January 19, 2011
An organization called Veterans Affairs Services (VAS) is providing benefit and general information on VA and gathering personal information on veterans.
This organization is not affiliated with VA in any way
[Websites with the name "vaservices" immediately after the "www" ARE NOT part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the US Government agency. Do not go to them or if approached or called, do not offer them any information concerning yourself or data on other veterans. Keep in mind that the real VA website ends in .gov.
Also, be aware that the Department of Veterans Affairs does not randomly call veterans, nor does it ask veterans for information which it does not already have--like Social Security Numbers. In particular, if you have not dealt with the VA previously--and in person--and all of a sudden, you receive a call from someone saying they are with the VA or something similar sounding, hang up the phone.
Also, do not respond to emails which suggest that they are from the VA. The VA never conducts official business nor asks for personal information by email.
VAS may be gaining access to military personnel through their close resemblance to the VA name and seal. Our Legal Counsel has equested that we coordinate with DoD to inform military installations, particularly mobilization sites, of this group and their lack of affiliation or endorsement by VA to provide any services.
In addition, GC requests that if you have any examples of VAS acts that violate chapter 59 of Title 38 United States Code, such as VAS employees assisting veterans in the preparation and presentation of claims for benefits, please pass any additional information to Mr. Daugherty at the address below.
Michael G. DaughertyStaff AttorneyDepartment of Veterans AffairsOffice of General Counsel (022G2)810 Vermont Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20420
January 10, 2011
WASHINGTON – Certain combat Veterans who were discharged from active duty service before Jan. 28, 2003 have until Jan. 27, 2011 to take advantage of their enhanced health care enrollment opportunity through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“While there is no time limit for Veterans to apply for the VA health care they earned with their service, I highly encourage this group of combat Veterans to take advantage of the enhanced enrollment window to use their health care benefits through this simplified process,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “VA has health care eligibility specialists online and at every medical center eager to help Veterans take advantage of this opportunity.”
The enhanced enrollment window was provided for in Public Law 110-181, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. That law gave combat Veterans who served after Nov. 11, 1998 but separated from service before Jan. 28, 2003, and did not enroll before Jan. 28, 2008, three years, beginning on Jan. 28, 2008, to apply for the enhanced enrollment opportunity.
These Veterans will still be able to apply for health benefits with VA after Jan. 27, but will have their status for receiving VA health care determined under normal VA procedures that base health care priority status on the severity of a service-connected disability or other eligibility factors. This would mean some Veterans could face income or asset-based restrictions, as well as delays in establishing their VA health care eligibility while their disability status is determined.
Since the inception of the enhanced enrollment opportunity, VA has sent more than 750,000 personal letters to eligible Veterans and hosted thousands of outreach efforts through OIF/OEF and enrollment coordinators stationed at every VA medical center.
Since June 2010, VA sent another 194,000 personal letters to give every eligible Veteran a chance to take advantage of this opportunity, but to date only 13,000 of these Veterans have enrolled.
The law does continue to provide the enhanced health care enrollment window to combat Veterans who were discharged or released from active service on or after January 28, 2003. For these Veterans, the five-year enrollment period begins on the discharge or separation date of the service member from active duty military service, or in the case of multiple call-ups, the most recent discharge date.
Veterans can apply for enrollment online at www.1010ez.med.va.gov/sec/vha/1010ez, by contacting VA at 1-877-222-VETS (8387) or with the help of a VA health care eligibility specialist at any VA medical center. Go to www2.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp for locations. For more information regarding enrollment, visit VA’s eligibility site at www.va.gov/healtheligibility.
January 5, 2011
Many Non-College Programs, State Service of Reserves and Guard Covered
WASHINGTON – To bring the educational benefits of the Post-9/11 GI Bill closer to more Veterans and Service Members, President Obama signed legislation Jan. 4 that streamlines the 18-month-old education program administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“Since the first GI Bill in 1944, this unique educational program has adapted to the needs of America’s Veterans, active-duty personnel, reservists and Guardsmen,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “Like its forbearers, the Post-9/11 GI Bill is growing to ensure the men and women who serve this nation in uniform receive valuable education benefits from a grateful nation.
“On behalf of Veterans and the many who serve them at VA, we would like to thank the president for his support, as well as members of Congress and our Veterans service organization partners for helping make this bill a reality,” Shinseki added.
Among the provisions of the legislation are:
· Paying for on-the-job training, some flight training; apprenticeship training and correspondence courses;
· Allowing reservists and Guardsmen to have their time supporting emergencies called by their state governors credited to the time needed to qualify for educational benefits;
· Providing one half of the national average for the program’s housing allowance to students enrolled in distance learning;
· Pro-rating the housing allowance to exclude payments when students are not in class;
· Allowing students on active duty receive the stipend for books and supplies;
· Allowing people eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, but participating in VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) benefits to choose between the GI Bill’s housing allowance or VR&E’s subsistence allowance;
· Permitting reimbursement for more than one “license and certification” test;
· Reimbursing fees to take national admission tests, such as SAT, ACT, GMAT and LSAT; and
· Establishing a national cap of $17,500 annually for tuition and fees in a private or a foreign school, not including contributions by educational institutions under the “Yellow Ribbon” program.
Information about the new provisions is available on the Internet at http://www.gibill.va.gov/.
By the end of December 2010, VA issued nearly $7.2 billion in tuition, housing, and stipends for more than 425,000 Veterans or eligible family members pursuing higher education under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
January 3, 2011
Washington – To further advocate for Veterans, VA announced that companies identifying themselves as small businesses or Veteran-owned businesses to gain priority for some Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contracts must now provide documentation verifying their status within 90 days of receiving notice from the agency.
“VA is committed to doing business with as well as supporting and protecting Veteran-owned small businesses,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “Although the verification process may initially be a challenge to some small business owners and to VA, it’s a necessary step to eliminate misrepresentation by firms trying to receive contracts that should go to service-disabled and other Veteran-owned vendors.”
The Veterans Benefits Act of 2010, signed by the President Oct. 13, expanded VA’s requirement to verify the status of businesses claiming Veterans preference to compete for VA contracts by being listed in VA's VetBiz.gov “Vendor Information Pages” (VIP) database. Companies will have to submit an application to substantiate their status as owned and controlled by Veterans, service-disabled Veterans or eligible surviving spouses. Only companies that submit the information will be listed in the VIP database.
The law requires VA to notify currently listed businesses that within 90 days of the Veteran-owned business receiving the notice they must submit certain business documents. VA sent notices to more than 13,000 listed businesses by email and mail Dec. 10-11. Other companies, wanting to be listed in the database and considered for future set-aside VA contracts, also have to submit application packages. VA will work on those verifications after the existing listings are verified.
The department plans to post additional information at www.VetBiz.gov in early February informing applicants how to submit their documents electronically. In the meantime, VA’s notice to currently listed businesses encourages them to submit their information on CD-ROM.
Priority processing will be given to those Veteran-owned firms that are in line to receive a set-aside contract from VA, those that already conduct business with VA, and those that have already filed an application for verification.
For more information, visit the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization’s website at www.va.gov/OSDBU/veteran/verification.asp or the main page at www.va.gov/osdbu/.
