[GreenKeys] Fwd: 021407 - State Benefits not being utilized by Disabled Vets

[Don Robert House]

VA Connects Disabled Vets with State Benefits

By SUZANNE GAMBOA -- Associated Press Writer
Published 11:17 am PST Monday, February 12, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson unveiled a  
plan Monday aimed at ensuring that disabled Veterans, such as those  
severely injured in Iraq or Afghanistan, receive state benefits they  
might not know about because of a federal privacy law.

VA officials will ask severely disabled war Veterans whether they  
want to be contacted by their states' Veterans offices about state- 
offered benefits. If the answer is yes, the VA will share the  
information with a state office that will, in turn, contact the Veteran.

A federal medical privacy law, the Health Insurance Portability and  
Accountability Act, prevents the sharing of such information without  
a patient's permission.
States offer a number of benefits to Veterans, including property tax  
deductions, scholarships, job training, reduced interest loans and  
discounted fees for driver's, hunting and other licenses. States also  
run their own Veterans cemeteries and Veterans nursing homes, and  
many states extend benefits to spouses and families of people killed  
or injured in war.

"We want every service member and Veteran who has a severe illness or  
injury incurred while in defense of our country to receive every  
benefit to which he or she is entitled," Nicholson said.

Nicholson said the VA would like to provide the service to all  
retiring Veterans eventually.

Some Veterans eligible for state benefits don't seek them. For  
instance, John Garcia, president of the National Association of State  
Directors of Veterans Affairs, said it took him 30 years after  
returning from the Vietnam War in 1969 to muster the courage to ask  
for his benefits.

"I think each one of us wants to ensure with this partnership that  
those young men and women coming home from Iraq don't have to wait 30  
years," Garcia said.
The effort began with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who visited Iraq  
and Afghanistan and wanted his state's Veterans office to help troops  
planning on living in Florida. Ten severely disabled Veterans were  
put in touch with the state's Veterans office during a four-month  
tryout of the plan in Florida.

"The largest benefit I've seen so far, which is very huge, is  
forgiveness of taxes on their homes," said LeRoy Collins Jr.,  
executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs.

James Nier, Texas Veterans Commission executive director, said his  
state already informs National Guard and Reserve troops about  
benefits to which they're entitled.

"They don't want to come forward themselves. Some have lots of family  
problems. Those in the Guard and Reserve, sometimes they return to  
their jobs and their pay is cut in half or they're in danger of  
losing their home," Nier said.

He acknowledged that more advertising of benefits may mean more costs  
for the state. "Everything costs money, no doubt about it," he said.  
"It's just a program that needs to be in place."