The Maine Veterans Coordinating Council monthly meeting is this Monday, Oct. 1. As you will recall from previous articles, this is the chance for all veterans to talk directly to the director of the Togus Hospital, the director of our region’s Benefits office, and representatives of your congressional office. A couple of the ongoing issues that we are talking about are: (1) outsourcing/contracting to clinicians in the private sector the exams that determine the level of disability the VA assigns for service connected disabilities; (2) the issue that if a widow(er) is entitled to an income because her/his veteran spouse paid for that insurance (called Survivor Benefit Plan (SPB) and if the widow(er) is also entitled to receive compensation because his/her veteran spouse passed away from an illness that was caused by his/her service to our country (Dependents Indemnification Compensation- DIC), the widow(er) does not get both (referred to as the Widow’s Tax); (3) the exposure to toxic chemicals from service in Korea and various bases in the U.S.; and (4) outsourcing the management of the community care part of the Mission Act, the cause of the problem with the old “Choice” program. This meeting is open to all veterans and is a great opportunity to talk to the VA leadership on issues you may be having. This Monday, there will be three of us going to the meeting. We will be departing the Legion Hall at 4:30 p.m. on Monday if anyone would like to join us, or follow us to the Maine Veterans Central Office, 460 Civic Center Dr., Augusta.

Every week I meet with veterans who are experiencing health issues and either have no health insurance or have co-pays that are staggering; and, are eligible for VA healthcare but never bothered to apply or didn’t know they were eligible. To be eligible for VA healthcare (and I am going to simplify it here) you need to have a service connected medical issue, or an income (not assets) of about $34,000 a year and that is after you deduct all your out of pocket medical expenses, or you received any of the Vietnam Service ribbons for duty in the Vietnam theater of operations. One of the ways many are eligible is for hearing losses they might have now that can be traced back to their military service (which is how I became eligible for VA Healthcare at age 70). Please contact me if you have any questions or if you want to explore the possibility that you might be eligible. If you know a veteran who you think should be receiving VA healthcare, have them contact me. It is never too late!

The next breakfast will be Sunday, Oct. 6. Spread the word, bring the family, bring your neighbors, and make it a community event.