Post Service Officer - Dennis Storey
This has been a rough month for us but we will persevere. Rhonda’s Mom lost her battle with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) on the 11 of November. She was 90 years old. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we plan her memorial service on the 6th of December. I will be at the Legion on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month for consults. If you need assistance and I am not there, please call the office at 352 750-2099 to make sure I am at the Villages VA Outpatient clinic on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for phone consults or appointments to file a disability claim. I can be reached there at (352) 674-5097 for an appointment. I also will meet with both Veteran and Spouse to discuss any benefits concerns you both may have. If I cannot answer your question, I will either research your issue or refer you to someone who can. Joe Morales is in the office on Wednesday and Friday. Our goal is to provide the Veteran the service that we can!
Military ID Cards for Retirees
We are rapidly approaching the deadline for obtaining a new Military retiree ID card. If you are retired from the Military service and have a “blue” retired ID card, your ID card will be expiring soon. I have a list of those installations for ID card renewal. I have been using the Naval Support Activity in Orlando. They are very efficient and quite accommodating. They are replacing it with a white ID card. You must go to an ID card issuing station to renew, however, in some cases you can renew on-line. Below are the criteria to renew on-line.
Sponsor must be a CAC holder or have a DoD Self-Service Logon username/password
• Must be requesting a renewal of an active USID card
• Sponsor and Cardholder must have email addresses listed in DEERS that they have authorized DoD to use for contacting them
• Sponsor’s personnel status must extend at least 30 days into the future
• Cardholder has a photo saved in DEERS taken in the last 12 years
• Cardholder’s mailing address is present in DEERS and is in United States
• USID cards cannot be shipped to PO Boxes REQUIREMENTS FOR MORE INFORMATION See ID Card Office Online (IDCO): https://idco.dmdc.osd.mil/idco/
If you have any questions, please see me and I will try to answer the
Legislative
The Bipartisan, piece of legislation offering comprehensive improvements to veteran and caregiver benefits across the VA – from long-term care to mental health services to employment programs and much more – passed the House on Nov. 18 by a 389-9 vote and heads to the Senate with only a handful of days remaining on the legislative calendar.
A big piece of legislation for Veterans healthcare improvement, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act (H.R. 8371) offers a lifeline for all types of VA beneficiaries and has the support of more than 50 organizations. Its movement through the House is thanks to the dedicated efforts of House Veterans’ Affairs Committee (HVAC) leaders along with the work of all the Veterans organizations.
This bill is a profound positive impact this bill will have on the health and well-being of our veterans, their caregivers, and survivors.”
It now needs to clear the House of Representatives. Please contact your local representatives to urge them to support this important bill.
Transportation to Gainesville VA
The DAV Van operates Monday-Friday. The DAV offers free rides from the VA Outpatient Clinic to the Gainesville VA Hospital. Thanks to the generous donations of Post 347, Post 347 Auxiliary and the Legion Riders, we were able to purchase a brand-new Ford Transit Van. The Van was delivered several months ago and is in operation. To schedule a ride to the VA Hospital, please call the Van dispatcher at (352) 674-5099, leave your name, phone contact number, date and time of your appointment. The dispatcher will call you back (usually a day or two before your scheduled appointment) telling you what time to be at the VA Clinic to meet the Van. The Van will return after the last Veteran’s scheduled appointment on that day
First of all, I want to thank the members for your patience over the past few weeks. Between training, vacation and knee surgery Tuesday, I have been indisposed. I will be at the Legion on Due to my workload at the Villages VA Outpatient Clinic, I will be cutting my days back at the Legion. I will be at the Legion on the 28 Oct, 4 Nov and First and Third Mondays from 9-11. Please call the office at 352 750-2099 to make sure I am18 November. I will always be available by phone at my office down at the VA clinic. I am at the VA on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. If you have a VA disability claim to file, I still have to do that at my main office is located at the Villages VA Outpatient and am there on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for Appointments. I can be reached there at (352) 674-5097 for an appointment. I also will meet with both Veteran and Spouse to discuss any benefits concerns you both may have. If I cannot answer your question, I will either research your issue or refer you to someone who can. Joe Morales is in the office on Wednesday and Friday. Our goal is to provide the Veteran the service that we can!
December 2024
Military ID Cards for Retirees
We are rapidly approaching the deadline for obtaining a new Military retiree ID card. If you are retired from the Military service and have a “blue” retired ID card, your ID card will be expiring soon. I been have a list of those installations for ID card renewal. I have been using the Naval Support Activity in Orlando. They are very efficient and quite accommodating. They are replacing it with a white ID card. You must go to an ID card issuing station to renew, however, in some cases you can renew on-line. Below are the criteria to renew on-line.
Sponsor must be a CAC holder or have a DoD Self-Service Logon username/password
• Must be requesting a renewal of an active USID card
• Sponsor and Cardholder must have email addresses listed in DEERS that they have authorized DoD to use for contacting them
• Sponsor’s personnel status must extend at least 30 days into the future
• Cardholder has a photo saved in DEERS taken in the last 12 years
• Cardholder’s mailing address is present in DEERS and is in United States
• USID cards cannot be shipped to PO Boxes REQUIREMENTS FOR MORE INFORMATION See ID Card Office Online (IDCO): https://idco.dmdc.osd.mil/idco/
If you have any questions, please see me and I will try to answer them
Legislative
With a few scant weeks left in their session, members of the 118th Congress must act immediately or risk leaving generations of veterans, and their caregivers, with inadequate resources, life-altering stress, and more questions than answers about their long-term health.
The bipartisan Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act (H.R. 8371) addresses these issues and others, improving service-earned benefits and offering even wider upgrades to survivor programs, homeless veteran outreach, and many other facets of VA-provided support. Yet despite backing from key committee leaders and dozens of veterans groups (including The American Legion), the bill has not cleared the House nor been introduced in the Senate.
[TAKE ACTION: Ask Your Lawmakers to Back the Dole Act]
Thousands of visitors to MOAA’s Legislative Action Center already have reached out to their legislators in support of the bill, but as other post-election priorities stack up, it’s critical to make your voice heard today.
Failure to pass this bipartisan bill would push planned improvements back years – improvements needed as the VA faces its own budget crisis and prepares for a challenging demographic landscape:
- The VA will see a 31% increase in veterans 85 and older from 2021 to 2041.
- Over that same period, the number of women veterans over 65 will spike by 237%.
- There are already 14.3 million military and veteran caregivers, mostly family members. According to a new RAND study, 42% of caregivers to veterans age 60 and under met the criteria for depression, and 1 in 5 have contemplated suicide.
PACT Act and VA Health Care
Beginning March 5, VA made millions of Veterans eligible for VA health care years earlier than called for by the PACT Act.
Specifically, all Veterans who meet the basic service and discharge requirements and were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving our country—at home or abroad—are eligible to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits.
That includes all Veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, or any other combat zone after 9/11.
It includes all Veterans who deployed in support of the Global War on Terror.
And it includes Veterans who never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty here at home, including those who worked with chemicals, pesticides, lead, asbestos, certain paints, nuclear weapons, x-rays and more.
To be eligible to enroll in VA health care, Veterans must meet the minimum active-duty service requirements, have a qualifying discharge, and meet one or more eligibility requirements specific to VA health care. VA encourages all Veterans to apply to determine their enrollment eligibility.
We’re doing this because VA care is proven to be the best, most affordable health care in America for Veterans and we want as many Veterans as possible to come to us for their care.
So, to all the Veterans out there: don’t wait, apply for the care you deserve at VA.gov/PACT.
Even if you don’t need this care today, you might need it tomorrow, or the next day, or 30 years from now. It’s quick and easy to apply. And once you’re in, you have access for life.
Transprtation to Gainesville VA
The DAV Van operates Monday-Friday. The DAV offers free rides from the VA Outpatient Clinic to the Gainesville VA Hospital. Thanks to the generous donations of Post 347, Post 347 Auxiliary and the Legion Riders, we were able to purchase a brand-new Ford Transit Van. The Van was delivered several months ago and is in operation. To schedule a ride to the VA Hospital, please call the Van dispatcher at (352) 674-5099, leave your name, phone contact number, date and time of your appointment. The dispatcher will call you back (usually a day or two before your scheduled appointment) telling you what time to be at the VA Clinic to meet the Van. The Van will return after the last Veteran’s scheduled appointment on that day
NOVEMBER 2024
Due to my workload at the Villages VA Outpatient Clinic, I will be cutting my days back at the Legion. Effective 3 September. So, my next walk-in period at the Legion will be 16 September. After that I will be at the Legion on the First and Third Mondays from 9-11. I will always be available by phone at my office down at the VA clinic. I will be at the VA on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. If you have a VA disability claim to file, I still have to do that at my main office is located at the Villages VA Outpatient and am there on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for Appointments. I can be reached there at (352) 674-5097 for an appointment. I also will meet with both Veteran and Spouse to discuss any benefits concerns you both may have. If I cannot answer your question, I will either research your issue or refer you to someone who can. Joe Morales is in the office on Wednesday and Friday. Our goal is to provide the Veteran the service that we can!
Military ID Cards for Retirees
If you are retired from the Military service and have a “blue” retired ID card, your ID card will be expiring soon. I have a list of those installations for ID card renewal. I have been using the Naval Support Activity in Orlando. They are very efficient and quite accommodating. They are replacing it with a white ID card. You must go to an ID card issuing station to renew, however, in some cases you can renew on-line. Below are the criteria to renew on-line.
Sponsor must be a CAC holder or have a DoD Self-Service Logon username/password
• Must be requesting a renewal of an active USID card
• Sponsor and Cardholder must have email addresses listed in DEERS that they have authorized DoD to use for contacting them
• Sponsor’s personnel status must extend at least 30 days into the future
• Cardholder has a photo saved in DEERS taken in the last 12 years
• Cardholder’s mailing address is present in DEERS and is in United States
• USID cards cannot be shipped to PO Boxes REQUIREMENTS FOR MORE INFORMATION See ID Card Office Online (IDCO): https://idco.dmdc.osd.mil/idco/
If you have any questions, please see me and I will try to answer them.
Summer has been very quiet from a legislation standpoint. There is a couple of issues hat will be coming up in the fall session.
The Major Richard Star Act (S. 344)
This is a bipartisan legislation that would authorize concurrent receipt of Department of Defense (DoD) retired pay and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation for those injured in a combat zone and medically retired under Chapter 61 of title 10, United States Code.
In April of this year, we asked for your support on this stand-alone bill, now, we need you to contact your Senators to vote for adoption of Amendment 142—provisions from the Major Richard Star Act so it can be included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
This benefit would eliminate this unjust offset of disability compensation for combat-injured military retirees.
H.R. 5890, the Review Every Veterans Claim Act
This bill would limit the VA’s authority to deny a veteran’s claim solely based on the veteran’s failure to appear for a medical examination associated with the claim.
Currently, the law states that “the Secretary shall treat an examination or opinion as being necessary to make a decision on a claim for purposes….” This requirement usually results in the Veterans Benefits Administration denying a veteran’s claim if they did not attend the requested examination, even if the rest of the evidence of record contains service medical records, private medical records and lay statements from the veteran.
H.R. 5890 would add a new paragraph to the law, which states the Secretary may not deny such claim on the sole basis that the veteran failed to appear for the requested medical examination.
On November 8, 2023, in accordance with DAV Resolution No. 220. DAV testified before the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs in support of the Review Every Veterans Claim Act.
Please contact your Representative and urge them to co-sponsor H.R. 5890, the Review Every Veterans Claim Act. This legislation would positively impact the claims process for veterans, their families, their survivors and caregivers. Thousands of veterans’ claims are denied solely based on a missed examination without consideration of all of the evidentiary. This would eliminate that practice.
SEPTEMBER 2024