Dunedin-Palm Harbor Post 2550-Newsletter

by Way Paver

Public Law 111-137 — the Veterans Emergency Care Fairness Act of 2009 — enacted on February 1, will reimburse a veteran enrolled in the VA’s health care system for emergency health care.

The law allows VA reimbursement for the cost of emergency treatment at a non-VA facility if the veteran has outside insurance that covers only part of the cost.  That means that veterans enrolled in the VA system will have no longer have out-of-pocket expense for emergency health care.   Previously, the VA could reimburse veterans or pay outside hospitals directly, only if a veteran had no outside health insurance.

The law also allows retroactive payments to veterans who had such care prior to the going into effect.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates the law will cover around 700 future claims and some 2000 eligible veterans retroactively.

See your Post Service Officer for assistance.  

by Way Paver

The Veterans of Foreign Wars, in conjunction with the Wounded Warrior Regiment at Quantico, VA, has agreed to provide a new level of service to recently discharged Wounded Warriors.

Any former Marine who has a claim pending at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or wants to file a claim with VA will be referred to a VFW service officer near them who will be happy to discuss their claim and how to obtain the most correct decisions possible from VA.
See your Post Service Officer for assistance.

by Way Paver

The number of Veterans homeless on a typical night dropped 18 percent as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) entered the second year of its campaign to eliminate homelessness among Veterans within five years according to a report by VA’s Community Homeless Assessment Local Education and Networking Groups (CHALENG). A recent VA study of Veterans discharged from VA-funded residential rehabilitation and transitional housing programs indicated that 79 percent remained housed one year after discharge. Information about the CHALENG process and previous CHALENG reports about homelessness are available at VA’s Project CHALENG webpage at http://www1.va.gov/HOMELESS/chaleng.asp.

See your Post Service Officer for assistance.

by Way Paver

The Department of Veterans Affairs is allocating $39 million to fund about 2,200 new transitional housing beds through grants to local providers. About $24 million in grants are available to renovate or rehabilitate space to create about 1,000 transitional housing beds. The grants put a priority upon housing for homeless women and housing on tribal lands. A second group of grants, valued at about $15 million, is expected to fund about 1,200 new beds for homeless providers who already have suitable transitional housing. For more information on the grants, visit VA’s Homeless Veterans webpage at www.va.gov/homeless or contact VA’s program office at 1-877-332-0334.
See your Post Service Officer for assistance.

Kansas City, Missouri

Abigail Barnard is the winner of the $10,000 North End Post 144, Paul A. Spera Past Commander-in-Chief Award U.S. Savings Bond for writing the First Place winning essay in the organization’s National Patriot’s Pen Competition. Abigail is an 8th grade student. Abigail was sponsored by VFW Post 7385, Mesquite, Nevada.

First place winner received her savings bond and a trophy during a special luncheon in Washington, D.C. on March 7, 2010.

For more information on VFW Scholarship Programs contact your local VFW Post.

 Kansas City, Missouri

 The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Ladies Auxiliary sponsors the Voice of Democracy audio-essay scholarship competition. The program just finished its 63rd year and requires high school student entrants to write and record a three to five minute essay on an announced patriotic theme. “Does America Still Have Heroes?” was the theme for 2009-2010. All national scholarships totaled $149,000.

Madison Mullen, a senior at Olentangy Liberty High School has been named the first place winner in the 2010 National Voice of Democracy Program and recipient of the $30,000 first place VFW T.C. Selman Memorial Scholarship Award provided by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Madison plans a career in law and she was sponsored by VFW Post 3297 and Ladies Auxiliary in Delaware, Ohio.

For more information on VFW Scholarship Programs contact your local VFW Post.  

Each year military retirement pay is adjusted to meet the increased cost of living. This Cost-of-Living-Adjustment (COLA) varies from year to year based on the previous year’s Consumer Price Index (CPI).

2010 Update: The CPI dipped below 4 percent in the first two quarters of FY2009 and was still in negative numbers at the end of the fiscal year. Due to the negative CPI in FY2009 there will be no COLA increase for retirees in 2010.

Note: The annual Cost-of-Living-Adjustment is NOT in anyway related to the annual military pay raise for active duty and reserve servicemembers.

See your Service Officer for assistance.

The Social Security Administration (SSI) is no longer considering combat-related military pay in determining whether spouses and children of servicemembers are eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The Social Security Administration also will not consider retroactive payments of certain military pay as resources for nine months following receipt. This change in the rules protects spouses and children of servicemembers serving in a combat zone from a reduction in or loss of benefits due to combat-related military pay. For more information, visit the Social Security Administration website at http://www.ssa.gov/.

See your Service Officer for assistance.

by Way Paver

Four members of the U.S. Navy were immortalized on postage stamps during the First-Day-of-Issue dedication ceremony at the United States Navy Memorial in Washington, D. C., on February 4, 2010.  The four sailors featured in the “Distinguished Sailors” Collection are William S. Sims, Arleigh A. Burke, John McCloy and Doris Miller.

Sims (1858-1936) helped modernize the Navy and was commander of U.S. Navy forces in Europe, during WWI. Burke (1901-1996) served as a destroyer squadron commander in the Pacific during WWII and played an important role in Navy modernization during the Cold War era.  McCloy (1876-1945) was one of a select few in American history to be awarded two Medals of Honor and a Navy Cross for separate acts of heroism.  Miller (1919-1943) was an American hero of WWII and an inspiration for his actions at Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941.