At a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Health Subcommittee in late MAR representatives of the Department of
Veterans Affairs explained how the VA plans to manage an overhaul of the VA’s new Choice Program. According to
an article on Federal News Radio.com, the VA wants to “let veterans choose whether they want to access a VA medical
center or a private sector provider in the community for care. If the veteran chooses community care, he or she can
pick a VA-approved provider from the network list.” The VA would organize a list of providers into three tiers:
• The first tier would consist of VA medical centers, DoD medical facilities, Indian Health Service medical
facilities, Tribal health programs and federally qualified health center providers.
• The second tier would be community health care providers which will have been rated by the VA as the top in the quality of the health care they give.
• The third tier would be other community health care providers who would meet standard VA criteria.

The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) has provided the following website for veterans to gain access to their DD-214s online: http://vetrecs.archives.gov or try http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records. This may be particularly helpful when a veteran needs a copy of his DD-214 for employment purposes. NPRC is working to make it easier for veterans with computers and Internet access to obtain copies of documents from their military files. Military veterans and the next of kin of deceased former military members may now use a new online military personnel records system to request documents. Other individuals with a need for documents must still complete the Standard Form 180, which can be downloaded from the online web site. Because the requester will be asked to supply all information essential for NPRC to process the request, delays that normally occur when NPRC has to ask veterans for additional information will be minimized. The new web-based application was designed to provide better service on these requests by eliminating the records centers mailroom and processing time.

VA Announces Community Care Call Center to Help Veterans with

Choice Program Billing Issues

WASHINGTON – Veterans can now work directly with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to resolve debt collection issues resulting from inappropriate or delayed Choice Program billing. In step with MyVA’s efforts to modernize VA’s customer-focused, Veteran-centered services capabilities, a Community Care Call Center has been set up for Veterans experiencing adverse credit reporting or debt collection resulting from inappropriately billed Choice Program claims. Veterans experiencing these problems can call 1-877-881-7618 for assistance.
“As a result of the Veterans Choice Program, community providers have seen thousands of Veterans. We continue to work to make the program more Veteran-friendly,” said Dr. David Shulkin, Under Secretary for Health. “There should be no bureaucratic burden that stands in the way of Veterans getting care.”
The new call center will work to resolve instances of improper Veteran billing and assist community care medical providers with delayed payments. VA staff are also trained and ready to work with the medical providers to expunge adverse credit reporting on Veterans resulting from delayed payments to providers.VA is urging Veterans to continue working with their VA primary care team to obtain necessary health care services regardless of adverse credit reporting or debt collection activity.
VA acknowledges that delayed payments and inappropriately billed claims are unacceptable and have caused stress for Veterans and providers alike. The new call center is the first step in addressing these issues. VA presented The Plan to Consolidate Community Care in October of 2015 that outlines additional solutions to streamline processes and improve timely provider payment.
For more details about the Veterans Choice Program and VA’s progress, visit: www.va.gov/opa/choiceact . Veterans seeking to use the Veterans Choice Program can call1-866-606-8198 to find out more about the program, confirm their eligibility and schedule an appointment.

The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2015 (H.R. 969 and S. 681) was introduced by Representative Christopher Gibson and Senator Kristin Gillibrand, respectively. This legislation would expand presumptions for Vietnam Veterans to be awarded service connection for illnesses and diseases associated with exposure to herbicides containing dioxin, including Agent Orange. This legislation would extend eligibility to Vietnam veterans who served in the vicinity of Vietnam, including the inland waterways, ports, harbors, and waters offshore or territorial seas of Vietnam, as well as in the airspace above, during the period of war.

As of March 15, 2016, H.R. 969 has 305 cosponsors and has been referred to the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. S. 681 has 39 cosponsors and is pending before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

DAV supports these measures, which are is in line with DAV Resolution No. 018, passed at our most recent National Convention. Please take a moment to send the prepared e-mail to your legislators to seek their support for this legislation.

Also, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association has launched a petition drive in support of this bill. We recommend you support this petition as a part of your advocacy to pass this important legislation.

As always, thank you for your support.

Click the link below to log in and send your message:
https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/ujNfi_8TLlkzp9j_WjEtNA

On March 9, the VA announced it is now able to fund care for all veterans with hepatitis C for FY 2016, regardless of the stage of the patient’s liver disease. The move follows increased funding from Congress, along with reduced drug prices. “We’re honored to be able to expand treatment for veterans who are afflicted with hepatitis C,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. David Shulkin. “To manage limited resources previously, we established treatment priority for the sickest patients. Additionally, if veterans are currently waiting on an appointment for community care through the Choice Program, they can now turn to their local VA facility for this treatment or can elect to continue to receive treatment through the Choice Program.” VA expects, with the expansion, many more veterans will be started on hepatitis C treatment this fiscal year.

Welcome Home Flyer

Lawmakers could be headed toward a veterans omnibus bill covering a host of health, education and employment issues after House members passed a package of nine veterans-themed measures the evening of 9 FEB. The flurry of legislation came after a day of debate and discussion about veterans issues on the House floor. All of the measures were passed by voice vote without objection, but will need Senate action and the president’s signature before they can become law.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said the moves were a needed push to help “our retired servicemen and women who have been neglected by a broken Department of Veterans Affairs.” He promised more focus on the issues in months to come. “It has been several years since the corruption and dysfunction at the VA was exposed, and quite frankly, it is appalling that we must continue to pass bills to fix the countless problems that have been ignored,” he said. “We continue to hear that change at the VA is on the way, but as the bureaucracy remains unchanged, our veterans continue to wait for care and benefits.” House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL) said the bills together help “rein in the incompetence that permeates VA’s construction efforts, end the egregious taxpayer abuse some unscrupulous and greedy schools are committing on a daily basis, and most importantly, honor our veterans while improving and expanding the benefits they have earned.”

A scientific panel has concluded that the Veterans Affairs Department should stop searching for links between environmental exposures in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and veterans’ illnesses and instead focus on monitoring and treating those who have health problems related to deploying 25 years ago. In a report released 11 FEB, Institute of Medicine researchers said Gulf War veterans are at increased risk for developing some physical and psychological health conditions like post-traumatic stress, anxiety, Gulf War illness and chronic fatigue syndrome, but other diseases
like cancer, respiratory illnesses and most neurodegenerative conditions do not appear to occur at higher rates in these former troops. Without concrete information on each Gulf War veteran’s exposure and the unlikely prospect of ever having the data, VA should focus instead on following this group as members age and treat illnesses that develop, panelists said. According to the report, there also is “limited but suggestive” evidence that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS,
fibromalygia and chronic pain and self-reported sexual dysfunction are related to Gulf War deployment. But it found little or no evidence that cancer, skin conditions, birth defects, musculoskeletal system diseases, multiple sclerosis and other illnesses were related. “In spite of a thorough literature search, [this] committee found little evidence to warrant changes to the conclusions made by [a previous IOM] committee regarding the strength of the association between deployment to the Gulf War and adverse health outcomes,”

For DAV Departments and Chapters
Volume 8, No. 1 Winter 2016
FEDERAL CHARTERS: WHAT DO THEY MEAN?
Part One

DAV is one of a handful (roughly 100) of organizations
that have been granted a “federal” or “Congressional”
charter. This concept is somewhat puzzling to the
public and sometimes even mystifies government
officials. In this and the next issue of the Nonprofit
Advisor, we will clarify this somewhat arcane concept.
Who came up with the idea of a “federal charter”?
The federal charter as it exists in the United States
appears to be a direct descendant of the so-called
European “royal charter.” The earliest known charters
date back to the medieval period (i.e., 800 A.D. – 1400
A.D.) and were used by monarchs to create towns and
important institutions such as colleges and universities.
Royal charters gained special popularity in Great Britain
and Scotland. In those countries, the medieval uses of
the charter were somewhat expanded. Some charters
were granted simply for the creation of necessary
institutions, such as the British East India Company.
However, some were granted to honor existing
institutions and to acknowledge their “pre-eminence,
stability and permanence.”
The varied uses of the royal charter made their way into
the practices of the earliest American colonies. One of
the first charters issued on our shores dates back to
1639 and was promulgated by an “Act of the Great and
General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.” That
charter created Harvard College, now Harvard
University.
What is the purpose of the “federal” or
“Congressional” charter as we know it?
The practice of the chartering by Congress of patriotic,
charitable and other organizations of civic value was
most prominent in the middle third of the last century.
Typically, the chartered organizations originally existed
as state corporations (or unincorporated associations)
and subsequently sought the Congressional recognition.
This was the case, for example, with DAV. Founded a
dozen years before the grant of its federal charter in
1932, the organization had been incorporated in Ohio.
That incorporation was superseded by the
Congressional enactment, which was signed into law by
President Herbert Hoover on June 17, 1932. It has been
amended on a few occasions over the years, but, in
essence, remains very much as originally enacted.
There is no “one” purpose for a Congressional charter.
Given the early recipients of the charters (the major
veterans organizations, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Little
League Baseball), it is clear that Congress intended to
reserve the status for important and unique entities.
Indeed, in 1965, President Johnson vetoed a bill to grant
a charter to a civic affairs group and complained that
“Federal charters should be granted, if at all, only on a
selective basis and . . . they should meet some national
interest standard.” Unfortunately, by this time, the
significance of a charter had been somewhat diluted.
Organizations were seeking charters in part because of
the Congressional “approval” that they seemed to
connote. Such approval could often be translated, even
indirectly, into a financial benefit.
Five years later, the House and Senate agreed to a joint
statement of policy under which federal charters were
to be reserved to organizations “organized and
operated for the primary purpose of conducting
activities which are of national scope and responsive to
a national need.” The result of this has been a
dramatic decline in the number of newly-issued
charters.
How and why would a charter ever be amended?
It is difficult to amend a federal charter. It requires –
literally – an Act of Congress. Typically, an amendment
is made so that the charter more accurately reflects the
character of the organization. For example, as originally
chartered in 1932, DAV was named “Disabled American
Veterans of the World War.” Geopolitical
circumstances changed rapidly in the next decade, so
that in 1942 President Franklin Roosevelt signed into
law an amendment to the DAV charter changing the
name of the organization to “Disabled American
Veterans.”
What about the current amendment to DAV’s charter?
The current (proposed) amendment to the DAV charter
is intended to reflect clearly two undeniable facts. One
is that the organization’s charitable activities now dwarf
everything else it does. The other is that DAV has long
been the primary institution educating the American
people about the sacrifices and needs of disabled
veterans.
Is there, then, no legal significance to the charter?
The question of federal chartering has given rise to
numerous legal issues over the years. Some of those
will be explored in the next edition of our newsletter.

Nonprofit Advisor is prepared by the Office of the DAV’s General Counsel and is published quarterly for the informational use
of DAV Departments and Chapters. This newsletter is not intended to replace legal advice that may be required to address
individual situations.

Secretary McDonald, now in his last year as secretary of Veterans Affairs as President Obama wraps up his administration, expected that there would be challenges when he took the job.
He assumed the position 18 months ago amidst a major scandal involving long patient wait times and veterans dying while waiting for appointments. At the same time, there was the widely known backlog of disability claims applications — with some veterans waiting years for a decision — and persistent delays and cost overruns with a major VA medical center in Colorado.
What the former head of international consumer giant Procter & Gamble, one-time airborne soldier and West Point grad did not expect was unrelenting political attacks from Congress and elsewhere — including, he believes, a veterans group backed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.
“I think the biggest surprise was the politics,” he told Military.com during a recent interview at the VA Medical Center in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. “Remember, I was confirmed 97 to zero. I thought I would focus on just getting better care for veterans, so the politics has been surprising to me. I don’t like politics, I’m not going to be a politician, I’m not running for anything.”
But McDonald’s dislike for politics and lack of political ambition, coupled with a comfortable, stable life made possible by a successful career with P&G, provides him “the freedom to do what is right” regardless of whatever pressure is exerted, he said.
“I don’t need the money. I don’t need the position,” he said. “I’m sacrificing, in a sense, to do this, but it’s not a sacrifice because it’s for my brothers and sisters who served. I’ve got no other agenda.”
If you have heard Secretary McDonald speak he always stetes, “if you have a problem with the VA that cannot be resolved through proper channels, contact me”. I can tell you from personal experience that Secretary McDonald will respond if the matter is significant.