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allan

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Posts posted by allan

  1. [VeteranIssues] There has been a change.. VA Cola is being held up in the House FW: COLA will be 3.6% announced this AM, Soc Sec, VA Comp, Mil Retiree

    President nor congress has a say in how much COLA is, CPI has the say by a known process

    Congress decides whether to implement it and to who..they did Soc Security

    There has been a change.. VA Cola is being held up in the House trying to get

    More budget cuts via tea party Reps....it's being held hostage... It has not been sent to the President

    A COLA bill has passed the House and the Senate for 3.6%..BUT...

    Now they need to compromise on a bill with same words..

    Vets committee assured me, it was going to get done soon

    May be holding it up to do on Veterans day...

    CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN TODAY AND RAISE HELL

    From: Colonel Dan [mailto:colonel-dan@sbcglobal.net]

    Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 8:36 AM

    To: Veteran Issues by Colonel Dan

    Subject: COLA will be 3.6% announced this AM, Soc Sec, VA Comp, Mil Retiree

    http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/retirement/story/2011-10-19/social-security-cola/50822994/1

    WASHINGTON – Some 55 million Social Security recipients will get a 3.6% increase in benefits next year, their first raise since 2009.

    The increase was announced Wednesday when the government released a key measure of inflation, which determines whether people who receive Social Security get a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA.

    About 8 million people who receive Supplemental Security Income will also receive the 3.6% COLA, meaning the announcement will affect about one in five U.S. residents.

    There was no cost-of-living adjustment in 2010 or 2011 because inflation was too low. Those were the first two years without a COLA since automatic increases were adopted in 1975.

    Monthly Social Security payments average $1,082, or about $13,000 a year.

    On Jan 2012 Paychecks

    __._,_.___"Keep on, Keepin' on"

    Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"

    See my web site at:

    http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/

    http://www.facebook.com/dan.cedusky

  2. To: Veteran Issues by Colonel Dan <VeteranIssues@yahoogroups.com>

    Subject: [VeteranIssues] FW: Tell Your Elected Officials to Stop New TRICARE-for-Life Enrollment Fees & Increased Pharmacy Co-Pays

    Date: Oct 30, 2011 9:00 AM

    From: Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL, Col, AUS, Ret,

    Life member: Am Legion, DAV, AMVETS, MOAA, NGAUS, IL SAL, NGAIL

    IL State Director USDR

    Invite me to your facebook page http://www.facebook.com/dan.cedusky

    Pass the word about Free email news about Veteran issues to other Vets & Posts.

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VeteranIssues

    Go to:

    http://capwiz.com/usdr/issues/alert/?alertid=55543501

    Go to www.usdr.org and join. I am Illinois State Director

    From: USDR Action Alerts [mailto:Legislative@USDR.ORG]

    Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2011 9:03 PM

    To: Dan Cedusky

    Subject: Tell Your Elected Officials to Stop New TRICARE-for-Life Enrollment Fees & Increased Pharmacy Co-Pays

    Stop New TRICARE-for-Life Enrollment Fees & Increased Pharmacy Co-Pays

    Take Action!

    Don't Break the Promise - These Benefits Were EARNED!

    The Administration announced its deficit reduction plan that will be submitted to the new Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction ("Super Committee") that is working on a plan to reduce government spending by at least $1.2 trillion in over 10 years. The Administration has proposed creating a new $200 TFL enrollment fee effective 2013 This fee would be increased annually based on an index of health care inflation. The proposal also increases pharmacy co-pays for military retirees and dependents by requiring the beneficiary to pay a percentage (10% for generic and 15% for non-generic) of the prescription rather than the current dollar amount ($3 for generic, $9 for brand name drugs and $22 for non-formulary drugs).

    Please click the Take Action link to send a message to your US Senators and US Representative to ask them to oppose this new fee for military retirees.

    Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"

    See my web site at:

    http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/

    http://www.facebook.com/dan.cedusky

  3. Twelve years later, the CAVC finally read evidence I submitted the VARO has completely ignored. Case was remanded back to the BVA in 2010, with instructions to actually read it this time or explain why they can't. My guess is I may recieve yet another SOC by the BVA in 2014.

    Expect it to go back to the CAVC after that. Not convinced raters can read unless its to stall a claim.

  4. Every Veteran should apply for VA health care..

    http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility/Library/pubs/VIC/vic.pdf'>http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility/Library/pubs/VIC/vic.pdf

    Every Veteran should apply for VA health care..if you are eligible VA will get you an ID card

    Which will get your discounts at many businesses including Home Depot, Lowes, and many

    Other places especially around memorial Day and/or Veteran’s day

    A 10 % discount on a new Fridge, lawn mower, BBQ grill etc can be worth it.

    If not near a VA Med Cen, Clinic, office etc, a local county vet service officer can help you fill out form or do it on-line

    http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility/

    http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility/eligibility/DetermineEligibility.asp

    Veterans discharged from active duty on or after January 28, 2003, ARE ELIGIBLIE for five years post discharge

    Eligibility can be based on income of last year.. 2010… being on Medicare or Medicaid helps

    If you were medically discharged or med retired from service should get you in.

    http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility/eligibility/enrollment.asp

    A office, a local county vet service officer can help you fill out form

    priority groups for eligibility for health care

    http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility/eligibility/PriorityGroupsAll.asp

    Visit Your Group

    "Keep on, Keepin' on"

    Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"

    See my web site at:

    http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/

    http://www.facebook.com/dan.cedusky

  5. FW: Medicare, Part B Premium for 2012

    Partial reprint: http://www.factcheck.org/2011/04/premium-nonsense-on-medicare/

    This widely circulating message is similar to a falsehood-filled screed that went around last year, urging "retribution" against members of Congress in the 2010 midterm elections. This message makes somewhat different accusations — also false — and urges voters to "remember" in November 2012.

    § It falsely claims "Congress gave themselves a $3,000 a month Cost of Living Adjustment," when the truth is that Congress voted to deny itself any pay increase at all, both for 2010 and 2011.

    § It wrongly blames Congress for disallowing any cost-of-living increase for Social Security recipients. It’s true there was no COLA for Social Security recipients in 2010 or in 2011, but that was due to the workings of a long-standing formula and not the result of any vote by the current Congress or the previous one. We covered this in detail in 2009 and the Social Security Administration has an explanation posted as well.

    § It claims that "those of you who are on Medicare" can thank "Obamacare" for increases in the per-person monthly Medicare premium — "to a wonderful $247.00 in 2014." This is also false. The basic premium for Medicare Part B (which covers physician services) was indeed $96.40 in 2009. But the other numbers are all wrong. It was $110.50 last year, for example, and not $104.20 as claimed. And it is $115.40 this year, not $120.20 as claimed.

    Actually, only 27 percent of Medicare beneficiaries are paying the basic rate. The rest — 73 percent — are paying less under a "hold harmless" provision triggered by the lack of a cost-of-living increase in Social Security this year or last year. Most are still paying $96.40.

    As for the future, nobody can say with precision what the basic Part B premium will be next year or the year after, let alone in 2014. The premium is set each year at a level calculated to pay for 25 percent of the cost of the coverage. Medicare officials do keep close watch on the trends, however. And when we contacted Medicare’s Office of the Actuary, we were given these projections — the most recent available — which are current as of the president’s budget for fiscal year 2012 issued in mid-February:

    Medicare Part B Standard Premium (projected, February 2011)

    2012

    $108.20

    2013

    $112.10

    2014

    $117.10

    Source: Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services

    Office of theActuary

    (Note: These figures are unpublished but publicly available on request from the Office of the Actuary. They are actually a few dollars lower than what Medicare officials were projecting six months earlier, in August 2010, when the most recent report of the system’s trustees was issued. Those published projections, now outdated, can be found on page 234. Officials told us they lowered their projections because actual Part B costs in 2010 turned out to be somewhat lower than previously estimated.)

    The actual premiums could turn out to be higher or lower than our table shows, but not by a lot. One major uncertainty is whether Congress will allow scheduled cuts in payments to physicians and other providers to take effect. Congress has already postponed those cuts every year since 2003, and did so again after the trustees issued their August report. The cuts have now been delayed until the end of this year at least. The projected premiums are based on assumptions that build in a "margin" to account for the high likelihood that Congress will not allow physician cuts to take effect, however. An official in the Office of the Actuary (OACT), who did not wish to be quoted by name, told us in an e-mail message:

    OACT official: This margin includes an amount to account for the probability that the scheduled physician cuts will be legislatively overridden. Therefore, if the scheduled physician payment cuts are legislatively avoided, then the Part B premiums should not change significantly (depending on the nature of the legislative override).

    From: WASP188@aol.com [mailto:WASP188@aol.com]

    Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 3:57 PM

    To:

    Subject: Medicare, Part B Premium for 2012

    For those of you on Medicare, you need to read this.

    http://www.factcheck.org/2011/04/premium-nonsense-on-medicare/

    DonH

    USN-ret

    Visit Your Group

    "Keep on, Keepin' on"

    Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"

    See my web site at:

    http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/

    http://www.facebook.com/dan.cedusky

  6. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pressoffice/pr/ss-expands-compassionate-allowances.html

    From: Robert P Walsh

    Social Security Expands List of Compassionate Allowances Conditions

    The Social Security Administration has added 13 new conditions involving the immune system and neurological disorders to its Compassionate Allowances program. This program speeds up disability decisions to make sure that Americans with the most serious disabilities receive their benefit decisions within days instead of months or years. The conditions include certain cancers, adult brain disorders, a number of rare genetic disorders of children, early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

    This information was recently added to Disability.gov. To learn more visit https://www.disability.gov/benefits/news_%26_events.

    "Keep on, Keepin' on"

    Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"

    See my web site at:

    http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/

    http://www.facebook.com/dan.cedusky

  7. SP4RVN1971

    I tried for over 25 yrs to get my records from the VA. Their advice was to get them from the NARA. Somewhere around 2000 I find out the NARA permanantly "loaned" all my records to the local VARO in the 1970's. I recieved only a few pages, but enough to prove injuries.

    You have to request "ALL" military records to include "ALL" medical treatment records. Make sure to include dates in country and your unit or ship.

    Don't expect to recieve all of them though. Seems some of them end up in the shredder.

  8. To: Veteran Issues by Colonel Dan <VeteranIssues@yahoogroups.com>

    Subject: [VeteranIssues] new National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis

    Date: Oct 12, 2011 7:03 AM

    Also see: http://www.archives.gov/veterans/ how to get Vet records

    http://federaldaily.com/articles/2011/10/11/nara-to-dedicate-new-personnel-records-center.aspx

    NARA to dedicate new personnel records center

    The National Archives and Records Administration on Oct. 15 will dedicate its new National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.

    The center’s holdings include more than 100 million Official Military Personnel Files and Organizational and Auxiliary files, as well as the Official Personnel Folders of former civilian federal personnel who separated prior to 1973, NARA said.

    The NRPC, which has the capacity to store 2.3 million cubic feet of records, is one of the agency’s largest operations, NARA said. More than 600 NPRC staff work at the new facility.

    http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2012/nr12-05.html

    Behind the Scenes Look at New National Archives National Personnel Records Center Media Tour of New Facility Thursday, October 13, 2011, 10:00 AM

    Contact Information

    · NARA Public Affairs Staff

    (202) 357-5326

    · St. Louis, Public Programs

    (314) 801-0847

    stlpublic.programs@nara.gov

    WHAT: The media is invited to attend a press tour of the National Archives National Personnel Records Center in anticipation of the dedication of the new facility on Saturday, October 15, 2011. The tour will include:

    · Stack areas that house more than 100 million personnel files of veterans and former civil servants;

    · Preservation labs where original documents are restored;

    · Opportunity to view original personnel files of famous veterans such as Jackie Robinson, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, George Patton, Jack Kerouac, and Alex Haley; and

    · Exhibition titled “Documented Rights” illustrating the continuing process of defining human and civil rights, on display through March 2, 2012.

    WHO: Bryan McGraw, Director of the National Archives at St Louis

    Marta O’Neill, Preservation Officer, National Personnel Records Center

    WHEN: 10 AM, Thursday, October 13, 2011.

    WHERE: National Personnel Records Center

    1 Archives Drive (1829 Dunn Road), St Louis, MO. Next to Hazelwood East Middle School off Dunn Road (for GPS purposes use 1829 Dunn Road).

    Directions:

    From the North: Take U.S. 367 South to I-270 East. Take I-270 East to Bellefontaine Road (exit 32). Turn left onto Bellefontaine Road, then an immediate left onto Dunn Road. NPRC is on the right at 1 Archives Drive.

    From the South: Take I-70 to I-170 North (exit 238). Take I-170 North to I-270 East (exit 10B). Go east on I-270 to Bellefontaine Road (exit 32).

    Background

    The National Personnel Records Center is one of the National Archives and Records Administration's largest operations. It is the central repository of personnel-related records for both the military and civil services of the United States Government. Its mission is to provide world class service to government agencies, military veterans and their family members, former civilian Federal employees, and the general public.

    The new National Personnel Records Center has the capacity to store 2.3 million cubic feet of records. Holdings include more than 100 million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF), Organizational and Auxiliary files, and Official Personnel Folders (OPF) of former civilian Federal personnel who separated prior to 1973. The new facility is the home to over 600 NPRC staff and over a dozen other Federal agencies. It contains a state-of-the-art preservation laboratory for records conservation, two large public research rooms and a multi-purpose room for meetings and public outreach.

    *******YOU CAN VISIT THE ARCHIVES AND SEARCH FOR YOUR RECORDS

    Scheduling an Appointment:

    Hours of Operation:

    Monday through Friday,

    7:30 a.m. - 3:45 p.m. Central Time

    (Closed weekends and <A href="http://www.archives.gov/news/federal-holidays.html" target=_blank>Federal holidays)

    Telephone: 314-801-0800

    __._,_.___ "Keep on, Keepin' on"

    Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"

    See my web site at:

    http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/

    http://www.facebook.com/dan.cedusky

  9. If Congress is actually serious about cutting government waste of funding, the AMC is the first place I would cut. Its a complete waste of money and does nothing to reduce the backlog of veterans claims. If anything, its a major cause of backlog.

    About the only thing I found I could do to get my claim out of this dead zone, was keep sending in the evidence waivers to have the claim decided by the BVA and not the regional office level, (AMC).

    It doesn't matter that you can't call the AMC. If you could, you can't believe a word they tell you.

  10. To: Veteran Issues by Colonel Dan <VeteranIssues@yahoogroups.com>

    Subject: [VeteranIssues] IOM Report, Released 29 Sept 2011, Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010

    Date: Oct 6, 2011 6:19 AM

    http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2011/Veterans-and-Agent-Orange-Update-2010.aspx

    Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010

    Released: September 29, 2011

    In the 2010 update, the committee recommends that the VA search its own records to look for possible associations between Vietnam service and specific health outcomes, specifically those that are relatively uncommon. The only modification made in this update to disease entries in the categories of association is the notation that early-onset peripheral neuropathy (a condition which has been recognized since Update 1996 as having limited or suggestive evidence of an association with herbicide exposure and must have developed within a year of exposure) is not necessarily transitory. The IOM continues to recommend that laboratory research be conducted to characterize Agent Orange’s potential for inducing epigenetic modifications. Work needs to be undertaken to resolve questions regarding several health outcomes, most importantly COPD, tonsil cancer, melanoma, brain cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and paternally transmitted effects to offspring.

    Read it on line at

    http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13166

    __._,_.___ "Keep on, Keepin' on"

    Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"

    See my web site at:

    http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/

    http://www.facebook.com/dan.cedusky

  11. To: Veteran Issues by Colonel Dan <VeteranIssues@yahoogroups.com>

    Subject: [VeteranIssues] FW: [HEALTH.MIL] TRICARE Promises Continued Access To Prescription Meds

    Date: Sep 17, 2011 6:29 AM

    -----Original Message-----

    From: health.mil-

    Sent: Friday, September 16, 2011 10:26 AM

    To: HEALTH.MIL@

    Subject: [HEALTH.MIL] TRICARE Promises Continued Access To Prescription Meds

    TRICARE Promises Continued Access To Prescription Meds

    September 16, 2011

    By Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service

    WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2011 -- A dispute between Walgreens and a TRICARE

    contractor will not stop beneficiaries from getting their prescriptions filled,

    despite a Walgreen's ad campaign to the contrary, a TRICARE official said today.

    "Don't let that advertising, letter and internet outreach campaign scare you,"

    Navy Rear Adm. Christine Hunter, deputy director of the TRICARE Management

    Agency, said. "Even if contract renewal negotiations fall through and Walgreens

    drops out of TRICARE's retail pharmacy network on Jan. 1, beneficiaries still

    will have plenty of other options for getting their prescriptions filled."

    Hunter called the dispute between Walgreens and Express Scripts, Inc., the

    contractor for TRICARE's retail pharmacy and pharmacy home delivery programs "a

    business matter" between the two companies.

    A similar impasse between the two companies in 2008 ultimately was resolved by

    mid-November, about six weeks before the new contract was to take effect, she

    noted.

    Walgreens is a big player in the TRICARE pharmacy network, with about 7,000

    participating outlets that Hunter said have filled prescriptions for one in 10

    TRICARE beneficiaries at one time or another.

    Concerned about a campaign that has alarmed some TRICARE beneficiaries, Hunter

    offered assurance today that regardless of how this year's negotiations go,

    patients will always have access to the medications they need.

    "If Walgreens does drop out or fail to renew their relationship with ESI so they

    are not included in the network, patients will still have 56,000 other

    pharmacies to obtain their medications at retail," she said. "We have a very,

    very broad network" that, for the vast majority of beneficiaries, ensures them

    access to a participating pharmacy within two miles of their homes.

    Meanwhile, Hunter emphasized other options TRICARE beneficiaries can use to get

    their medications: a TRICARE military treatment facility or the increasingly

    popular mail-order and home-delivery plans.

    Hunter is a big proponent of the mail-order and home-delivery program, helping

    boost participation by 9.9 percent this year alone as retail pharmacy use grew

    by just 1.6 percent. Delivering medications directly to the beneficiary's home

    assures an uninterrupted supply of medication, she said, while saving money for

    beneficiaries as well as the Defense Department.

    "I would recommend that this is a great time to consider TRICARE [Pharmacy] Home

    Delivery for chronic medications," Hunter said.

    But with more than three months left on Walgreen's current contract with ESI,

    she emphasized, "There is no emergency, and there is time for people to

    understand and consider their options."

    Those who elect to stay with the retail pharmacy option but are concerned that

    Walgreens could drop out of the TRICARE pharmacy network also have the option of

    moving their prescriptions to another pharmacy in the TRICARE network now.

    "We are not taking a position about whether patients should move their

    prescriptions," Hunter said. "We are allowing this issue to play itself out, but

    those who want to can do so, and that will absolutely be honored."

    Because all prescription information is centralized, the only thing patients

    need to do to move their prescriptions is to take their medication bottle or

    tube to another pharmacy. "They don't need another prescription or visit to a

    doctor," Hunter said.

    NOTE: Locate a TRICARE Retail Pharmacy

    <http://www.express-script.com/TRICARE/pharmacy/>

    Beneficiaries also can elect to use pharmacies not included in the TRICARE

    network. However, Hunter offered a reminder that these users will receive only

    partial reimbursement for their out-of-pocket costs and could have to file their

    own insurance claim, where network pharmacies do that automatically.

    "Our focus is on ensuring patients have access to the care they need," including

    reliable access to their prescription medications," she said. "Our goal is to be

    sure people have the information they need so that they get their medications in

    a timely fashion."

    -------

    SOURCE: American Forces Press Service News Release at

    http://www.army.mil/article/65658/

    __._,_.___ "Keep on, Keepin' on"

    Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"

    See my web site at:

    http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/

    http://www.facebook.com/dan.cedusky

  12. To: Veteran Issues by Colonel Dan <VeteranIssues@yahoogroups.com>

    Subject: [VeteranIssues] FW: 2012 COLA 3.6%?

    Date: Sep 17, 2011 6:33 AM

    From: DON HOLLAND [mailto:donholland1@yahoo.com]

    Sent: Friday, September 16, 2011 10:37 AM

    To: DON HOLLAND

    Subject: 2012 COLA

    Hey Shipmates,

    It looks like the Warrior President is going to give us a healthy COLA ON ALL OF OUR GOVERNMENT CHECKS in January. If this months CPI-W is anything like last months, we could get a 4% COLA!!!!

    AS IT STANDS RIGHT NOW WE WOULD GET 3.6%

    http://www.moaa.org/colawatch

    ULTIMA,

    Don

    DON HOLLAND

    20313 NETTLETON ST

    ORLANDO, FL 32833

    321-278-7226

    __._,_.___ "Keep on, Keepin' on"

    Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"

    See my web site at:

    http://www.angelfire.../VeteranIssues/

    http://www.facebook.com/dan.cedusky

  13. Until you recieve a letter saying you will be cut off from pain medication, Vets should take your medication as prescribed. Suddenly stopping your medications is very dangerous.

    Also, i've found that these VAMC's can pretty much make their own policies without it effecting "ALL" veterans accross the country.

    I just recieved my prescription of pain meds, no such notice was in the package.

    Don't let fear increase your anxiety and make you sick. Wait until you actually recieve a notice before taking any action.

  14. Request for Release of VA Medical/Health Records

    (fillible VA form)

    http://www.va.gov/vaforms/medical/pdf/vha-10-5345-fill.pdf

    Mail or Fax the request to the VAMC your requesting the records from.

    Allow 10 to 20 days from the date you submit it.

    Any statement you need to send to the VARO in support of your claim, use the form below.

    Statement in Support of Claim (Fillable)

    http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-21-4138-ARE.pdf

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