Blog: News & Insights

The Department of Veterans Affairs has lauched an online library of veteran-specific health information, called the Veterans Health Library.  The website can be accessed at http://www.veteranshealthlibrary.org/. I had an opportunity to review some of the material and one of the best parts of the Veterans Health Library is the “medication” section.  Many of the veterans we represent...

As the linked Bloomberg article documents, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to increase the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) budget to $157.8 billion.  This represents a $13 billion increase from the VA’s current budget. Included in this increase is authorization to hire ninety-four (94) new employees to help address the well-documented backlog in VA disability and...

As the linked Washington Post obituary documents, Senator Frank Lautenberg passed away today at the age of eighty-nine (89).  Regardless of your politics, Senator Lautenberg’s legacy as a five-term congressman cannot be overstated.  His demeanor — which I find defines the personality of most of U.S. servicemembers — was described by his former press secretary as:  “He’s a...

A while ago I wrote that New Jersey was taking the federal funds to expand Medicaid to those under 138% of poverty. This is based on  a person’s Modified Adjusted Gross Income–no asset test, no lookback.  if you are an adult tax dependant and you think you are earning less than this, consider filing your own return, or talk to an accountant. Many of our clients and their families...

The linked KTVU article documents an a “Hackathon” event intended to provide veterans a conduit between their military service and entry into the technology field.  Despite its somewhat nefarious name, the event did not involve assisting veterans hack into bank computers or steal folk’s private identity information (PII).  Instead, Vets In Tech events are intended to raise...

The following The Week article documents seven stories about veterans in honor of Memorial Day.  While I realize those anecdotes are seemingly insignificant compared to articles concerning the Department of Veterans Affairs’ backlog and various accounts of Memorial Day parades that occurred over the weekend, I thought this article most closely defines how veterans are interwoven through...

As detailed in the linked NJ.Com Article, the New Jersey Military and Veterans Affairs Committee passed a resolution that recognizes the need to strengthen healthcare coverage for veterans living in South Jersey.  The resolution, SCR142, makes ten recommendations to the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve healthcare coverage for those veterans who are otherwise receiving treatment in...

Today’s elder of the day has just set the record for oldest person to scale Mount Everest; but watch out, there is an 81-year old Nepalese man scheduled to overtake him tomorrow!  The climber was able to reach the summit despite four heart surgeries and a broken hip!

On May 22, 2013, the House of Representatives Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held a hearing entiled, “Expediting Claims or Exploiting Statistics?:  An Examination of VA’s Special Initiative to Process Rating Claims Pending Over Two Years.”  The hearing can be accessed at...

On May 17, 2013, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) issued an opinion in Beraud v. Shinseki.  The primary issue involved the application of 38 C.F.R. §3.156(b) and whether an intervening rating decision rendered an earlier pending claim final for the purposes of an earlier effective date of award.  This is an issue that has application to a large percentage of the cases I handle...