What's New
| Presdent Obama Donated $250,000 of Nobel Prize Money to Fisher House |
March 11, 2010, Washington, DC (New York Times) - President Obama made good on his promise to give his $1.4 million Nobel Prize money to charity, releasing the names on Thursday of the organizations that will benefit. |
| Read more... |
| Dr. Haley at UTSW Presents Compelling Brain Images Showing Gulf War Illness |
VCS Asks VA: Since UTSW Research Remains Vital to Understanding Gulf War Illness, Then Why Did a Handful of VA Staff in Washington Impede UTSW Contract and Then End Funding for UTSW? March 9, 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah (Science News) - Nearly two decades after vets began returning from the Middle East complaining of Gulf War Syndrome, the federal government has yet to formally accept that their vague jumble of symptoms constitutes a legitimate illness. Here, at the Society of Toxicology annual meeting, yesterday, researchers rolled out a host of brain images – various types of magnetic-resonance scans and brain-wave measurements – that they say graphically and unambiguously depict Gulf War Syndrome. |
| Read more... |
| March 9 VCS Weekly Update |
This week’s VCS update keeps you in the loop with news on issues you care about. One good change – our weekly news updates won’t ask you for money. Instead, our news updates point you to news articles at our web site. We hope you will read them and share the important facts with your friends. This week's update includes news about VA and suicides, VCS on CNN, our VCS FOIA campaign, VA automating Agent Orange claims, a waterboarding torture video, and Gulf War veterans' benefits. |
| Read more... |
| Federal Court Keeps Torture Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld Alive |
What's Waterboarding? Watch Video of Torture March 5, 2010, Chicago, Illinois (Associated Press) - A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a civil lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of responsibility for the alleged torture by U.S. forces of two Americans who worked for an Iraqi contracting firm. [Rumsfeld served at the Pentagon under former President George W. Bush.] |
| Read more... |
| Reducing Suicides: VA Adopts Policy on Emergency Care for Mental Health Patients |
This Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Directive provides policy to ensure the provision of safe and secure mental health services during all hours of operation for Emergency Departments (EDs) and Urgent Care Clinics (UCCs) in VHA |
| Read more... |
|
Shinseki: VA working to resolve GI Bill issues
Written by Kimberly Hefling
Monday, 28 September 2009 09:26
|
|
|
|
|
September 26, 2009 - Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said Friday he's hopeful that many of the tens of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans awaiting payment under the new GI Bill will get paid next month.
Shinseki said veterans were right in complaining about delays under the newly enacted Post 9/11 GI Bill, which was the largest expansion of education benefits since World War II. He said a good portion of the delays stem from the wait as universities send in final counts on veterans' class work after drop-and-add periods end. He's hopeful that as that period ends, most veterans will get issues resolved in October. "We're very much using this as sort of a lessons learned process for how we adjust next time," Shinseki said. Meanwhile, the agency has reassigned staff members and has claims processors working overtime. He said the process will be automated next year, which should make it more efficient. He said the agency is also working with Congress and veterans service organizations on possible solutions. Since May 1, the VA has said that more than 277,000 claims for benefits have been filed under the new GI Bill, and more than a quarter of those are pending. The average processing time is 34 days. "This is good news that kids are taking advantage of it. They're lining up to go to school. This is wonderful," Shinseki said. Shinseki spoke in an interview with The Associated Press after delivering an address at the Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference.
|