Lawmakers in the Senate are ready to better compensate veterans who have suffered toxic exposures during their time in service.
They have indicated they are prepared to spend nearly $300 billion for veterans with a package that will benefit up to one in every five veterans in America.
Before the package can be sent to the president to be signed into law, it will have to be voted on by the House again.
But lawmakers on the left have already expressed support for the changes, leading people to think that the legislation could be finalized by the July 4 recess.
More details from Roll Call:
The bill would offer new health care and tax-free disability benefits as high as $3,332 a month to as many as 3.5 million veterans at a cost the Congressional Budget Office has pegged at $278.5 billion over 10 years.
Under the legislation, crafted by Senate Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., and ranking member Jerry Moran, R-Kan., the Veterans Affairs Department would consider a veteran with any of 23 conditions — as varied as brain cancer and hypertension — who was deployed to a combat zone during the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan automatically eligible for care at government cost.
By contrast, under current law, the veteran must demonstrate that his or her illness was the result of military service in order to qualify for benefits.
Nobody can deny that countless vets have experienced illnesses as a result of exposure to chemicals during their time in service.
It’s good to see lawmakers finally begin taking steps to address the issues that many of our vets have had inflicted upon them.
Also included in the legislation is an expansion of veterans benefits for the following groups:
- Vets who were exposed to radiation during the Cold War
- Vets who were exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War
Before being drafted into the U.S. Army straight out of High School. I had plans to attend college on a football scholarship. But the Military said they needed me more and I could attend college after service. Well I was injured on duty and the derailed my dreams of playing pro football to help my family out.
I am a veteran who served the last two years of my second term in the Philippines. I am at 100% disability right now. But when I filed for the the exposure to agent agent orange they said no. One of the exposures causes adrenal tuners. I had to have an operation to remove a softball size tumor. I have a large scar on my stomach. I was a frequent visitor to subscribe bay where many barrels of agent orange were stored leaking. I would snorkel around the bay with friends, where I found out later that the barrels were being dumped. No one in family has ever had tumors around the adrenal glands. I was very disappointed in the V.A. Decision. I don’t know where to go from here as I’m already at 100%. I’m reminded of the operation every time I take my shirt off and see this ugly scar which is approximately 12 to 14” long.
File a NOD if you are in contact with any of your buddies have them write a letter confirming this. Plus if you have photos also you send those too as new evidence. Don’t give up plus if and when you do get it all back pay.
The V.A. Management SUCKS. They are very inconsistent in awarding the benefits veterans earned. Initially I was awarded 20% for my hearing loss they took this out but increased my CAD to 60% . I was given 10% for PTSD and a 10% for my Purple Heart giving me a 80% total. I re file a claim for the hearing loss and after the examination, the 20% that they removed was raised to 30%, this number did not mean anything as they did not restore the payment I was getting before . I met people at the clinic who have the same CAD condition as I have, that are given 100% rating. I wrote to the V.A. Secretary but never heard from his office. I believe this beaurocrats in Washington are just playing us for fools and waiting for us older folks to bit the dust[ so they don’t have to pay us. I will be 86 in October . My first encounter with the Agent Orange was a year , year and a half after I got back from Vietnam. Based on my reading of the available Literature, it looks like Chlor Acne. but the docs would not order a specific test because the V.A. said the test is for research only.
Actually, the numbers you presented come to 80% Here is what you said you have 60% for CAD, 20% for hearing (probably 10% for Tinnitus and 10% for bilateral hearing loss), 10% for PTSD and 10% for your PH (which they don’t give out for a medal, but for the wound it’s self. 100-60=40 x 20%= 8+60=68 100-68=32 x 10%=3+ 68=71 100-71=29 x 10%=2.9 (3)+71=74. This rounds down to 70%, but when you get 30% for hearing the math looks like this 100-60=40 x 30%=12+60=72 100-72=28 x 10%=2.8 (3) +72=75 100-75=25 x 10%=2.5 (3)+75=78. At 4 we round down and at 5 we round up so 78%=80%.
DEAR MOISES..GREETING AND MAY GOD BLESS TO A VETERAN BROTHER..READ YOUR STORY AND SO SORRY FOR SAME..IT SHOCKS ME AS TO WHAT VETS HAVE TO DO AND HAVE GONE THROUGH JUST TO GAIN SOME QUALITY OF LIFE..A GOD GIVE N QUALITY OF LIFE..AS YOU SAY ..WHERE IS THE VA WHEN WE NEED THEM>>??NO MANAGEMENT WHATSOEVER..TYPICAL GOVERNMENT HETORIC..I HAVE BEEN FIGHTING OFF AND ON FOR 21 YEARS FOR A MEDICINAL NEGLIGENCE CASE..NOW FINALLY..A HIGHER REVIEW BOARD HAS DETERMINED AN ERROR HAS BEEN MADE IN MY CASES…AFTER 21 YEARS..YOU GREAT FORGOTTEN VIETNAM HEROS..ARE WE JUST WAITING TO BITE THE DUST mOISES AS U SAY???VERY SAD FOR SOME PREDECEASED VETS..I SAY THIS MOISES TO U AND OTHERS..GOD ALMIGHTY WILL JUDGE THE SINNERS AND LO UNTO THEM..BEST OF LUCK AND GOD BLESS YOU,YOURS,OURS AND AMERICA VETERANS ET AL
As for the fire they say destroyed so many veterans files is still a mystery to me. It took a little over ten years fighting with the V. A. to get my claim. Frist it was for fifty percent. Then I went to a Vietnam outreach counselor after seeing her for a year after my relationship broke with the mother of my children after 14 and 1/2 years she filed to have me see a federal judge and after that hearing I was granted 100% PTSD. What happened to the other 50% I don’t know. Then the judge looked at my DD 214 so where I was stationed at and the next thing I know I got $500.00 for being exposed to Asian Orange and having a daughter born with heart disease no left ear and cannot hear out of the other one with facial deformities. So for that fire that happened go to your DD214 and any pictures you have and ask to see a federal judge. It’s what I did.still can’t get out around people or do things like I did before I went over there. But the V. A. sends me a Adrian orange booklet about once every 3 months. so much for the degenerative joint disease I have and the sores that pop up all the time. Want your benefits get a counselor or a psychiatrist and ask to see a federal judge not a congressman or any other government official a federal judge. 10 years a failed relationship now my kids don’t want nothing to do with me so go see a judge.
You came into the military 100% whole so you can only be 100% disabled. The VA tells you on the announcement letter (the paragraph right above the signature page) that they don’t add the numbers up. Also as a veteran rated 100% for a mental health issue you can not work (this is the exception to the 100% rule). If you have 60% separate from your 100% rating, then you qualify for SMC S for another $350-$400 a month. That % is still there, but you can’t exceed 100%, you can only qualify for Special Monthly Compensation to get more money.
Time spent in defense of USA has been an action taken by dedicated personnel, however, conditions attracted to WAR have been without consideration for years. It is in the best interest for all concerned persons to grant these worthy service personal their treatments as required.
That is good new. However I was disappointed that the unfair practice of taking the amount eligible for us disabled retirees who are rated below 50% from our Military pension. Both are separate programs and all we get out of that is to save a few dollars in taxes.
You don’t know history, prior to 2004 there was total offset inn place since the late 1800’s. The Republican controlled congress came out in 2003 and said you had to be 60% disabled but after a lot of lobbying by veterans groups it was dropped to 50%. At 60% only 8% of the vet population would qualify and at 50% only 13% would qualify, but if it went to 30% then 70%+ would qualify and it came down to money.. All you have to do is get an increase to 50% or greater and you’ll qualify for CRDP, but if your a retiree, you can look into CRSC (a DoD benefit) and depending on your rank and what you may qualify for you can make more money this way and it will not come out of your retirement.
If you get denied you just have to keep going back after it. Took us 2 1/2 yrs but finally succeeded. PTSD Agent Orange exposure told us his ship was never there.
I am a vet and I have heard that if a person, who is still in the military, goes to a military PSYCHOTRIST they are discharged just for seeing them. Is this right? A person outside the military and sees any doctor this would fall under doctor patient confidentiality. This is not so in the military. My problem is this. A person who serves in a combat zone should be forced to see a PSYCHOTRIST, just like a police officer who had to kill someone or so someone get killed. This is to protect the officer. WHY DOESN’T THE MILITARY WORK THE SAME WAY? The military person could be suffering from PTSD and he sees a military PSYCHOTRIST is discharged, because there is no DOCTOR PATIENT CONFIDENTTIALITY. This is so wrong. These persons returning from a war zone should have to see a PSYCHOTRIST TO HELP THEM DEAL WITH THEIR PTSD, WITH NO REPOCUSSIONS.
The VA does nothing for the veterans and retired veterans who have no service related illness. Once the VA starts treating retired veterans with the respect that they should have. I am a female, no service related illness , and retired Navy. Thank heaven for Tricare for life.
I am a Female Vet who served 18.5 years. I got a medical discharge. I was found 90%, but by the time they make virtual cutest to your body, I ended up getting only 70%.. I suppose that as a women I should feel thankful. I do get to go to the CA for care.
I worked for the Federal Bureau of Prison’s for 24 years beofre retiring in 1999. In 2001 I was giving compensation of PTSD, Severe, Combat Related by a VA Contract Psychiatrist. He was on the side of the vetera, fighting for them our elected officials. Whie I was one of the LUCKy’s who received 100% disability. I was embarassed to be around so many veteraan’s who struggling and trying their get disabilty compensatation. I involed with VVA. Went to many Annual Conferences, and the plight of the veteran kept getting worse. I have had to epllain if not once, then a thousand times, why did I get the 100% and not the next veteran. For the last 10 years I have been “secluded” house bound. With my Parkinson’s Diseas’s progression moving along rapidly.
I am overjoyed with this move by Congrees,But I am afraid the move has been to latefor too many. have a daughter with mental health problems an a grandaught having learning disbilities. Now the fight will be to get families of our veterans’ to be recognized by the legislative brnch of our government and it not take 50 years to get it signed into law. Our families, our wifesa, especally, who have been out back bones for too many years.
I know my comments have become a letter, but I needed to vent, especially for my brother, Bernie, who has given all.. Thank you .
I need to learn to proof read better, or learn how to spell. But when emotions control your fingers it is difficult to review once written.
My husband was Navy in Viet Nam. He was USAF when he flew up to radioactive mushroom clouds, and with the blades of an helicopter escorted the cloud away from habituated areas. Just to mention a few nonclassified instances of work related hazards. Social Security was depreciated by 30 per cent for early sign up. And the V A hospital takes thousands 9ut 9f that remaining 70. His previous Spouse gets his retirement check, direct deposited to her bank. The money was supposed to be for handicapped son. We didn’t nuke the boy.. Guaranteed government loans don’t house veterans whose credit is down for heart attack, stints implants (3), amputation,deaf,one partially functioning kidney, wheel chair patients; either. That can walk a few steps, but not without becoming out of breath with severe kidney pain, on painfully swollen feet. Agent Orange probably had nothing to do with all that blood that poured out 9f his boots, after taking them off, after work. But there was long needles injections for treatments for many years for cracked open bleeding feet. How many acts of Congress will be necessary before veterans are redeemed to their rightfull honors and quality of life? Inclusive of proper medical care. I am also a veteran, my husband’s current wife of 30 years, beneath the poverty level, 8n a medically wrecked ; nightmarish egistance of an family of 5.
Stationed at Ft. Knox, while in the boonies there agent orange was sprayed overhead in a training area.
Bet there are zero records of it being done.
I have bone marrow cancer, no other explanation of how I have it.
i was denied benefits due to one killer pill..olanzapine..zyprexa..denied and i brought it to a higher review pane. higher review claimed a mistake in my favor was made..those who initially denied me should be reprimanded and fired for their denial and indifference toward the vet..the va is getting there, but much more must be done for those who served in combat…pjp
What about all the years I couldn’t file because I was told my records were burned in a fire in St Louis.
paul..i firmly believe you should get retroactive and more..the fire was not your fault..yet the vet gets stuck to it again..pjp
What about vet exposed at Fort Benning. Lots of soldiers were sick for years. K9 dogs died. Really bad place.
What happened at Ft Benning? Didn’t hear snyt6about Benning?
How about benefits for those veterans who have been waiting years to get approval or denial of benefits!!
I’ve been waiting going on two years!
Write your Congressman. It helped. Jc
Thank you
What about Vets from The Gulf War
you young ladies must band together and fight for your rights..the va will never come to you..trust me..pjp
The government is still in denial about Agent Orange used in Korea. We had to find old land mines/patrol route booby traps, etc. We also detected mine fields we burned.
Air quality was always bad just due to the environment. I’ve suffered from increasing nerve damage as well as cancer.
My husband died three years ago from lung cancer he fought in Vietnam and was exsposed to agent orange, when he passed he was 100 percent disabled and was getting monies, when he died I received half of what he was getting, what about the spouses why are we forgotten doesn’t seem fair
I agree, all the years wr take care of the disabled vet. It takes a huge toll on the caretakers health
Oh Debra i am so with you.. the stress i feel on a daily basis fighting on my husbands behalf .. 7yrs to get him to 𝟧𝟢% claim 𝖺𝖿𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖼𝗅𝖺i’m 𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗂𝖾𝖽. the toll it takes on spouses of veterans is awful. If your husband passes away and he is not at 100% you get nothing all those years of care giving health issues it takes it toll. I wish there was a group for spouses i feel so alone in all of this. Agent Orange has caused severe nerve damage diabetes thyroid issues PTSD not to mention being wounded in combat.
Sounds horrid. My Mom was told when my father passed in 1991 that she was only entitled to 1/2 of his original retirement check. She received $100 a month. She was the one left to hold everything together every time he went to Nam. The heartache, heartbreak & hell I watched that amazing woman go through shaped me into the fighter I am today. Nice to see some laws change so the fight can ease up.
I have been in the fight for 7 yrs and my husband is only at 50%. Takes it’s toll on our health also. The care givers over the years my husband suffers from severe nerve damage diabetes PTSD his feet are burning with pain most days.. We as spouses are left behind if our husbands pass away and they are not at 100% we are left with nothing. It is not right.
It’s about time
This really answered my problem, thank you!
I went over this internet site and I think you have a lot of good information, saved to fav (:.
Can I just say what a relief to find someone who actually knows what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people need to read this and understand this side of the story. I cant believe youre not more popular because you definitely have the gift.
What about veterans serving covering Enewetak