3 Ao Presumptives Published ?

[vperl]

Someone needs to check this out...

Canton Daily Ledger Posted May 03, 2010 @ 05:56 PM LEWISTOWN — On Oct. 13, 2009, the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced his decision to establish presumption of service connection for three additional illnesses (Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease, and B cell leukemia) associated with Agent Orange/herbicide exposure in Vietnam.

On March 25, 2010, the VA published a proposed regulation in the Federal Register as part of the process to implement the decision to add those three diseases to the list of presumptive conditions related to Agent Orange/herbicide exposure.

The final regulation will affect a large number of Vietnam veterans, estimated to be at least 200,000 veterans.

"This is an important step forward in ensuring that Vietnam veterans are justly compensated for the adverse effects suffered by exposure to Agent Orange during their service to our country," said Andy Fyffe, superintendent of Fulton County Veterans Assistance Commission, in a press release.

Veteran service officers should file presumptive claims now for these conditions without waiting for the completion of the regulation process, the press release from Fyffe added. Filing these claims prior to the publication of the final regulation is important for effective purposes and it also allows VA to start the claims development process (conducting VA examinations, requesting supporting evidence, etc.) to allow for timely adjudication once the final regulation has been published.

Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation (VA&R) staff are in the process of reviewing the proposed regulation for public comment. A more detailed VA&R Bulletin containing effective date and other information will be issued following the publication of the final regulation.

In the meantime, direct questions or concerns to Ian de Planque, assistant director for Claims Service, VA&R, at ideplanque@legion.org or (202) 263-5762 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (202) 263-5762 end_of_the_skype_highlighting; or contact the Fulton County Veterans Assistance office at 309-547-7262 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 309-547-7262 end_of_the_skype_highlighting for a copy of the official bulletin released by the VA.

Also, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has issued a warning in American Legion Bulletin 16-10 to veterans not to disclose personal information over the phone to callers claiming to update, confirm, or verify VA-related information.

VA reports the fraudulent caller's mode of operation include asking for credit card numbers, bank routing number, and other personal and financial information. A recent fraudulent call reported by a veteran included the caller claiming to be a VA employee and stating that the veteran's medical card had expired. The caller would then ask the veteran to submit a check over the phone to renew the medical card.

VA warns to be leery of any call originating from (888) 555-1234 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (888) 555-1234 end_of_the_skype_highlighting for it is the number identified in the case above.Veterans with questions about VA services should contact the Veterans Administration at (877) 222-8387 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (877) 222-8387 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or their nearest VA medical center.

The Fulton County VAC office is located at 132 N. Adams St., Lewistown.

Copyright 2010 Canton Daily Ledger. Some rights reserved http://www.cantondailyledger.com/news/x1540368784/VA-publishes-proposed-Agent-Orange-presumption-regulation-for-conditions-warns-veterans-about-fraudulent-callers

[vperl]

Not all of the 3 AO's will be awarded the same percentages, the VA has the regs for those that wish to know about the 3 AO presumptives

[Donna]

Has there been any movement on the AO 3 rules?

[Honibe]

The M21R is not a regulation, It is a working guide for the VA employees to do their jobs. The controlling factor is the title 38 cfr. In this spacific case it would be effective dates and these effect each Vet differently according to their period of service and the type of claim th ey have, Direct, Presumptive and ect.

You have quoted informal claim and I see your point but I do re iterate that the effective date is the date the claim is filed or the date the entitlement arose, whichever is later and the VA will usually go back a year if the latter happens or to the date of a spacific diagnosis or test.

J

Agreed. And the VA has just opened and hired hundreds of people to man calls and take calls from vets about thier claims. Instead of getting a specific regional office, a veteran now gets a call center. These people are being trained make claims calls and follow-up calls about claims. (yes they are trainees and no they don't know everything). But they can take information and forward to the VSR who is personally handling your claim and they get the messages to the VSR in real time, they can even call the VSR's extension and hook you up if they want to. This is very different than in the old days of even a year ago.

For vets who have been denied one of the 3 new presumptive conditions secondary to AO Herbicide exposure, it is very IMPORTANT that they RE-OPEN their denied claims, to get a NEW date of claim. Because, at this point the VA does not intent to go back and contact veterans that have been previously denied for one of these conditions. Yes, they can do this by calling the 800#.

[aboogger]

This is a response to an email that was sent to Gen. Shineski about the New Rule

On behalf of Secretary Shinseki, thank you for your note. We appreciate your concern. There has been a great deal of confusion in the public concerning the Secretary’s announcement that he intended to create presumptive service connections for three diseases linked to Agent Orange. It’s unfortunate that the media coverage did not include an explanation that the law requires VA to publish both a proposed rule and a final rule in the Federal Register before the Secretary’s decision can be implemented.

Under the laws and executive orders governing the Federal rulemaking process, it normally takes agencies about two years to publish final regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations, although the Agent Orange statute in this case prescribes a much shorter timeframe. We are attempting to reconcile those laws so that veterans will not be adversely affected by delays in the Federal rulemaking process. This regulation is one of our highest priorities and we hope to complete it in less than half the time normally required, by expediting its processing within VA and by asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to shorten their required review period.

We published the proposed rule, 2900-AN54, Diseases Associated With Exposure to Certain Herbicide Agents (Hairy Cell Leukemia and other Chronic B Cell Leukemias, Parkinson’s Disease and Ischemic Heart Disease), in the Federal Register on March 25, 2010. We felt that we had good cause to shorten the public comment period from 60 days to 30 days in order to help make this process go a little faster. When the public comment period closed on April 26, 2010, VA had received 669 public comments on the proposed rule. Since that time, regulatory staff at the Compensation and Pension Service have been working very hard reviewing, categorizing, and responding to these comments in a final rule. We are hopeful that they can complete the drafting stage this month so that the document can be submitted for legal review and coordination within VA. Once that is completed and the Secretary approves the final rule, we must deliver the document to OMB for review. OMB is authorized by executive order to take up to 90 days to complete their review, but we will be asking them to do their best to expedite their clearance. Once the final rule clears OMB, VA will publish it in the Federal Register, usually 3 to 4 days later, and the regulation would become effective on that date of publication. Because of the enormous cost of this rule, however, AN54 is subject to another Federal law. It is considered an economically significant “major rule” under the Congressional Review Act, which requires agencies to wait 60 days after publication in the Federal Register for Congress to review final rules before they are implemented. However, that law should not interfere with VA’s processing of claims, and I understand that veterans are being encouraged to submit their claims as soon as possible, even though the regulation is not yet in effect.

I have provided this lengthy and technical explanation so that you can see why it’s difficult to predict just how soon this regulation can be published. As the Secretary’s delegate for monitoring VA’s progress in publishing important regulations, my best guess is that if all goes well with the final drafting and during the legal review, we might be able to submit the final rule to OMB for review by the end of June. If OMB needs the full 90 days to complete their review, we would expect to publish this regulation by October, 2010.

I hope this candid explanation is helpful, even though it’s not what you were hoping to hear. At least you can inform your husband and our fellow veterans that despite any other information they may have heard from other sources, you got your information “straight from the horse’s mouth.” And this regulation is moving about as quickly as it can, given all the legal requirements of the Federal rulemaking process.

If you need further information, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,

Bob

Robert C. McFetridge

Director, Regulation Policy and Management (02REG)

Office of the General Counsel

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

810 Vermont Ave, N.W., Room 1064

Washington, D.C. 20420

202-461-4932

This response could have been exaggerated somewhat on the time line. At least that's my opinion

But who really knows for sure. At least there's a name, phone number, address and email addy if anyone else wants to send an email to inquiry....

[vperl]

If the VA OMB and congress screw around it is going to be another six months before they bother to even to start the process to award the 3 AO's...

Is anyone surprised, at the rate 0f 325 RVN vets getting a dirt knap each day.... how many more of us are going to be dead ?

do the math 180 days times 325 equals/////// ???? dead veterans not getting compensation

any one see a link ?

[aboogger]

If the VA OMB and congress screw around it is going to be another six months before they bother to even to start the process to award the 3 AO's...

Is anyone surprised, at the rate 0f 325 RVN vets getting a dirt knap each day.... how many more of us are going to be dead ?

do the math 180 days times 325 equals/////// ???? dead veterans not getting compensation

any one see a link ?

So much for rushing around getting this on the Federal Register and shorting the comments period to 30 days instead of 60 or 90......Just as ALWAYS.....the Vietnam Vets are left sucking the hind tit....What happened to putting this on TOP PRIORITY.....Yep, just hope I'm still around but that could be doubtful with my MAJOR "ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE" and also the possibility of having Multiple Myeloma as well...Presently being tested for it NOW by the VA......BUT rest assured my WIFE knows all there is to know on DIC....I have made sure that....So MR. VA, you might screw me but you WILL NOT screw my wife....