Congress is back and has just a few weeks remaining this year to pass historic claims and appeals modernization legislation and we need your help to make sure they don’t leave town without getting this done.

To address this issue, DAV, other VSOs and VA officials developed and agreed on a new framework for processing appeals that also included changes to the claims process. This new framework is contained within several pieces of legislation (S. 3170, S. 3328, H.R. 5083 and H.R. 5620) and Congress must pass one of these bills, or another bill containing the appeals modernization framework before they adjourn for the year.

This new appeals process would create multiple options for veterans to redress benefit decisions made by the Veterans Benefits Administration and reduce the amount of time a veteran must wait to receive a decision. If a veteran continuously pursues redress within one year of the last decision, either at the Regional Office (RO) level or at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board), they would be able to preserve their earliest effective date. The legislation would let veterans file a formal appeal directly to the Board, allows the Board to consider evidence in the first instance in certain circumstances and retain hearing options before the Board or at the RO.

The new appeals process envisioned within and pending legislation would provide veterans with a more equitable and flexible claims and appeals process. There is rare bipartisan support in the House and Senate for claims and appeals modernization legislation as contained within these bills. Time in the 114^th Congress is running out quickly and we need Congress to act on this legislation before they adjourn.

Currently, veterans are experiencing extreme delays waiting for decisions on their appeals. Over the past few years, the number of appeals awaiting decisions has risen dramatically to over 460,000 and the average time for an appeal decision is between three and five years, this delay is simply unacceptable.

A failure of Congress to act now will result in continued growth of the appeals backlog and veterans will have to wait longer and longer for decisions on their appeals. If faithfully implemented and fully funded by Congress, this legislation would enable veterans to get more timely and accurate decisions on their appeals. We have a unique moment in time with significant support from major VSOs, the Administration and both chambers of Congress for VA claims and appeals reform.

DAV needs its members and supporters to reach out to their Members of Congress and request their support for claims and appeals reform legislation contained within S. 3328, S. 3170, H.R. 5083 and H.R. 5620. Please use the prepared emails to contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to take action to get the legislation enacted before the end of the 114^th Congress.

As always, thank you for your support of DAV’s legislative efforts. Your participation in DAV’s Commander’s Action Network makes us a more effective advocate to protect and enhance the interests of veterans who have sacrificed in service to our country.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) launched a new Health IT initiative that enables VA to share medical records electronically with social security disabilty processors. This secure process will save time and money resulting in better service for Veterans and dependents who apply for social security disability benefits. The SSA requests nearly 15 million medical records from health care organizations yearly to make medical decisions on about three million disability claims. For decades, SSA obtained medical records through a manual process. This new national initiative puts in place an automated process to obtain Veterans’ medical records entirely electronically

More veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are headed to Capitol Hill next year, despite an overall drop in the number of representatives and senators with military experience. At least 27 veterans of the recent wars won congressional races on Tuesday night, with a handful of races still in the balance. The current Congress includes 26 veterans with time in those two war zones.
The number includes 18 incumbents who won reelection and three senators not facing contests this cycle.

On November 9, the National Academy of Public Administration released its review of the Veterans Benefits Administration efforts to eliminate the disability claims backlog. The Report shows progress has been made but additional process reforms are needed.
A myriad of federal laws and court decisions over the years, along with layers of policy determinations, added complexity to the claims system, and ultimately extended wait times for Veterans and their families to receive disability compensation. Often these laws and rules are so intertwined and interdependent that the impacts of additions or changes made by well-intentioned policymakers are not understood. GAO identified federal laws and court decisions in the past decade that, in addition to expanding benefits, have added requirements that have increased wait times. For example, the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 established the so-called “duty
to assist,” requiring VA to assist Veterans in obtaining evidence before making a decision, including all relevant federal and non-federal records. Considerable claim rework may be required when a Veteran submits additional evidence or identifies a new condition. In addition, a non-standard format for both claims and appeals can also result in significant delays. VA already charts its rules and regulations to help ensure they are timely and properly executed, but additional improvements can be made to this analysis to ensure there is a comprehensive evaluation of how the complex and interdependent aspects of legislation and rule changes might impact Veterans and VA alike

Military personnel can retain their residences or domiciles for purposes of state and local taxation and voter registration when they leave a state if that move, and any subsequent moves, are made in compliance with military orders. Under the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, spouses of service members can retain their states of residency if they move and reside with the service member; they cannot use the service members’ states of residency for taxation or voting purposes unless they can independently establish
entitlement according to state laws. H.R. 5428 would allow spouses of service members to claim the same state of residence as the service member for those purposes, regardless of whether the spouse had ever resided in that state

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has submitted their report on H.R. 5600: No Hero Left Untreated Act. The bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a one-year pilot program to treat a limited number of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, chronic pain,or opiate addiction by using Magnetic eResonance Therapy technology (MeRT technology). The bill also would require VA to report to the Congress on the results of that pilot program. MeRT technology is a customized neurological treatment that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate brain tissue. The Brain Treatment Center (BTC) in
Southern California developed the MeRT technology and has proprietary rights to the treatment. Over the 2012- 2015 period, the center has treated more than 400 veterans at four locations in the state of California and the state of Washington. Under this proposal, VA would be required to carry out the one-year pilot program with no more than 50 veterans in one or two medical facilities. Because the technologuy is proprietary, we expect that VA would contract with BTC to provide MeRT technology to those veterans. On the basis of information from BTC, CBO expects the average patient at VA would undergo an initial assessment at a cost of $1,000 and at least 20 MeRT sessions over a 30-day period at a cost of $22,000. On that basis, CBO estimates that implementing this bill would cost $1 million over the 2017-2021 period; that spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. Enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not
apply. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 5600 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027. H.R. 5600 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the nfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments

The VA is seeking to expand the time limit that veterans can claim disability benefits for Gulf War Syndrome by five years. In a document published in the Federal Register on 17 October, the VA seeks to expand the time limit that veterans of the Gulf War may claim disability benefits for the chronic multi symptom illness known as Gulf War Syndrome from December 31, 2016 until December 31, 2021. Gulf War Syndrome is defined by the VA as a cluster of medically unexplained chronic symptoms that can include fatigue, headaches, joint pain, indigestion, insomnia, dizziness, respiratory disorders, and memory problems

An act relating to criminal procedure; granting courts authority to consider posttraumatic stress disorder as a mitigating factor when sentencing veterans; directing defendants to provide certain evidence; defining term; providing for codeification; and providing an effective date of November 1,

While I feel certain that most veterans receiving disability and/or retirement income are aware of the fact that they will receive an increase in 2017 Military retirees and individuals receiving veterans benefits will see only a 0.3 percent cost-of-living increase in their federal benefits next year and some are wondering how much their increase will be. If you receive $1,200 per month in federal benefits, your increase will be $3.60 per month. So while you will receive $3.60 under the above scenario, the individuals you elected will receive $19.20 using the above monthly compensation of $1,200.

Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI) announced upcoming changes to the retail pharmacy network it manages on behalf of TRICARE. On December 1, 2016, Walgreens pharmacy locations will join the network. CVS pharmacies, including those in Target stores, will leave the network on the same day. If beneficiaries chose to fill a prescription at CVS after December 1, it will be a non-network pharmacy. This means they will have to pay the full cost of the medication upfront, and file for partial reimbursement