Sunday, September 5, 2010

VA Readies to Pay Claims for New Agent Orange Presumptives

http://oneoldvet.com/?p=22594
By Tom Philpott
Special to Stars and Stripes

The Department of Veterans Affairs published its final regulation Aug. 31 for compensating Vietnam veterans with ischemic heart disease, Parkinson’s disease or B-cell leukemia, or their surviving spouses.

Veterans diagnosed with these diseases only will have to show they stepped foot in Vietnam sometime from Jan. 9, 1962 through May 7, 1975, to qualify for service-connected disability ratings and compensation.

The first batch of payments will be made immediately after Oct. 30, when a required 60-day review period for Congress will expire.

As many as 93,000 veterans and survivors who filed claims previously for these conditions are in line for retroactive payments. Another 60,000 claims have been filed since Oct. 13, when VA Secretary Eric Shinseki announced that these diseases would be added to the list of ailments VA presumes are caused by wartime exposure to Agent Orange. VA projects that at least 150,000 more claims will be filed over the next 12 to 18 months.

In publishing the regulation, VA revealed that the price tag for adding these diseases to its Agent Orange presumptive list could be at least 50 percent higher, over the next 10 years, than the $42.2 billion VA uses.

VA calculated the lower estimate by applying incident rates for these diseases in the general population to the Vietnam veteran population. But Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the veterans’ affairs committee, noted that Vietnam veterans are older. At his request, VA “age-adjusted” the incidence rate for heart disease alone and the cost jumped by $24 billion.

That figure would be even higher but VA officials, using newer data, lowered the average expected disability rating for heart disease from 60 percent down to 50 percent for Akaka’s age-adjusted calculation.

The resulting 10-year estimate of nearly $67 billion also doesn’t reflect the higher incidence of disease expected among Vietnam veterans due to Agent Orange. Still, VA officials said they remain satisfied with their original estimate of $42.2 billion.

The Akaka’s higher cost projection is sure to be raised at a Sept. 23 hearing where his committee will examine how the Agent Orange Act is being applied, and whether a finding by scientists of “limited or suggestive association” between these diseases and herbicide exposure is sufficient evidence to award disability compensation to any ailing Vietnam veteran.

To stop payments, both the Senate and House in this election year would have to pass a joint resolution to block the regulation. President Obama then would have to sign the resolution, after his own Office of Management and Budget spent the past two months studying the VA rule before finally approving it. So VA officials are preparing to make payments.

Here’s a rundown of how payments will be handled for categories of veterans and survivors. This information came from an interview Sept. 1 with Thomas Pamperin, associate deputy under secretary for policy and program management for the Veterans Benefit Administration, and Diana Rubens, associate deputy under secretary for field operations.

RETROACTIVE PAY – Because of a 25-year-old court ruling, Nehmer v. Department of Veterans Affairs, VA must review claims previously filed for these diseases and make payments retroactive to the claim date, or to the date of the Nehmer ruling, Sept. 25, 1985, whichever is later.

The 93,000 veterans and survivors so far identified as having filed a claim for one of these diseases don’t need to file another, said Pamperin. “We are going to review those cases on our own…back to the earliest date they claimed that disability — but not earlier than Nehmer — and will award benefits from that date.”

If the veteran is deceased, VA will award back pay to the surviving spouse. If no surviving spouse is found, the National Veterans Legal Services Program, which litigated the Nehmer decision, will help to identify someone else who might be eligible for the benefits.

Besides disability pay, back payments could include Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for the widow, enhanced burial benefits if a veteran’s death was due to a service-connected condition, and 36-months of education benefit to a spouse or a child, no matter what age the child is today, if the veteran was 100-percent disabled at time of death.

If veterans or survivors are worried the VA will not identified them as eligible for retroactive payments, they can file a new claim, Pamperin said.

“We are doing a data run against our corporate record, and some of these corporate records are limited to six diagnostic codes. So we’ve done the best we can with the resources we have to identify people,” he said.

Diana Rubens said 1000 staffers at 13 regional officers, including 326 specially-trained rating specialists, are working only on Nehmer claims, which can involve complex calculations and long searches for next of kin.

RECENT CLAIMS – 60,000 veterans and survivors who have filed claims for the three diseases since last October also will receive Nehmer protection in that payment will be made back to the date of the claim.

Every VA service center and regional office is working to develop and process these claims for payment sometime after Oct. 30.

“Our goal is to spend the next couple of months setting up as many claims as possible for payments as quickly as possible,” Rubens said.

FUTURE CLAIMS – If veterans or survivors planning to submit a new Agent Orange claim can show they had one of these diseases diagnosed on or before Aug. 31 this year, and if they file their claim before Aug. 30, 2011, it will be payable back to Aug. 31, 2010, the date the regulation took effect. Otherwise, payment date will be the date an approved claim was filed.

Pamperin advises veterans to gather medical records from private doctors so VA won’t need to schedule new exams to confirm their diseases.

26 comments:

  1. I've been getting the bums rush for years from the V A. Kid doctor after Kid doctor. Smart ass punks with rich parents just biding their time. We'll see what happens, probably will make everyone appeal till they die.

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  2. WAITING* HOPING* PRAYING* LET THIS COUNTRY PAY US BACK, FOR THE SUFFERING, AND THE HUMILIATION WE FACED WHEN WE RETURNED FROM HONORING OUR PLEDGE, AND LIVING THIS LONG TO SEE WHAT IT WAS ALL WORTH.

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  3. i spent 13 months in that hell hole.wounded twice 1/4 aqnd with1/12.i am now 65 i have had my left kidney removed from cancer and now have it in my left.nerve damage,severe ptsd,seizures.i want my money,i was turned down in 2008.i have an attorney this time,

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  4. my husband got a decision from our gov on his ischemic heart disease don't get your hopes up what a joke! this was on sat oct. 2, 2010

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  5. Was with the fighting IVY 4th Division all over
    SOuth Vietnam in 67 68....saw the spraying close to us while hunting gooks in the mountains...i had a quadruple bypass heart surgery in 2002.i filed a claim in 2005 for IHD and was denied.Four weeks ago i underwent a 12 hour surgery for a rare srange illness where my stomach deteriorated and detached ,i was near
    death after dehidrating for several weeks.The
    surgions saved me tho im still severely anemic.
    Was that rare illness do to agent orange effect
    who can say ...but the many illnesses ,,to many
    that i suffered are not just bad luck....trust
    me they are mostly tied to my agent orange
    exposure.....my doctor visits cost me 500 dollars
    out of pocket and the med cost etc are eating up my small life savings.....i figure if i live 2
    more years of misery and pain i will also be BROKE....Thank you VA and the wonderful public who looked down on me when i came home and wouldnt give me a job cause they insisted i was a sick junky....ofcorse i was not then nor ever
    was a bad person in any way....but i had to suffer and hide like a lepper.....i love my country and my combat awards list but i cry with
    my wife for all my suffering and pain that continues on and on....God bless america !

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  6. VA denied my claim for Renal Cell Carcinoma after my surgeon doctor gave a letter saying that there is an association between Agent Orange and Renal Cell Carcinoma. I spend a year in that hell hole and this is what the goverment does to you.

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  7. AGENT ORANGE RULES.......a VIETNAM VETERAN WITH ONE OF THE NEW PRESUMPTIVE DISEASES IHD OR CAD BEING ONE MAJOR ISSUE AND WHO HAD A DENIED CLAIM IN THE EARLY 2001 TO 2009 .ACCORDING TO THE NEW RULES BY LAW .MAY GET AN AXTRA YEAR OF COMP IF THIER ARMY RECORDS SHOW THEY HAD THE PRESUMPTIVE
    DIEASE YEARS EARLIER THAN THE DENIED CLAIM. CORONARY BYPASS SURGERY DO TO AGENT ORANGE EXPOSURE IS A MAJOR PLUS FACTOR IN AO CLAIMS NOW
    LEGALY PRESUMPTIVE......I HOPE VETS CAN GET TO ENJOY FOR A TIME AFTER 40 YEARS OF SUFFERING .THE SO CALLED EARNED BENEFITS HANDED DOWN BY PRESIDENT aBE lINCOLN FROM ILLINOIS..HE WAS OFCORSE KNOWN AS HONEST ABE...WE NEED MORE
    HONEST ABE LINCOLNS IN PRESENT DAY POLITICS AND MOSTLY IN THE VA ADMINITRATION....

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  8. I have a question that I need help with. I received a letter regarding the Agent Orange claim because my father filed a claim with VA in 1985 since he was 100% disabled from heart issues. The 1985 claim was denied but he was given a one time payment of $600.00. My father also received a rating of 100% disabled by the VA in the same year. Will they still be paying backpay for the heart condition that was just added to the Agent Orange list? Will it be backdated to 1985?

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  9. I have the same question and I wish someone would answer. My husband was awarded money and was 100% will they be paying backpay.

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  10. To anonymous. Your question is confusing. You said his claim was denied, but given a one time payment of $600.00 and the received a rating of 100% the same year. Before your questions can be answered: what was the $600.00 payment for? What condition was denied in 1985? What did the decision say that granted him a 100% evaluation? It sounds like he may have been granted service connection for other conditions but denied for his heart condition. Try and find the rating decision issued by the VA. Having this information will help answer your questions

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  11. This is in response to the posting on November 1 2010- My mother said that he applied for disability in 1987 regarding the heart condition and was denied. I did receive a back pay of disabilty regarding metal health in September 2002 and passed away October 2002 (so he did not get to see any of that money). My mom also said the $600.00 payment was made to veterans who had came into contact with agent orange and was not associated with his heart. So basically my father filed for disabilty related to heart conditions in 1987 when he had his first heart attack and they said it was denied because it was not linked to the agent orange. I really hop he does get backpay because I would love to honor him by giving help to other disabled veterans in his name.

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  12. My father has been falling apart for years! He served his country and they can not give him a hundred percent disability! If the state can give him a hundred percent disability why can't the VA! He served in Veitnam! Suffered because of Agent Orange, and only has sixty percent disability! Fybromyalgia should be on the dam list! A chemical that attacked the nervous system, my father has this in eighteen points of his body. It can't get any worse! Pregnant women gets this crap not men! and now all these men who have served in Veitnam is now getting it! Shit Take care of the men and women who fought for this country. Stop screwing them over. Fighting a new claim that just came out 2010. Lets see if he gets full disability from heart disease!

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  13. I have 3 of the diseases from agent orange: diabetes, heart disease, and neuropathy. Plus I'm 100% post traumatic stress, plus I have 20% hearing disability. I'm a former Marine Riffle man. I've been on a roller coaster ride with the VA since 1968 and no one seems to have an answer for anything. If they think that I'll be satisfied with 6,000 dollars, they have it all wrong. I'll hire a lawyer. They just cant get it right for the veteran. God Bless America

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  14. I have been informed by the VA that a claim was filed for coronary artery bypass, however, the claim was filed on May 24 and I received notification late in October. Now I wonder if they are going to deny the claim or not. This is ridiculous.I think I need a drink

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  15. Im a 4th Divison Combat Fire Team Leader from 1966 to 1968...i watched the planes spraying the light brown Agent Orange Dioxin overhead in the 120 Degree hot vietnam jungle.I came home with jungle rot all over my legs that wouldnt heal for years.I was never given a dime by VA who told me back then We cn vure your cloreacne disease from war and we lost your records.I was on my own suffering that and GERD and Coronary
    artery disease and bad PTSD ,and hearing loss with evere TINNITUS,from firing my over nd under m 79 granade launcher M 16 etc .In 2002 i ubderwent 4 bypass surgery for CAD,i suffered
    pains and irregulat heart beats for 40 yers since the war.Im waiting a year to find out wht happens to my 2005 denial for CAD disease now presumptive under the Nehmer class LAW.Recently
    i got sick vometing for 2 weeks not knowing what
    was wrong with me..I wound up at my saini Hospital in new york for a 12 hour stomach
    surgery.iI ws close to death..I was told my stomach detatched and fell then twisted and shot
    up into my esophogus....i could not eat or drink
    and was dying fast....I got lucky with the surgery but ended up now from all the surgical tubes do my throat,with a GRANULOMA ball on my
    vocal cord..i cant speak as it would get bigger
    and stop my breathing....my next step will be
    vocal cord surgery at some point in time pretty
    soon....i am paying big dollars on charge cards
    to pay my med bills and meds...i am waiting to hear from VA on my heart disease case from 2005 .
    In the mean time im going slowly broke from all the illnesses.....my wife attributes all the illnesses to agent orange dioxin poisoning from combat in NAM....i was also diasgnosed with bad artheritis thats taking over my body ...ive lost 40 lbs and still suffer bone loss and pain ..i ws 5 feet 11 inches tall my doc said i am now 5 ft 7 and lost 4 inches .Bt the way when they
    fixed my collapsed stomach the surgiions worked to also correct an old hiatal Hernia from GERD.
    Can anyone tell me Besides my old HEART issues on my VA records and GERD and all on my records
    am i entitled to and other earned medical or comp from the other diseases hitting me so hard
    nd fast now ....thanks

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  16. You are intiled if your diseases falls under the claims providing by the VA! I know this because my father is going through this now! My father got 60 percent disability from diabeties 2 which is now linked to Agent Orange and the Diaibeties is now link to Heart Disease! He is now fighting for the New claim that just came out! Heart Disease! Fill out the claims you disease falls under! You will have to provide them your Medical records and have to prove you were in Veitnam. You will have to see their doctors. If they still deny you I would hire an attorney to help your case along! I say this, You fought for your country just like my father, now it's time to fight for yourself! Fill out the claims, see if you qualify and if they turn you down fight nasty! Get yourself an attorney! Good luck! I hope this helps!

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  17. 1967-1969 I served in Vietnam. I am now 100% disabled from heart problems and 2 strokes. I filed a claimed but have heard nothing. I know that that it does no good to bitch so i'll see you all in hell i guess. SGT< USMC

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  18. MY COMMENTS ARE SIMPLE..I,VE APPLIED FOR AGENT ORANGE TWICE .mY LATEST CLAIM IS FOR HEART DISEASE RELATED TO AGENT ORANGE.I SERVED IN VIET NAM 2 TOURS OF DUTY AND RETIRED FROM THE ARMY FEB.28,1986...AM I WASITING MY TIME FILING A CLAIM FIRST OF ALL....AND ,IF MY CLAIM IS HONORED,WILL I SEE COMPENSATION WITHIN MY LIFETIME?

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  19. has anyone received compensation for ischemic heart disease,if so what was the rating

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  20. I am surviving spouse of a member of the 307 STRAT WG 1968-1971. He was 47 when diagnosed w/ 2 VA approved AO connected Non Hodgkins Lymphoma & Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia & passed @ the age of 49 leaving me our 2 children to raise. At the time it was suggested that I call VA to see if there was connection, told no. Just filed claim a few months ago.
    Am having a hard time trying to prove feet on the ground. He has a patch "ARC LIGHT" on his flying suit.
    Any suggestions on how to get travel vouchers, morning reports,Info from "sensitive" reports that would have placed him in the country. Like most of you he had the 2 Viet service medal/w bronze star. HELP ?

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  21. My father died of cancer from this agent orange the gov not understand how this affects people lives i give anything to have my father back so i hope they dont give people a hard time because we already been through eough. my dad been dead for aleast 20 years, if they only knew what we saw the worst thing in life is watching someone you love die right in front of you i hpoe no one elise has to go through what my family and i had to go through.

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  22. Find his dd214 have the infor. for you too file call the DVA for Help Aloha Good Luck 100% PDSD IU Joseph

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  23. Why do I feel like Im the only Vietnam Vet left that doesn,t know what percentage I will receive from agent orange...I understand that things take time but this is the 2nd time I had applied and as of yet nothing about what percentage I will receive ,or even if the claim is being honored..I have evidence from my heart surgeon,family physician and other doctors involved with my back surgery & hip surgery and yet I haven,t heard a thing back from VA.Is there a number that I can call directly to find out what percentage I will receive.And all daministration on my dowble by-pass surgery had been submited also.

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  24. i am 100%ptsd also will quatify for ischemic heart disease since 1992 will backpay from heart disease stop because i am already 100% for ptsd

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  25. I was soaked in chemicals (fuels and trichloroethylene, but never was in vietnam.. yet I was denied (though I have many diseases and was hospitalized on active duty for the chemicals and the illnesses they caused me on active duty,, and as a civilain have been fighting for my life in hospital beds (up to 6 months in a hospital bed with pancreas disease) and my bed for 20 years

    I don't see how people who hever had a drop of chemical on them can get settlements when people like me who were soaked in chemicals for years on active duty have to go through so many appeals..

    I want equal treatment for everyone,,, it seems some people are more equal than others..

    The VA claims and appeals process it' deny deny until they die,, just wait and wait with appeals and hearings while th eyears roll by...

    dirty bastages running the VA..

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  26. where are the answers to these questions ?

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