TSGLI is available on the web at:

www.insurance.va.gov/sgliSite/TSGLI/TSGLI.htm

Psychological health, tbi outreach center opens: DoD recently opened a 24-hour outreach center to provide information and referrals to military servicemembers, veterans, their families and others with questions about psychological health and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The new center, operated by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE), can be contacted anytime at (866) 966-1020, and by e-mail at resources@dcoeoutreach.org.

"We're providing 24/7 support to assist callers with questions regarding psychological health and traumatic brain injury," said Brig. Gen. Loree K. Sutton, M.D., the center's director. "Getting the best possible information and tools, hassle-free, will empower and strengthen warriors and their families to successfully manage what can be confusing and disturbing circumstances."

The center can address everything from routine requests for information about psychological health and TBI, to questions about symptoms a caller is having, to helping callers find appropriate health-care resources.

DCoE promotes resilience, recovery and reintegration of servicemembers facing psychological health and TBI issues, and works to advance research, education, diagnosis and treatment of these conditions

"If we need to research a question, we'll do the legwork and quickly reconnect with callers," Sutton said. "We welcome feedback on how we can better meet the needs of those we are so privileged to serve."

The DCoE outreach center is staffed by behavioral health consultants and nurses, most with master's degrees. In addition to answering questions, staffers refer callers to contact centers in other parts of DoD, other federal agencies, and outside organizations when appropriate.

The center serves all uniformed services (including reserve and National Guard), veterans and their families.