American Legion Post 36

Tue, 11/12/2019 - 12:00pm

Good news for those on Social Security, those receiving VA financial benefits, including survivors’ benefits, as of 1 January 2020, will receive a 1.6% increase in those benefits. Of course, that adjustment is an attempt by the government to keep up with our coast of living increases.

Recently I found out that veterans who serviced between January 1957 and December 2001 might be eligible for an increase in their social security payments. Under certain circumstances, special extra earnings for your military service can be credited to your record for Social Security purposes. These extra earnings credits may help you qualify for Social Security or increase the amount of your Social Security benefit. For more information go to the Social Security Publication No. 05-10017 (Google) and/or www.ssa.gov/retire2/military.htm This may have automatically happened, but it might be worth checking out.

On the Congressional front, the House (HR 3495) and the Senate (S 1906) have both put forth legislation that will provide grants to communities that will enable them to expand services that will address the issue of suicide prevention. The House bill has 179 bi-partisan co-sponsors and the Senate bill has 25 bi-partisan co-sponsors. At this time, the Maine congressional delegation has not signed on as a co-sponsor. I will be asking our delegation if there is a reason they are not supporting this legislation and will report back. It was interesting that the week leading up to Veterans Day, there were over 15 new pieces of veteran related legislation introduced, six of which addressed the issues of mental health and suicide.

The VA and Apple computer have teamed to introduce a new “app” to help veterans with iPhones track their VA healthcare. The new “Health” app can be found by going to the VA website and search for “Health App.” This provides mobile access to My Healthy Vet and e-Benefits. If you are in the VA Healthcare system and have computer access, these two programs allow you to access your healthcare and benefits information via the internet. Go to www.maine.va.gov to register if you haven’t already. For those who need assistance signing up for these programs, assistance can be provided at the Legion Hall once the new renovations are complete. Just contact the Hall to make an appointment.

The VA is now advertising “same day service” for primary care and mental health appointments. Quoted from the VA website: “As a part of our Access transformation, all 166 VA Medical Centers now offer Same Day Services for Veterans with the most urgent needs. This will provide Veterans with timely access to care when care is needed right away.” Go to https://www.va.gov/samedayservices/ to learn more about it. I will also be contacting Togus to better understand the availability of this service.

The next meeting of the Boothbay Region Post, Auxiliary, and Sons will be on Dec. 9.