2/503d VIETNAM Newsletter - October 2009, Issue 7

2/503d VIETNAM Newsletter October 2009 / Issue 7 For the men, and their families, of the 2d Battalion, 173d Airborne Brigade (Sep) ~ We Try Harder! Secretary Shinseki Announces New Efforts to Explore Health Consequences of Service in Vietnam September 14, 2009 WASHINGTON -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced today plans to begin additional research by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to better understand the health consequences of service in Vietnam. “The National Vietnam Veterans Longitudinal Study (NVVLS) will allow VA to pursue another valuable research tool,” Secretary Shinseki said. “The insight we gain from this study will help give us an understanding of how to better serve America’s Veterans.” NVVLS will study the Vietnam generation’s physical and psychological health. The new study will supplement research already underway at VA, including studies on PTSD and on the health of women Vietnam Veterans. This is a follow-up study to a previous one that concluded in 1988. VA has begun work to solicit bids to conduct the study, which is expected to run from 2011 through 2013. VA is responsible for providing federal benefits to Veterans and their families. VA is the second largest of the 15 cabinet departments and operates nationwide programs for health care, financial assistance and burial benefits. The VA health care system operates more than 1,400 sites of care; nearly 5.5 million people received care in VA health care facilities in 2008. Facts About VA Disability Compensation Disability compensation for veterans is not subject to federal or state tax. About 80 percent of veterans receive their VA benefits by direct deposit, which VA recommends for security reasons. Veterans are rated at increments of 10 percent reflecting degree of disability. As federal regulations summarize the underlying principle, “The percentage ratings represent as far as can practicably be determined the average impairment in earning capacity resulting from such diseases and injuries and their residual conditions.” The largest category of veterans on the compensation scale is at 10 percent disability ($123. per month), with 782,000 veterans at this rate at the beginning of fiscal year 2009, among the millions of veterans receiving disability compensation. The criteria for rating the severity of various disabilities are available online at http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/ waisidx_07/38cfr4_07.html As medical knowledge, laws and procedures change, VA regularly publishes proposed changes to these criteria in the Federal Register for public comment before a final regulation is adopted. Where a veteran has more than one disability, the percentages are not simply added together to produce a new rating. Instead, a formula described in federal regulations calculates the overall rating. (Vets often refer to this as “VA Math”, where 20+20+20 does not equal 60. Ed.) A veteran may be rated at zero percent, meaning there is evidence of a service-connected condition, but it does not impair the veteran. An example is a minor scar. This zero percent rating, though not compensable, can be beneficial, since it may raise the veteran’s priority in other VA programs such as heal care eligibility. In addition, it may be reviewed for a higher rating if the condition worsens. Page 1 of 10