News

BY CHRIS ADAMS
McClatchy Washington Bureau | February 27, 2014

WASHINGTON — The average time for a denied claim to work its way through the cumbersome Department of Veterans Affairs appeals process shot up to more than 900 days last year, double the department’s long-term target.

After hovering between 500 and 750 days for the past decade, what the VA refers to as its “appeals resolution time” hit 923 days in fiscal 2013. That was a 37 percent jump in one year, from 675 in fiscal 2012, according to a review of the department’s annual performance report.

By HENRY C. JACKSON  Associated Press
January 08, 2014 - 5:47 pm EST

WASHINGTON — Sen. John Hoeven on Wednesday joined a push to restore cuts to the pensions of working-age U.S. military retirees that were included in last month's budget agreement.

Hoeven joined several other Republicans in seeking the payments be restored in a bill extending long-term unemployment benefits that the Senate is considering.

"Whether you talk to Republicans or Democrats ... there was a commitment to fix this," Hoeven said. "We should do it."

Decades after the end of the U.S. war in Vietnam, more than one in 10 American veterans from the conflict still experience at least some symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, according to a new study.

One third of veterans with PTSD also suffer from major depressive disorder, the research team reports in JAMA Psychiatry.

The number of Vietnam veterans affected by the chemical Agent Orange is astonishing. Roughly 300-thousand veterans have died from Agent Orange exposure -- that's almost five times as many as the 58-thousand who died in combat.

“Did it save lives? No doubt. Over there it did, but nobody knew it was going to be taking them later,” said Dan Stenvold, President of the North Dakota branch of the VVA.

The Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) define Agent Orange as a highly toxic herbicide used by the U.S. military to kill vegetation during the Vietnam War.

Posted 5:11 pm, January 20, 2015, by Tak Landrock, Updated at 10:31am, January 21, 2015

DENVER — Veterans Affairs executives in charge of four hospital projects currently over budget and years behind schedule were given bonuses, despite the administration admitting failures in their jobs.

By Grace Lyden on Nov 19, 2014 at 11:25 p.m.
Forum Reporter

MOORHEAD - After more than a year of living in motels, Melissa Rood has a home again.

It took that long because every time Rood, 53, applied for an apartment, landlords rejected her based on bad credit and a poor reference. A previous property owner claimed she owed rent and other fees, which she plans to dispute in court.

By Leo Shane | 3:37 PM, Oct. 21, 2014

All veterans aren’t homeless washouts. But Got Your Six officials worry that many Americans see them that way.

In a new survey by the campaign, almost half of respondents shown a picture of a homeless man identified him as likely a veteran. Researchers say that stereotype is not only misleading, but also indicates a deep and disturbing stereotype of how service members adjust to post-military life.

Dennis Wagner, The Republic | azcentral.com 
3:22 p.m. MST September 10, 2014

A Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general's report on delayed health care at the Phoenix VA medical center used a standard to evaluate patient deaths that would be virtually impossible to meet, according to medical experts.

By Patricia Kime
Military Times Staff writer
Jul. 30, 2014 - 02:19 PM

Two advocacy groups are suing the Veterans Affairs Department for what they say are the department’s discriminatory practices regarding compensation claims related to service-connected sexual assault.