All across America and around the world, this
is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. And
now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry.
And welcome to Veterans Radio. My name is Dale
Throneberry. I was a chief foreign officer helicopter
pilot in Vietnam, 1969. We want to welcome you
to our benefits program. This is a really big
benefits program today. We're really excited.
We've got representatives from the Ann Arbor
VA, Ann Arbor Michigan that is, and also from
the Detroit Michigan VA hospital. So we are anticipating
talking about what is going on at those two great
facilities. And then we're also going to be talking
to our local representatives, Carol Ann Fassone
and Michael Smith about VA benefits. on that
side to hopefully answer your questions that
you have out there. We've got a couple so far.
So I want to give you the phone number if you
do have a question for our guests. That number
is 8 is 734 -822 -1600 734 -822 -1600. Before
we get into the program I need to really thank
our sponsors because without their support we
wouldn't be here at all. So Number one is Legal
Help for Veterans. Legal Help for Veterans specializes
in veteran disability claims. And you can call
Legal Help for Veterans at 800 -693 -4800. That's
800 -693 -4800, or you can go to their website,
legalhelpforveterans .com. The National Veterans
Business Development Council, better known as
MVBDC, the nation's leading third party authority
for certification of veteran owned businesses.
For more information, you can go to their website.
That's nvbdc .org. I should point out that nvbdc
is a Detroit based company and that they just
picked up, I think it's their 100th corporate
sponsor to help with the certification process.
Just to remind you that the certification process
means that your business is a veteran -owned
business and allows you to get a little bit of
preferential treatment through the government.
and also through many corporations that are looking
for veteran -owned businesses. So check them
out at mvbdc .org. The Eisenhower Center here
in Ann Arbor and Michigan in Jacksonville, Florida,
they have provide services for many people who
are suffering from post -traumatic stress, traumatic
brain injuries, and it's not just for veterans,
it's also for first responders and athletes.
For more information about the Eisenhower Center,
you can go to their website. That's Eisenhower
.com for more information. And also the Lieutenant
Colonel Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center
in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is sponsoring this version
of Veterans Radio. And finally is US Wings. And
US Wings is the home of the finest leather flight
jackets in the world, according to them. For
more information, you can go to uswings .com
or give them a call at 800 -650 -0659. I should
point out that this is the first month you know,
quite a while that we're going to be giving away
a flight jacket from US Wings. We did that for
a long time before COVID hit. And so now we've
had people that have been registering over the
last couple of weeks, and we are going to be
giving away a Top Gun flight jacket to one of
our listeners today. And then every last Sunday
of every month during our benefits program, we
will do that. So go to veteransradio .net, click
on the flight jacket and register. to enter the
drawing. So, okay, that gets rid of that part
of the program there, right? All right, so let's
get started here. As I mentioned earlier, we
are joined by our guests from the Detroit Veterans
Administration Hospital, John Dingles, actually,
VA down there, and I want to welcome Dr. Madder
and Bill Browning from that that VA facility
and so welcome to Veterans Radio. Thanks Dale,
glad to be here. Okay, so my question to you
is what is what's going on down at the Detroit
VA? Well, you know, we are with every VA medical
center in the country. We are, you know, still
at the front lines of fighting the pandemic and
we are doing the best we can for our veterans
and the community at large. We are thoroughly
involved in the distribution of the Moderna vaccine.
And we just learned today that VA is reserving
the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine
that just came earlier this afternoon. So Dr.
Matta is our Deputy Chief of Staff, and he can
tell you a lot more about our vaccine clinics
and our care for veterans during this pandemic.
Okay. Dr. Matta, what is going on at the Detroit
VA as far as vaccinations are concerned? We are
administering the Moderna vaccine, Dale. We have
started this on December 22nd, the day we received
the vaccine. And we are running our vaccine clinics
currently six days a week, Monday to Saturday.
And in addition to the main vaccine clinic on
the first floor of our VA, Our primary care clinics
are also able to vaccinate veterans. And in many
times, same day appointments are available or
next day appointments. So any veteran who is
interested can call our call center or their
primary care clinics, and they will be able to
get their vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, pretty
quickly. And so far, We have administered about
10 ,000 first doses to our veterans and about
8 ,000 second doses. So we have the supplies
on hand for the Moderna vaccine. We have administered
only around 200 Janssen vaccine. but when the
CDC and FDA put a pause on that, we stopped right
away. We have the stock on hand, but the VA is
still studying the issue, has not given us the
go -ahead to resume the Janssen vaccine. Okay.
Bill, do you have a number that people in Detroit
or especially veterans can call to get an appointment?
You can call our general number. It's uh 313
-576 -1000 and then they will and then the uh
the uh the call tree will take them to our uh
our call center and then that way they can be
uh transferred over to our scheduling clinic
and they'll be able to advance to the uh to accept
a schedule for the vaccine. Okay that that's
what I wanted to do. Have you found any resistance
to people you know? you know, wanting to get
the vaccine or not? Yes, Dale. There is certainly
vaccine hesitancy, and I would say it is more
among our younger veterans. See, at this time,
we have 33 ,000 veterans enrolled for primary
care at the Detroit VA. And as I said earlier,
you know, 10 ,000 first doses, around 8 ,000
second doses have been administered. So we still
have quite a number of veterans who can get vaccinated
if they choose to. And one thing I would like
to point out, because the vaccine is generally
available in the community at pharmacies and
county health centers, a good number of our veterans
have got their vaccine on the outside as well.
And as we are talking to veterans during our
calls, we are capturing the vaccination on the
outside. So yes, to your question, there is vaccine
hesitancy and through our social media messaging
and our individual clinic visits and through
text messages, we are reaching out to our veterans
and encouraging them to get the vaccine. because
the pandemic is, you know, the surge is quite
there. And last week, as many as 8 ,000 new cases
were being reported in the state of Michigan.
So I feel that anybody who is not vaccinated
should immediately drop everything and get the
vaccine right now. Because we are seeing that
the vaccine is very effective and also with 180
million doses of the mRNA vaccines between Pfizer
and Moderna in the last four months being administered
across the US is pretty safe. It is safe and
it's effective so we really are encouraging any
veterans who are listening who are not vaccinated
that they should get the vaccine right away and
it's available both at the Detroit VA and the
Ann Arbor VA. Right now I'm gonna do a little
segue to the Ann Arbor VA here. Right now we
have Dr. Jenny Kreisman who is the director of
the, she's the medical director for the Ann Arbor
Health Care System and also Brian Hayes who's
a public affairs officer in Ann Arbor. Dr. Kreisman,
I heard the numbers for Detroit, how are we doing
in Ann Arbor with our vaccines? So Ann Arbor's
been blessed to have the Pfizer product which
came out a couple weeks earlier. So over the
last three months, we've been able to do about
57 % of our primary care veterans, which is over
27 ,000. In addition, that's first and second
doses, about close to 30 ,000 when we include
our employees. But at this date, we're actually
also not only just as is Detroit and all the
Michigan market health care systems, we're vaccinating
spouses and caregivers. So if you take that,
to the VA for treatment, come on in. If you're
supporting him in any way, him or her as a veteran,
please come on in and let us take care of you
too. So we've been very successful with a lot
of spouses and caregivers that way too. So we've
done over 27 ,000. We do have some of the Janssen
and Janssen product. We don't use it that much.
We only used it with our employees for our event,
but then we ended up having to turn off. Uh,
but this week, we'll probably be turning it back
on again. Looking for outreach is for, for example,
I think on May 5th. We're going to be with the
folks in Shrinos in Detroit, excuse me, in Toledo,
uh, vaccinating those folks there, um, down there
with a partnership with them. And we're hoping
to use our counseling and Jonathan type in as
it goes forward. But I just want to just keep
emphasizing that, you know, the. Currently the
VA has the ability to vaccinate caregivers and
health caregivers and spouses or veterans. So
if you need the vaccine, this is like just as
an Ann Arbor. In Detroit, we're open. Also in
Saginaw and Battle Creek, we're open and we're
willing to provide those services to you as soon
as possible. I think that's just terrific. Do
you have the number for the Ann Arbor VA for
them to call? So, Brian, do you have the number?
Yeah, yeah, sure. It's 734 -222 -7100. That's
directly into the vaccination clinic. You know,
in another way, if you don't remember the phone
number, you can go to our website, AnnArbor .va
.gov. It's the same for Detroit, and you can
log in, and you can register that way if you
go into the Keep Me Informed tool. So, you can
register. You can go online, or you can call.
Either way. Okay, well, we certainly are encouraging
all of our veterans and their families to get
their vaccines as soon as they possibly can.
And I think, you know, from a medical standpoint
with Dr. Mater and Dr. Griezmann, you know, that
the herd mentality is something that we really
need to take advantage of. And I want to remind
all of our veterans out there that these shots
are free. There's no cost involved. for any of
you to get these shots. And it doesn't make any
difference if you're a veteran or not. Wherever
you're getting your shot, you shouldn't be paying
for them. These are being provided to you. We
also offer, too, that since the Rescue Act came
into play, both pays in general are being deferred.
Right. I was going to ask that question that's
on my list for today. You're listening to Veterans
Radio and we are talking with representatives
from the Ann Arbor VA and also from the the Detroit
VA healthcare system. So if you have any questions,
you can give us a call at 734 -822 -1600. I know,
Brian, that the Ann Arbor VA has been doing a
lot of remodeling lately. I was up there the
other day for an appointment and it took me a
while to get my bearings. Well, yeah, once you
get your bearings though, isn't it gorgeous?
The new first floor corridor there is just beautiful,
the way they've built that. And we continue,
you know, it's sort of like, you know, how they
paint the Golden Gate Bridge, they go from one
end to the other, and then they keep doing that.
That's kind of how we do it, you know, is we're
building, you know, a bigger, better VA. for
all of our veterans, it's just gorgeous. And
not only that, but we're expanding not only in
the hospital, in the medical center itself, but
we've got the new community -based outpatient
clinic coming online in Canton later this year.
That's going to be pretty awesome. And I think
Dr. Kreisman wouldn't mind if I make a little
news today. We've got another clinic coming online
down in Adrian, Michigan, and that's coming on
later on this year too. So we've got lots of
great things. to get you know get out get our
fingers out to where our veterans are to make
it a lot easier for them to get their va care
because you know 90 of our veterans prefer care
from the va so we want to make sure that we're
that where they are i think that's that's terrific
and i know bill you're doing the same thing in
the detroit area correct right yeah i mean we're
Basically partnering with our community providers
to in in getting the care of the best care we
possibly can to our veterans and I know that
VA across the country is certainly looked at
expanding the care for its veterans and We are
certainly following student Detroit, you know,
we're working with outreach teams, you know to
also provide numerous things as far as outreach
is concerned with the pandemic. We've had to
remodel some of that and go online with that.
So we've been doing a number of things through
streaming on our Facebook and get in touch with
our veterans out there, town halls, what have
you. So yeah, a number of those things have been
done virtually rather than in person. Right.
Dr. Kreisman, has there been any increase in
inpatient? uh care now can can uh veterans go
to their appointments or is it doing a lot more
are they still doing a lot of zoom evaluations
so we're actually doing about 10 percent more
than we had in the past in face -to -face care
we're about 65 percent or about 12 to 15 percent
in phone and then the rest in virtual care or
the um ipad or zoom whatever it might be maybe
see We feel that that's going to be part of it,
right? You know, most folks can do that appointment
virtually if it's a mental health appointment,
but we are working very hard to address what
we call the deferred care, which is care that
was deferred during our first and second surges
of COVID. And so we're really working hard to
do those procedures, meet the needs of our veterans,
you know, all of us want to be seen at least
once a year for some type of appointment. So
we're really working hard to do that, even though
quite frankly, and I think Dr. Motta would agree,
we're in a bit of a situation where we're just
now slowly plateauing and we've had a little
bit of a surge here. We have about 10 patients
in my healthcare system with COVID. We're actively
pulling them from the community and both of us,
all of the Michigan Market facilities have accepted
a fourth mission, which means if we need to help
our community, we're here and ready for you.
But we're still providing care to our veterans,
including that deferred care. We're still meeting
the expectations. I would say that my facility
last week was working so hard to meet the needs
of veterans. We had our bed status was about
95%, which we were at full load. I can see you
guys have been busy. Yeah, we're taking care
of the public patients, but also still trying
to meet the needs of our veterans, as is Detroit,
to those deferred hit. those deferred care items
that have been sitting out there for a while.
We're actively working for that. And I just wanted
to comment also back on Brian had brought up
all the construction we're doing. We're hoping
here in the near future to open up a beautiful
women's health clinic at our facility. It's been
a long time in coming. It meets the need of our,
I'm sure it has the same mission, meeting the
needs of a growing population of female veterans.
And we're just really looking forward to that
coming out online in the fall. In the fall, that's
when we're going to start. I believe that. So
Brian, do I have that right there? Yep. You nailed
it. That's right. Should be open this fall. OK.
I can't remember now who mentioned it. I think
it was Dr. Kreisman. But I'll ask a question
of any one of you about the deferment of deductibles
on health care. And I heard this. I think we
talked briefly about it last month. about how
they were going to refund the funds that some
people have paid in as far as their deductibles
are concerned. Could somebody explain that to
me? Because then we get to pay it back later.
Well, this is Dr. Creason. I'll tell you what
I know, and I might not know it all. Ms. Salzone
might know better, and Mr. Smith might know better.
But from my understanding, as of April 6, if
you pay the full pay, we're going to refund you.
and it's not that you're deferred. I don't think
you have co -pays between the year, but it could
be wrong with that. Okay, well we will address
that topic as we find out more information. I
just thought it was rather interesting that because
I noticed that I haven't gotten any bills in
a while, which is always good, but they always
seem to catch up with you at some point. Just
as a A final question, I guess, to both of your
organizations. Is there anything that we should
be aware of? Are there any changes that you're
aware of that are coming down from on high that
are going to affect our veterans? So the only
thing I would offer right now is because we're
in Michigan as opposed to other areas in the
community in the states, we're probably still
limited on our visitors. And that's hard for
all of our veterans because we've had to limit
those visitors and availability coming forward.
So that would be one thing specific to the facility.
I think the co -payment or the forgiveness on
the co -payment is going to go a long way in
supporting our veterans through the Rescue Act
and financially supporting them as they go through
the next six months. We're all working through
it, hopefully, through recovery. That would be
the biggest thing we'd say. And then that's all
we have to operate on. All right. Well, you know,
we can't help it when there are animals in the
house. Bill, Dr. Mata, anything that we need
to know that's going to be going on at the Detroit
VA in the near future? I think I just want to
echo what Dr. Friesman was saying about visitors.
I think we would really like to get visitations
restarted for our inpatients, particularly those
in our nursing home area. And our community living
center patients have been without face -to -face
contact with their family members for nearly
18 months now. So it's been a tremendous blow
on their psyche to continue this. And we certainly
want to retry to open those back up to the veterans.
Okay. I guess a question because it just came
to mind when you mentioned that 18 months. Have
we been seeing an increase in the requests for
mental health treatments or more people asking
for help? Not so much of an increase, but we
are seeing more of that deferred care like you
know veterans like the general population have
been have put off getting medical care like through
the pandemic because a lot of veterans were you
know like like all of us were afraid of leaving
the house getting their routine visits and routine
blood work and all that and likewise with mental
health we are seeing that you know veterans are
coming in with a lot of stress and worry and
some of them have not reached out for that assistance.
And now we are seeing, with the easing of the
pandemic, we were seeing that veterans were coming
back for their appointments and making more phone
calls to schedule those. But then with the recent
worsening of the surge, like in the late March
and April, that puts additional um stress on
on people because again they are afraid of uh
exposure and all that so that is what we are
seeing when these surges go up then you know
there is um like some decrease in the volume
of face -to -face visits and all that okay all
right well i want to thank you all for being
on our program today that's uh dr jenny creaseman
who's a medical director at the uh lieutenant
carl charles kettles VA healthcare system. Now
we've got the official name. We're gonna have
a ceremony someday. I know that. Brian Hayes,
who is our public affairs officer at the Ann
Arbor VA. We've got Dr. Mata, who is the deputy
chief of staff for the Detroit VA healthcare
system. John Dingle, who was named after him,
his longest serving congressman, I think, in
the history of the world. and also Bill Browning,
who is the Publica Europe Chief Volunteer in
Community Relations at the Detroit VA. So I want
to thank all four of you very much for being
on the program. Hopefully we can reach out to
you on a monthly or bi -monthly basis to see
what's going on in your facilities. Thank you
very much. Absolutely. Thank you, Dale. Thank
you, Dale. Have a great day. You too. Thank you
all very much. Thanks, Dale. See you next time.
All right, Brian. Thank you. All right. We're
going to take a quick break here. And when we
come back, we're going to be answering your questions
on VA disability benefits. So here's the number.
Write it down. 734 -822 -1600. You're listening
to Veterans Radio. We will be right back. Military
veterans touch everyone's life. I'm guessing
right now you're thinking of a veteran, a close
friend, relative. Maybe it's you. Even the toughest
of us sometimes need help, but don't know where
to turn for support. You don't need special training
to help a veteran in your life. Even small actions
can make a world of difference. If you know a
veteran in crisis, please call the Veterans Crisis
Line, 800 -273 -8255. 800 -273 -8255. A message
from the U .S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of
Veterans' Appeals, contact Legal Help for Veterans
at 1 -800 -693 -4800. They're experts in handling
cases before the U .S. Court of Appeals for Veterans'
claims. Their number again, 1 -800 -693 -4800.
And that's our good friend Michael J. Martin
with the VA Shuffle. Um, I didn't get into the
verbiage of it my other guests so We want to
welcome you back to our program today. Uh, joining
me now on the line is carolyn falzone A retired
air force brigadier general who is uh with legal
help for veterans General falzone. How are you
this afternoon? Hey, good afternoon boy wasn't
that awesome to have the Detroit VA Medical Center
and the Lieutenant Colonel Kettles in Ann Arbor
present. I just thought it was awesome to talk
about the happenings and what's going on in both
of those facilities. So, great. Yeah, we're going
to reach out to the other affiliates that we
have and try to bring their representatives for
their VA's. onto the program, you know, on one
of our benefits programs. So we got to go to
California, Minnesota, and mine just went blank,
Oregon. That's where it is. Well, you know, I
think Dr. Kreisman mentioned it, but it would
be awesome, Dale, if we could get on one of these,
Saginaw. Battle Creek and also Iron Mountain
because that's our Michigan veterans and we we're
very fortunate to have five VA medical centers
in our great state of Michigan so kudos that
was that was awesome in in the vicinity to talk
about what they're doing yeah that sounds like
a good idea unless you be my producer and also
joining us on zoom Right now is Michael Smith,
who's the executive director of the Washtenaw
County Veterans Service Office. Michael, welcome
back. Thank you, Dale. It's good to be back.
Man, it seemed like we were just here. I know.
That month went really quickly. I'm not sure
what happened there. I do want to remind our
audience, before I forget, that we are going
to be giving away the flight jacket for US Wings
before the end of the program today. So stick
around. You may be the winner. If you would like
to get involved go to veteransradio .net click
on the flight jacket and register to win because
we're going to keep the same list and just expand
on it throughout the rest of the year and so
the next drawing will be at the end of May and
then the end of June and so on and so forth and
we'll be contacting the winners and US Wings
will be sending you the jacket. They'll contact
you to find out size and all the other things.
So we're pretty excited about that. All right.
So we're in the benefits portion of our program
now. And I guess I'll ask both of you if you've
heard any new things or if there's anything that
we need to be aware of out there. No? All right.
Well, we know we have one question that I wanted
to address. And this came from a friend of mine.
And this was the aid independent. Payment that
that she was receiving Prior to her husband going
into a nursing home full -time nursing home and
now She's been asked to Pay back some of that
funding and now Carolyn. I know you've talked
to her Could you kind of fill in our audience
on that because I it was something we have talked
about I know numerous times, but it's It's a
little bit. It's still a little confusing Well,
it's going to be still very confusing because
as when we get these emails in and I know my
good buddy Michael will agree with me. When people
just ask a question, it opens up the question,
the question, the question. And so with aid and
attendance, just because you move from, say,
your home to a facility, you shouldn't lose your
aid and attendance, but there's many issues.
If you move into a facility and you're 100 %
rated, if you move in to a facility because you
sold your home and that becomes an asset and
you're over the limit of 127 ,000. So there are
so many questions with all of these issues and
that's why you need to know what's going on with
that particular issue, and you need to talk to
somebody that's experienced. But in this case,
and I think Michael would agree with me, the
VA also assisted in a part of the problem. because
as a change occurs, and we've talked in previous
sessions, if you change your name, you change
your address, you change your status, you should
follow up with someone. So the VA should have
notified this family because they were 100 %
and because the VA is taking care of his, let's
say, room and board at the facility, the aid
and attendance goes away. It should have gone
away. There should have been a notice. But it
was realized four years later. That becomes the
problem. And finally, it catches up to you. This
scenario reminds me when you know something changed
in your life. You got a divorce. You should notify
the VA so you could take your Your ex off of
that and you say oh, I'll wait till the VA catches
up with me Well, the problem is you got to pay
that back So there might be some different circumstances
for this family. We're gonna work through the
issues She still is providing extra resources
and we'll see what happens down the line But
you just need to know when something changes
there might be an effect. Michael, I know that
my friend talked to you as well, and that you
were talking about possibly some sort of waiver.
Well, there's two things that comes to mind,
Dale, in this instance, is that when a veteran
is hospitalized for his or her service -connected
conditions or is hospitalized for over 21 days,
the VA hospital is responsible for notifying
the Veterans Benefits Administration for any
payment of compensation benefits, including special
monthly compensation such as aid and attendance.
So I think if I recall from our conversation,
that was the first thing that came to mind was
the failure on the part of the VA hospital to
notify the VBA side or the Veterans Benefits
Administration that they had a veteran who was
receiving those benefits that shouldn't excuse
me that they had a veteran who was hospitalized
and then the vba makes a decision on the impact
it has on the payment of benefits and in this
case it would have been to stop the additional
uh special monthly compensation for aid and attendance
knowing that he was under va care um in in this
instance um so the debt that was created sure
it again um and again general facon knows this
process is to request a waiver of indebtedness.
And the first thing that the veteran says is,
I didn't create this debt, number one. I personally
didn't do it. Number two, I didn't try to fraud
the government. And number three, I can't pay
this back. It would cause a due... It would cause
a due... financial hardship if I tried to pay
it back. And then they submit what's called a
financial status report, an FSR, that outlines
income and expenses to kind of show that there
really isn't anything in that budget left to
repay a debt, if anything. And then it goes to
what's called the Committee on Waivers and Compromises.
And that committee then makes a decision on whether
to waive it. And in most cases, they will. And
so that's the process that's best to do. And
especially right now since there's a VA moratorium
on going after any VA debts. So this is a good
time to try to pursue. And the reason I'm saying
that is there's a little bit of the VA is not
in full debt. collection mode at this point because
of the moratorium on debt collection. So it's
a good time for her to be able to get some guidance.
And the VA, the Debt Management Center, and those
folks are really kind people. And they really
try to give the best advice and guidance to veterans
and their survivors about how to handle debt
and how debt was created and what position they're
in. They're just to collect debt. They're there
to help people who have VA debts, to manage those
debts the best way possible, up to and including
a waiver. You know, the other unbelievable thought
is a part of that, we're hearing 18 months with
all of this COVID. And in nursing care facilities,
this individual went out and provided and paid
out of pocket to assist the veteran in the facility
also can show all the expenses. And you're right
on, Michael, helping going above and beyond.
So yes, maybe she got that aid and attendance
money. However, she put it to the use of the
veteran to take care of the veteran. And as we
well know, for her, that was a piece of mind.
We heard about mental health issues. You're not
allowed to go into the facilities to see your
loved ones. So not only did he go into a facility,
he was all by himself. This additional health
care worker that she paid for, thinking she was
doing the right thing because of the aid and
attendance, provided her some communication with
her husband. And so there's a lot of factors
here. So Dale, I go back to when we get in a
question. We might have to probe and ask many
more questions to get the information, but we're
there. I mean, Michael and I both tag -team this
one, and we do that in many occasions to help
our veterans and their families out there. I
think I have one question that I learned as we
were going back and forth on this, and that is
that when the veteran went from the home into
the nursing care facility for the first time.
It was on a 30 -day trial. I forget what the
term was that one of you used with that. You
went in for 30 days and then they said, well,
you know, he can't go home. He's got to stay
here. And that one of you felt that that might
have triggered the mistake in here because there
was a homebound benefit and there's a nursing
home benefit. And just to let our audience know,
this nursing home benefit monetarily is worth
a lot of money. I mean, the VA is paying, you
know, it's under contract, but they're paying
well over $5 ,000 a month for this person to,
you know, to remain safe. Well, and the reason
that happens, so we don't want to give our audience
that the VA is going to pick up everybody's long
-term care. The fact that this veteran was 100
percent, that's what qualified them for the extra
benefit, just like a tax abatement, 100 percent.
And so 70 percent or greater, and it just doesn't
happen automatically. You still got to ask the
VA, Mother, may I? It's just like going to another
facility, getting into everything. You got to
ask those questions and so going back again to
somebody that's experienced that can help you
with this I think is really important. Well it's
a pretty complicated process it sounds to me.
To go through all of the benefits that so many
veterans are entitled to out there that they're
unfamiliar with or they don't know how to find
out what their benefits are and where they can
get them. We need to take another real quick
break in here. Gotta get a get our sponsors in
so we're gonna take a real quick break. The number
is seven three four eight two two sixteen hundred
Please give us a call. We've got two experts
here. You don't have to wait for them to return
your call or anything. So You're listening to
veterans radio. We will be right back The Medal
of Honor is the highest award for valor in combat
given a member of the Armed Forces of the United
States There had been over three thousand four
hundred recipients of the nation's highest award
This is one of them Sergeant David Bleak, although
a medical aid man, killed three North Korean
soldiers and disarmed two more. Details after
this. Bleak volunteered to accompany a reconnaissance
patrol committed to engage the enemy and capture
a prisoner for interrogation. Forging up the
rugged slope of the key terrain, the group was
subjected to intense automatic weapons and small
arms fire and suffered several casualties. After
administering to the wounded, Bleak continued
to advance with the patrol. Nearing the crest
of the hill while attempting to cross the fire
-swept area to attend the wounded, he came under
hostile fire from a small group of the enemy
concealed in a trench. Entering the trench, he
closed with the enemy, killed two with his bare
hands and a third with his trench knife. Moving
from the emplacement, Bleak saw a concussion
grenade fall in front of a companion and, quickly
shifting his position, shielded the man from
the impact of the blast. Later, while ministering
to the wounded, a hostile bullet struck him,
but despite the wound, Bleak undertook to evacuate
the wounded comrade. As he moved down the hill
with his heavy burden, two enemy soldiers with
fixed bayonets attacked him. Closing with the
aggressors, he grabbed them and smacked their
heads together, then carried his helpless comrade
down the hill to safety. The Medal of Honor series
is a production of Veterans Radio. Are you a
veteran or a military spouse interested in starting
or growing an existing business? Then you want
to connect with VetBizCentral, Michigan's only
veteran business resource center providing free
one -on -one business counseling services including
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business development through the U .S. Small
Business Administration Office of Veteran Business
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at vetbizcentral .com. or call 810 -767 -VETS.
And we're back here on Veterans Radio with our
monthly benefits program, and we're talking with
Carol Ann Fauston from Legal Help for Veterans
and Michael Smith, who is the executive director
of the Washtenaw County Veterans Service Office.
We were talking about aid and dependence and
I know that there are many other things going
on out there in addition to that one. Is there
anything that the veteran should be aware of
right now that I don't know if there are any
new benefits or if that they could apply for
or to see what's available to them. Sometimes
we just don't know what all the good. All the
good things that the VA is trying to do for people,
we're just not aware of all of the possibilities.
Is there anything that the two of you have been
running into lately? Well, I think we talked
a little bit about it last month. But I think
it's been brought to my attention recently, change
of name. change of address has been causing some
real problems in that all the VA systems don't
talk to each other. And sometimes you send your
name in and you change your address, but the
other system doesn't recognize it. And you don't
get a letter for an exam or a decision. And you
find out maybe a little too late, some time has
passed by. So I think it's really important to
share with someone that could either make sure
that the proper paperwork was sent in or some
phone calls could be made. But I've been seeing
that recently. And I got a question the other
day with how come you know, I'm getting two conflicting
answers regarding a rating. And so when we researched
it back, it was because the address was they
had moved. And so that's what I see. I haven't
seen any new presumptives coming across any big
decisions. I think we're kind of waiting to see
what Congress is going to do on a few issues.
That's about all that I know of. Michael, any
changes with anything? No, nothing really new.
We're just waiting for, obviously, the VA to
promulgate the rules for how they're going to
approach the three new presumptive conditions
for exposure to Agent Orange or herbicides, such
as Parkinson's, like disease, bladder cancer,
and what's the other one? Hypertension. Hypertension
didn't get passed. Hypertension didn't get passed.
It was Parkinson's -like, oh, hypothyroidism,
and yeah, and bladder cancer. Right. So we're
waiting for, we're basically waiting for the
VA to promulgate their rules so we know how,
so we know how they're going to process their
claims and how so that their employees will know
how they're going to process those claims. There's
some things coming out right now already about
the Nehmer decision and the Nehmer court decision
always holds on those Asian orange or herbicide
related claims for survivors and veterans regarding
the effective dates for certain claims for certain
veterans. But other than that, you mentioned
or you asked Are there certain programs similar
to aid and attendance? Well, I first want to
remind folks that the veteran was receiving,
in this case scenario that we were talking about,
the veteran was receiving special monthly compensation
for his need for aid and attendance. But there's
also special monthly pension for the need of
aid and attendance. And we want to make sure
that people understand that there's a distinction
between the how and when aid and attendance is
considered as a benefit and under which benefits
they're paid. There's also a veteran who is receiving
compensation and has a spouse who's in need of
aid and attendance. And the veteran gets paid.
under compensation they don't do that under pension.
So we have now again that special monthly compensation
for aid and attendance or that special monthly
pension for aid and attendance or the VA is paying
a veteran who's receiving compensation additional
benefits for having a spouse who's in need of
aid and attendance is in consideration of the
the cost associated with that kind of care out
in the market. So, you know, with that being
said, similarly, the VA looks and considers people
either under the pension program or the compensation
side as being housebound. Again, housebound being
another special monthly compensation for those
who are receiving compensation. And then again,
special monthly pension for those who are being
considered or who are receiving pension program.
It's just another way that the VA approaches
considering a person's health and its impact
on his or her ability to be mobile, to be out
and about. If they're relegated to their home,
other than going to doctor's visits, or they
had a rating of 100 % for one medical condition
and 60 % for others combined, 60 and higher,
then they're considered housebound for both pension
and, so the rating, side of it in terms of how
a person is considered housebound or even how
a person is considered in need of aid attendance,
that rating activity is pretty similar. But again,
it impacts two different benefits and the payments
are significantly different, definitely. Okay,
I got a question to send to us. If a veteran
is receiving benefits, I'm assuming this question.
I'm losing your connection Michael a little bit
You're you're frozen up on me. Can you can you
go out and come back in again? Okay anyway, the
question is that if a veteran is receiving benefits,
I'm assuming Is there a way to get spousal support
from the VA? Carolyn, I'll ask you that question.
It depends on, and I think Michael sort of alluded
to this, but there are some benefits that the
spouse could get benefits for. But, you know,
they could be buried. There's DIC that we talked
about before. But theoretically, the majority
of the benefits are for the veteran. It's pretty
unusual and kudos to the VA for opening up the
COVID vaccine to family members. It just tells
how important it is to get this pandemic under
control. that the VA is offering that benefit
to families and loved ones because that hasn't
happened as far as I know in the past. Right.
Right. I got I got another question for you.
And that was this one came on a text and it's
and it's a homeless veteran. And I guess the
problem is that the homeless veteran doesn't
have have a state ID. But the main thing that
he needs is his 214, correct? That's the thing
that gets you in the door. Well, that's what
gets you in the door. But if you have a homeless
veteran, I would encourage him. Too bad you didn't
ask that question when Dr. Kreisman and Ann Arbor
in Detroit were on the phone. They have a center.
They've got a homeless coordinator. If you walk
in and say, yo, I'm a veteran and I'm in need
of some help, They could help to start to facilitate
that. Yes, you're right. You need a DD 214. You
need a license. But if you're homeless, you need
a boatload of resources. So we got to start the
working issues. We got to get them some help
so that we got to get them into a system to start
helping them. And, you know, the county counselors
are great, the veteran service organizations.
But we need to, you know, they need to be recognized
in that position, Dale. It's not so easy. Just
to go out and say, okay if you're homeless, you
know, I but I need my DD 214 until I get it You
know, I'm gonna remain homeless, but there's
there's some other resources we could kick in
and use and we have before Okay, I'm just saying
this this message came from he's up in Bay City
So that would be the Saginaw VA that he probably
would want to go into Right. Yes. Okay, and there's
homeless coordinators. Um, you know, I Think
it's really important that you reach out and
you just start somewhere to talk to somebody.
County counselors are fabulous to help with any
individuals who are state of Michigan. OK, well,
I'll pass this along because it was sent to somebody
who was sent to me. So we're getting out there.
People are responding to our program and are
trying to help people out as much as we possibly
can. And so we will answer your questions even
you know doesn't have to be in the last Sunday
of the month Please just you can go to veterans
radio and click on the contact us button and
let us know and we'll pass these along to our
experts and That so far There's never been anybody
who hasn't they haven't been able to help out
or at least give them my right answer You know
what Dale and it's like I just had sort of an
epiphany. You know, we've got our state veterans
homes, which are fabulous. And the Grand Rapids
has the domiciliary unit. I can't tell you how
many veterans we housed at that. So for this
veteran, call the Department of Military and
Veterans Affairs. Call 1 -800 -MISH -VET and
identify him or her as homeless needing some
resources. And we could hopefully get this veteran
some help. We'll work on it. That's for darn
sure. Okay, I think we got what about four minutes?
Three minutes to go. Oh, so let me hang on the
line here for a second. I got to get this We
got to get announce our winner here for the US
wings jacket before we run out of time Yay, so
we have a winner here and her name is Judith
and Kara vu C -A -R -I -V -E -A -U, and she's
an Air Force veteran living in Colowee, North
Carolina. Yeah, wherever that is, so I guess
we'll find out. But she served in, as I said,
the United States Air Force. She was at Lackland,
Francis E. Warren, and Travis Air Force Base.
So, Judith, we will be contracting you and put
you in touch with US Wings down in Hudson, Ohio.
Get your size and address, and they'll send that
dude. Brand -new flight jacket out to you again
I encourage people to go to our website click
on the flight jacket register to win and we'll
be giving another one away at the end of May
and also at the end of May we will have another
benefits program with Carol Anne and Michael
and Hopefully we can get some questions from
you and you can help us out by helping you out
Same thing. So let me see. I got another chat
question here Nope, okay Not to find that out
from Marcus for next month's program So any closing
comments from either one of you? These months
seem like they're going quicker, please audience
if you have questions We do Michael and I have
done Stuff behind the scenes. We've answered
questions. So if you get a question, you've got
a burning issue Get it to Dale and he will give
it to us. No sense waiting a whole month if something
is going on and we could help you Right That's
right. Yes, and we strongly encourage obviously
just by the Complexity of some of our questions
is that you really do need to contract a veteran
service officer? wherever you live To see if
they can help you out because this is these are
roadmaps that lead to circles and cul -de -sacs
and roundabouts and everything else. So we encourage
you to get the help that you can. The other thing
we have one minute to go is I wanted to bring
up is that for your Veterans Evaluation Services,
evidently now when you are doing your compensation
exams and so forth, they've outsourced that to
a company called Veterans Evaluation Services.
And so if you get a letter, looking for that.
It's not fake, folks. It's make sure you follow
the letter that you get because if you don't,
your claim could be not necessarily denied, but
it would be put to the bottom of the pile. So
make sure you do that. We are going to, as I
mentioned, we want to thank all of our sponsors
here on Veterans Radio, Legal Health for Veterans,
MVVDC, Eisenhower Center, US Wings, the Ann Arbor
VA. We want to make sure that we thank them,
too. Follow us on Facebook. We'll be back next
week with another brand new story for you here
on Veterans Radio. You are dismissed. Lucky Land
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