Sonny Perdue Governor Veterans Bulletin Georgia Department of Veterans Service Georgia Veterans...guardians of liberty Winter 2006 - 2007 Pete Wheeler Commissioner Georgians Here Helping Georgians There! SDVS crossed the Atlantic Ocean in December 2006 to share veteran benefits information with government officials of a foreign country with a similar name. In response to an invitation from the Georgia National Guard, SDVS participated in a U. S. European Command's Military to Military Program which is taking place with the Republic of Georgia. Commissioner Wheeler sent Assistant Commissioner Len Glass to the capital of Tbilisi, for a four day conference to brief officials from their Ministry of Defense as well as the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs on veterans programs currently available and supported by both the VA and SDVS. Accompanying Mr. Glass was Major Bobby L. Christine, Staff Judge Advocate, Georgia Army National Guard, and Associate Magistrate Judge in Columbia County, Georgia who discussed legal affairs programs available to active duty as well as veterans in the state. Glass presented a translated version of the department's power point slides to brief and familiarize attendees about the SDVS mission, organization, and veteran programs/benefits (see back page). Following a similar presentation from the host nation attendees, an ongoing discussion and analysis of their veterans needs, primarily in the areas of health care and rehabilitation services, resulted in several positive recommendations for the future. The week was highlighted by an Len Glass, center, with: Teimuraz Chachava, Section Chief, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (on left); and David Tabatadze, Chief of Health and Social Dept., Ministry of Defense office visit with Mr. Nugzar Tsagareishvili, Deputy Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs (who currently serves as Director of Veterans Affairs). He was given a desk side overview of the SDVS presentation; and given a copy of the translated briefing slides. Having earlier expressed an interest in seeing his Division become a separate and independent MinisOutside the Ministry of Defense Headquarters try as part of the national government, Mr. Glass provided the Deputy Minister with a copy of Title 38, O.C.G.A. which establishes the Georgia Department of Veterans Service as a separate agency in Georgia state government with the invitation to utilize it as guide to assist him in accomplishing this goal. Office visit with Nugzar Tsagareishvili, Deputy Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs Minister Tsagareishvili, expresses his thanks. View from Rustaveli Avenue, toward Freedom Square, downtown Tbilisi Metekhi Church of the Assumption, Tbilisi, Georgia, Circa 1278 Mounument to St. Gregory the Dragon Slayer, centerpiece of Freedom Square Below, a familiar name in an unfamiliar place. Kura River Valley, North of Tbilisi McDonald's Anchiskhati Basilica of St. Mary Circa 522 A.D., on the outskirts north of Tbilisi One of the many theatres located on Rustaveli Avenue in the heart of Tbilisi; displays an example of Byzantine architecture Georgia Veterans...guardians of liberty VA Spends Over $2 Billion in Georgia During 2006 GDVS News Release, January 20007 According to fiscal year figures recently obtained from the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Georgia veterans who qualified under federal law shared in about $2.17 billion in VA benefits during 2006. "It represents an increase of almost $200 million in VA funds over fiscal year 2005," pointed out Georgia Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Pete Wheeler. "This is especially good news for those veterans and dependents living on fixed incomes because these payments are tax exempt." Included in the increase was about $88 million more in compensation and pension money, $56 million more in additional health care assistance, and more than $5 million increase in education benefits. As of September 2005, VA estimates Georgia's veteran population at 757,070. During 2006, some 165,000 Georgia veterans received health care through the VA's Medical Centers and Outpatient Clinics located in the state. Currently, there are more than 130,000 veterans, surviving spouses and dependents receiving compensation or pension benefits from the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Commissioner Wheeler reminds Georgia veterans, "No VA benefit is paid automatically. They all must be applied for and the Georgia Department of Veterans Service is available to assist with that application process." Locations of Department of Veterans Service offices may be found under state government in the local telephone directory or on the department's web site at www.sdvs.georgia.gov. Veterans Receive Cost-Of-Living Increase in Benefits VA News Release, January, 2007 In January, millions of veterans and eligible family members saw an increase in their monthly disability compensation, pension, and survivors' benefits check as the VA provided a 3.3 percent cost-of-living increase for key federal benefits. Under the veterans disability compensation program, tax-free payments will generally range from $115 to $2,471 per month depending on the degree of disability. Special payments up to $7,070 per month apply to the most severely injured veterans. Pension disability benefits will also be increased by the same percentage and effective on the same date. The maximum annual rate for permanently and totally disabled veterans can range from $10,929 to $18,234. Payments under this program are based on household income. This increase also applies to survivors of veterans who died in service or from a service-connected disability. Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) survivors' benefit payments can range from $1,067 to $2,443 per month. Survivors of wartime veterans receiving death pension are also entitled to an increase. The maximum annual payment rate for a surviving spouse can range from $7,329 to $11,715. Benefits under this program are intended to bring an eligible spouse's income to a level established by law. Under each benefit program, additional allowances may be payable for helpless, minor or school age children. For more information about this and other VA benefits go to www.sdvs.georgia.gov to locate the nearest SDVS field office. Georgia Veterans...guardians of liberty FY '08 Landmark VA Budget VA News Release, February, 2007 The President's landmark FY '08 budget request for $86.75 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) honors the nation's commitment to America's veterans. Most of the budget is targeted for the Department's health care system and disability compensation programs. This budget proposal represents a 77 percent increase from the overall budget in effect when the President took office in FY '01 and more than an 83 percent increase in health care spending. The budget continues the President's commitment for VA to work closely with the Department of Defense to ensure that service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and their families receive timely, high-quality services and benefits. VA will continue to provide worldclass health care to an estimated 5.8 million patients, including 263,000 veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The FY '08 budget proposal includes $750 million for capital improvements to its health care facilities, bringing the total to $3.7 billion during the last five years. The FY '08 proposal includes funding for major construction projects in Denver; Las Vegas; Lee County, Fla.; Orlando, Fla.; Pittsburgh; and Syracuse, N.Y. The FY '08 budget request calls for nearly $3 billion in mental health services to continue improvements in access to a full continuum of care for veterans with mental health problems, including comprehensive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Funding for extended care services will reach $4.6 billion in FY '08, of which 90 percent will be for institutional long-term care and 10 percent for non-institutional care. The FY '08 budget proposal includes nearly $192 million in construction funding to support VA's burial program. Resources are included to establish six new national cemeteries in Bakersfield, Calif.; Birmingham, Ala.; Columbia-Greenville, S.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Sarasota, Fla.; and southeastern Pennsylvania. This budget also includes funds for a gravesite development project at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio and $32 million in grants for the construction of state veterans cemeteries. Continued on Page 8 About hundred locals joined the military at the Georgia Veteran Memorial Cemetery Milledgeville in December to participate in "Wreaths Across America," a nationwide ceremony to remember and honor those currently serving and all who have served. Six wreaths were laid in recognition of the Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, Coast Guard and POW/MIA. An Army Honor Detail from Fort Gordon performed a 21-Gun Salute and Taps. Also represented were Navy and Marine units from Kings Bay, Air Force personnel from Robins Air Base, the Georgia Civil Air Patrol, the Baldwin County High School JROTC color guard and about 50 flag decorated motorcycle riders from Georgia's Patriot Guard. The Worchester Wreath Company of Maine, which donates the holiday wreaths, began this program fifteen years ago at Arlington National Cemetery to honor all those who are buried there. Since then all national and many state veterans cemeteries across the country have joined in the remembrance event. More information about this nationwide ceremony can be found at www.wreaths-across-america.org . Georgia Veterans...guardians of liberty Highlights from 2006 Supermarket of Veterans Benefits Georgia National Guard Armory, Augusta Georgia Veterans...guardians of liberty Delegates from DAV VFW Delegation The American Legion Delegation Georgia Veterans...guardians of liberty Georgia Veterans...guardians of liberty Ensuring a Seamless Transition The President's FY '08 budget request provides the resources necessary to fulfill a commitment making as smooth and seamless as possible the transition of service members from the active duty military to civilian life. Secretary Nicholson announced plans to create a special Advisory Committee on OIF/OEF Veterans and Families. The panel, with membership including veterans, spouses and parents of the latest generation of combat veterans, will report directly to the VA Secretary. The committee will focus on the concerns of all men and women with active military service in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom, but will pay particular attention to severely disabled veterans and their families. VA has placed workers at key military hospitals where severely injured service members from Iraq and Afghanistan are frequently sent for care. These include counselors who help service members obtain VA benefits as well as social workers who facilitate health care coordination and discharge planning as service members transition from military to VA health care. World-Class Health Care The President's FY '08 budget proposal requests $36.6 billion for VA's health care program. This is more than 83 percent higher than the FY `01 budget in place at the beginning of the administration. With these resources, VA will be able to treat an estimated 5.8 million patients. In 2008, about 75 percent of all veteran patients are expected to be those who count on VA the most (Priority 1-6 veterans). The President's budget request also includes $750 million to continue the recommendations of a 2004 report designed to modernize VA's health care system. This historic transformation means that VA will be able to provide greater access to high-quality care well into the future. For example, the FY '08 budget includes funding to complete construction of a new $600 million VA medical center in Las Vegas. VA's health care system continues to be the nation's leader in delivering safe, accessible, and high-quality care that sets the national benchmark for excellence in health care. Last year, Harvard University recognized VA's computerized patient records system by awarding the Department the prestigious "Innovations in American Government Award." VA's electronic health records have been an important element in making VA health care the benchmark for nearly 300 measures of disease prevention and treatment in the country. In addition, for the seventh consecutive year, VA has set the Georgia Veterans...guardians of liberty public and private sector standard for health care satisfaction on the American Customer Satisfaction Index conducted by the National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan. Patients included in the study gave VA health care higher marks than those received by private-sector facilities for medical services provided in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Responding Financially to Disabled Veterans The President's budget proposal for FY '08 will enable VA to address the large growth in the number of claims for compensation and pension benefits, while at the same time increasing the processing accuracy of these most challenging and increasingly complex compensation claims. The Department expects to improve the timeliness of processing these claims to 145 days in FY '08 while raising the accuracy of adjudicated claims to 90 percent. The budget includes funds for disability payments to more than 3.7 million veterans and surviving family members in FY `08, or more than 5 percent above the number at the end of FY `06. Key program improvements will affect both the education, and vocational rehabilitation and employment programs. The timeliness of processing original education claims will significantly improve during the next two years, falling from 40 days in FY '06 to a projected 25 days in FY '08. In addition, VA expects to increase to 75 percent the share of disabled veterans successfully completing the vocational rehabilitation and employment program. Cemeteries are National Shrines With the resources requested in the FY '08 budget, VA will expand access to national and state veterans cemeteries. The Department will increase the percentage of veterans served by a burial option in a national or state veterans cemetery within 75 miles of their residence to 84.6 percent. The FY '08 budget proposal calls for nearly $167 million in operations and maintenance funding for national cemeteries. These resources will ensure VA continues to meet the burial needs of veterans and maintain its national cemeteries as shrines dedicated to preserving the nation's history and honoring veterans' service and sacrifice. Becoming "Gold Standard" in IT Security VA's FY `08 request provides $70.1 million for cyber security to support the Department's objective to become "the gold standard" in IT security. This ongoing initiative involves the development, deployment and maintenance of a set of controls to better secure VA's IT systems. In addition, VA's budget request contains $34.1 million for a new state-of-the-art human resource management system. It will result in an electronic employee record and the capability to produce critical management information in a fraction of the time it now takes using paper-based systems. VA's "Aid and Attendance" Payments an Under-Used Benefit GDVS News Release, February 2007 There is an under-used, special monthly pension benefit available to Georgia's wartime veterans and surviving spouses of deceased wartime veterans incapable of self support and in need of regular personal assistance. "Many wartime veterans and surviving spouses whose incomes are above the federally mandated limit for a basic VA pension may still be eligible for pension at the higher housebound or Aid and Attendance rate," points out Georgia Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Pete Wheeler. "Although this is not a new program, not everyone is aware of his or her potential eligibility." The Aid and Attendance pension benefit may be available to any wartime veterans and surviving spouses who have in-home care or who live in nursing-homes or assisted-living facilities. "Especially helpful if they have large medical expenses that they may not receive reimbursement," noted Commissioner Wheeler. For a wartime veteran or surviving spouse to qualify for this special monthly pension, the veteran must have served at least 90 days of active military service, one day of which was during a period of war, and be discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. Wartime veterans who entered active duty on or after September 8, 1980, (October 16, 1981, for officers) must have completed at least 24 continuous months of military service or the period for which they were ordered to active duty. The Aid and Attendance income threshold for a veteran without dependents is now $18,234 annually. The threshold increases to $21,615 if a veteran has one dependent, and by $1,866 for each additional dependent. The annual Aid and Attendance threshold for a surviving spouse alone is $11,715. This threshold increases to $13,976 if there is one dependent child and by $1,866 for each additional child. Commissioner Wheeler encourages those veterans or spouses who feel they may be eligible to contact the department's field office nearest to where they live for more information and assist on how to go about filing for this benefit. "All our benefits counselors stay ready to advise and assist with this and all matters pertaining to veterans and their dependents," explains Commissioner Wheeler. "Because like most all entitlements, veteran's benefits are not awarded automatically, they must be applied for." Contact information of the nearest field office can be found in the local phone book in the state government section under Department of Veterans Service or through the department's website site at www.sdvs.georgia.gov . All offices are opened from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mondays through Fridays; except on approved state recognized holidays. Georgia Veterans...guardians of liberty VA Health Care System Outscores Private Sector Again VA News Release, January 2007 For the seventh straight year, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has received significantly higher marks than the private health care industry on a leading independent survey of customer satisfaction. The annual results from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) also showed that overall satisfaction of patients for both inpatient and outpatient services increased last year at VA Medical facilities. The new ACSI survey results showed that the VA scored 84 percent in customer satisfaction for inpatient services, up one point from the 2005 rating. The rating of 82 percent for outpatient care was two points higher than last year's mark. VA significantly outscored the private sector in both categories, by 10 points for inpatient care, and eight points for outpatient care. Inpatient and outpatient scores on the 100-point scale also were significantly higher than the average of 71 percent for inpatient and 73 percent for outpatient services for other federal health care systems. VA also scored 94 percent for "veteran's loyalty" and 91 percent for customer service, each a one-point increase over those figures for 2005. "It is very gratifying to know that our veteran patients think so highly of our care," said Dr. Michael J. Kussman, Acting Under Secretary for Health. "Our goal is to provide veterans with the best possible health care. And we're doing just that." The ACSI survey is the latest recognition of VA's high-quality care. Earlier this year, VA won the prestigious "Innovations in American Government" Award from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government for its advances electronic health records system and performance measurement system. Harvard Gives Federal Hospitals Top Grades VA News Release, January, 2007 A comprehensive study by Harvard Medical School concludes that federal hospitals, including those run by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), provide the best care available anywhere for some of the most common lifethreatening illnesses. "This recognition by Harvard should assure veterans of the quality of VA's world-class health care system," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson. "Veterans have earned only the best. And we can prove that's exactly what VA is providing." The study was published December 11 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a journal for health care professionals. Researchers looked at congestive heart failure, heart attack and pneumonia across the health care industry and found that patients in federal facilities are more likely to receive high-quality care than those in for-profit hospitals. Dr. Michael J. Kussman, VA's Acting Under Secretary for Health, said the report is the latest example of VA setting standards for health care in the United States. "This study further demonstrates that VA is providing high quality health care to veterans," Dr. Kussman said. "Our computerized system of electronic health records and performance measurement means that veterans are getting the top-level care and treatment they have earned through service to our country." The study found that hospitals operated by the federal government and the military received higher performance ratings than other hospitals studied. A large percentage of federal hospitals are operated by VA. "This suggests that lessons learned from (VA's) decades-long experience in quality improvement deserve further study," said Dr. Bruce Landon of Harvard, the study's lead author. The study assessed the quality of care for congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction commonly referred to as heart attack -- and pneumonia in more than 4,000 hospitals in the United States. The Harvard Medical School study is the latest recognition of the high quality of VA health care. In 2006, VA received a prestigious "Innovations in American Government" Award from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government for its advanced electronic health records and performance measurement system. Georgia Veterans...guardians of liberty 10 According to Defense Department records there are 1,788 U. S. personnel listed as missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War; an issue that remains a priority within America's national policy. The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia seeks the return of all U.S. prisoners, the fullest possible accounting for those still missing and the repatriation of all recoverable remains. Ms. JoAnne Shirley of Dalton, National Chairwoman of the Board of the National League of Families of POW/MIA, has recently received authorization by all governments involved to visit with top government officials of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia this March about this matter. In a show of support of the POW/MIA issue and that Americans do care about the accountability of those still unaccounted for, we ask that you join in signing the attached petition and distribute for signatures within your local ccommunity. Georgia Veterans...guardians of liberty 11 Examples of the Power-Point slides in the native Republic of Georgia language as presented by Len Glass. Georgia Department of Veterans Service Floyd Veterans Memorial Building E-970 Atlanta, Georgia 30334-4800 PESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 2258 Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Georgia Veterans Bulletin The "Georgia Veterans Bulletin" is published quarterly by the Georgia Department of Veterans Service. Individuals or organizations can be placed on the mailing list by calling (404) 656-5933 or by writing to the Department of Veterans Service, Public Information Division, Floyd Veterans Memorial Building, Room E-970, Atlanta, GA 30334-4800, or e-mail us at ga.vet.svc@mindspring.com Fred Fincher Chairman, Veterans Service Board Pete Wheeler Commissioner Jim Frederick Assistant Commissioner, Claims and Field Operations Len Glass Assistant Commissioner Administrative Service James Jackson Director, Education & Training Brian Zeringue Public Information Manager Shelly-Ann Simpson Editor, Veterans Bulletin