By Debbie Gregory.

If you’ve been approved for service-connected disability benefits from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the agency will assign a disability rating that specifies the seriousness of your condition. You can be given a rating of 0 to 100 percent, and this percentage is associated with a certain monetary amount you’ll receive for the disability.

Your VA disability compensation benefit is not static. As a matter of fact, your benefit can be increased by the VA if you know the right steps to take.

Even if you are currently receiving compensation from the VA, you can still request an increase in your compensation for a new disability. For example, you are receiving disability for a back injury you received while in the military, and now you are experiencing hearing issues that may be related to your military service.

Additionally, you can file a secondary claim for a new disability that’s linked to a service-connected disability you already have. For example, you might file a secondary claim if you develop arthritis that’s caused by a service-connected knee injury you got while on active duty.

You can also file for an increase to an existing disability because the condition has gotten worse. You may experience greater pain, suffer broader or more challenging symptoms, or find that your day-to-day functioning has decreased.

Keep in mind that any time you request an increase in your VA disability rating, you are opening your claim for re-evaluation. The VA can actually lower or terminate your existing rating, so make sure you have all the proper documentation and paperwork to support your claim.

To reduce your disability rating, the VA must have specific evidence that your condition has improved. The responsibility of proof is on the VA. However, it’s important to be diligent in protecting your rating. It’s important never to miss a reexamination appointment because the VA can reduce or terminate your rating without warning because of this.

If you have been denied a rating or you feel it is too low, you can challenge the VA’s decision with an appeal known as a “Notice of Disagreement.”

By Debbie Gregory.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) periodically issues a volume of options that would decrease federal spending or increase federal revenues. In December, the CBO published its list of 121 options to combat the projected $1 trillion federal deficit this year, among them three suggestions on TRICARE and six that address veterans’ benefits.

In its most recent volume, entitled “Options for Reducing the Deficit: 2019 to 2028”, the CBO suggested raising TRICARE enrollment fees for military retirees, instituting enrollment fees for TRICARE for Life and reducing veterans’ benefits.

The publication marks the fourth time in five years that the CBO has suggested raising TRICARE enrollment fees for working-age retirees and introducing minimum out-of-pocket expenses for those using TRICARE for Life.

In order to save nearly $12 billion, CBO suggested increasing TRICARE enrollment fees, deductibles and co-payments for working-age military retirees.

“Beneficiaries with individual coverage would pay $650 annually to enroll in TRICARE Prime. The annual cost of family enrollment would be $1,300,” the report stated. “All beneficiaries who enroll in TRICARE Select would pay an annual enrollment fee of $485 for individual coverage and $970 for a family.”

The CBO also suggested instituting enrollment fees for TRICARE for Life, the program that serves as supplemental coverage for military retirees on Medicare. Analysts estimated that the Defense Department could save $12 billion between 2021 and 2028.

According to CBO analysts, these options would reduce the financial burden of TRICARE for Life to the DoD in two ways: It would cut the government’s share by the amount of fees collected and indirectly would save money by causing some patients to forgo TRICARE for Life altogether, either by buying a private Medicare supplement or simply going without one.

According to the CBO, the Department of Veterans Affairs also presents several opportunities for cost-savings measures, including tightening up disability compensation requirements and disallowing benefits for arteriosclerotic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Crohn’s disease, hemorrhoids, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, and uterine fibroids. Additionally, the CBO recommends discontinuing the VA’s individual employability payments, reducing disability benefits to veterans older than 67 who are receiving Social Security payments, and eliminating disability compensation for veterans with disability rates below 30 percent.

The CBO also recommended making VA disability payments taxable income.

To all of the above, we say NO! Veterans have earned their benefits, and those benefits should be off the table.

U.S. Department of Commerce Invests $21 Million to Accelerate Entrepreneurship Across the Nation; Announces Timeline for Next Round of Regional Innovation Strategies Competition

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross today announced that 40 organizations — including nonprofits, institutions of higher education, and entrepreneurship-focused organizations — from 28 states and two territories will receive $21 million to create and expand cluster-focused entrepreneurship and technology transfer programs, and early-stage seed fund support under EDA’s 2018 Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program competition.

The full list of 2018 i6 grantees can be found on the EDA RIS 2018 i6 Challenge webpage. 2018 Seed Fund Support Program grantees are highlighted on the 2018 Seed Fund program page.

The 2018 group of RIS awardees expands the RIS portfolio to five new states and territories. Selected from a pool of more than 230 applicants, the awardees include a defense commercialization project led by the Maryland Department of Commerce, a global food systems technology accelerator led by Kansas State University, a healthcare innovation initiative led by the Northern Kentucky Tri-Country Economic Development Corporation, a community-oriented, rural-focused proof-of-concept center led by the North Idaho College Venture Center and new efforts led by StartUpNV to expand and increase angel investment activity across the state of Nevada.

You can learn more about how our 2018 RIS cohort plans to engage to boost innovation and support entrepreneurship in their regions by reading these new i6 Challenge and Seed Fund program blog posts.

The Secretary also announced that EDA will open the 2019 RIS competition on February 1^st, 2019, when the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is scheduled to be published on grants.gov.

We encourage you to start thinking NOW about how you can plug into the RIS program to help support your innovation and entrepreneurship growth activities. Prospective applicants can find more information, including information on eligibility and how they will be able to apply, on EDA’s RIS webpage.

By Debbie Gregory.

The U.S. military is reportedly finalizing plans to eliminate more than 17,000 uniformed medical professionals, including physicians, dentists, nurses and other healthcare professionals, resulting in a 13 percent cut to its medical workforce.

“Part of this drill is to realign our people to the appropriate level of workload so that their skills, both for battlefield care and for beneficiary care, improve,” said one Defense Department official.

While senior officials discussed the reasons for the cuts, they declined to confirm exact figures, as those numbers will not be made official until the fiscal year 2020 defense budget is approved by the White House, and sent to Congress next month. If both branches approve the budget, the reductions will take effect in fiscal year 2021.

The reduction will allow a deepening of the workload of remaining medical billets at base hospitals and clinics to strengthen medical skills, as well as improving quality of care for beneficiaries, according to defense officials.

The staff cuts are worrisome for patient access, particularly to physicians young families rely on such as pediatricians and obstetricians, according to retired Navy Capt. Kathryn M. Beasley, director of government relations for health issues at the Military Officers Association of America.

“We need to see the final numbers to understand the impact,” she said.

But senior defense officials, who say they collaborated closely with the services on overall staff reduction plans, contend the current force is larger than needed to meet today’s operational missions and is overloaded with skill sets not useful for deployment and delivering of battlefield care.

Defense officials conceded the staff cuts, and refocusing on deployable skills, over time will change the mix of providers delivering care on base, forcing more family care off base and onto Tricare provider networks.

“We will expect to see an increase in certain skill sets [and] a decrease in other skill sets,” said one official. “More trauma surgeons, fewer pediatricians, for example. Those kinds of changes are right at the heart of what Congress has directed us to do.”

By Debbie Gregory.

On January 5, 2019, House Representatives Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) and Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure that retired members of the Armed Forces who have a service-connected disability will be able to receive both disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for their disability in addition to their retirement pay acquired through their years of military service or combat-related special compensation.

The Retired Pay Restoration Act was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Under current law, veterans receiving 40% or lower rates of service-connected disability compensation are not eligible for full retirement and disability benefits. The Retired Pay Restoration Act would correct this error and allow veterans receiving 40% or lower rates of service-connected disability to receive both military retired pay and veterans’ disability compensation or combat-related special pay.

Each representative introducing the act made a statement via a January 10th press release:

“Our veterans have dedicated their lives in service to our country, and should not be penalized for that service due to a bureaucratic rule,” Rep. Gabbard, founder and co-chair of the Post-9/11 Veterans Caucus said. “Retirement benefits and disability benefits are two different things, and one should not be counted against the other.”

“Our nation’s veterans have earned and deserve the utmost respect, best possible services and care for the sacrifices they and their families have made to defend this country—especially under the constant threat of global terrorism,” said Congressman Bilirakis. “However, under current law, some military retirees have their disability pay deducted from their retirement pay, which is unconscionable. These are two completely different benefits, and it is wrong for them to count against one another. Plain and simple, it isn’t right to deny Veterans the financial compensation they have earned and deserve. I am honored and grateful to have Representative Tulsi Gabbard working alongside me this year, in a bi-partisan manner, to champion this important cause. I am hopeful that with our combined efforts, this will be the year we are able to finally rectify this injustice.”

If you would like to show your support, you can sign a petition to be delivered to the White House and Congress at https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/honor-our-military-heroes.