Veterans
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- Written by: California Treasurer's Office
The joint senior managing underwriters for the sale were veteran-owned Academy Securities Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC.
"This is such a fabulous way of saying ‘thank you’ to our veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice," said Ma.
She noted that proceeds from the sale, along with those from $100 million of Veterans General Obligation bonds scheduled to be sold on April 4, will provide CalVet with funding sufficient to offer low-interest home loans to hundreds of qualified veterans in 2019 under the CalVet Home Loans program.
Since its establishment in 1921, the Home Loans program has provided loans to 425,000 veterans in California. The program’s guiding principle is to provide the best product for the lowest possible cost, without costing California taxpayers one cent.
"Our CalVet Home Loans program helps make the dream of home ownership a reality, as an earned benefit for military service, and we look forward to helping veterans and their families achieve that dream well into the future," said CalVet Secretary Vito Imbasciani.
Academy Securities is a unique financial services firm that brings together U.S. military veterans and seasoned industry experts. The firm’s founder and many of its equity owners are decorated post 9/11 military veterans.
Academy, which is certified by the State of California as a Disabled Veterans Business Enterprise and by the federal government as a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business Enterprise, was recently honored with the first annual Patriots in Business Award for its outstanding contributions to helping America’s veteran and active duty military.
The award, presented by Chief Executive magazine and Thayer Leader Development Group at West Point, is part of an effort to raise awareness of best practices among America’s corporate leaders when it comes to helping military veterans and their families.
In August 2012, JP Morgan Chase, the parent company of J.P. Morgan Securities, entered into a Mentor-Protégé agreement with Academy Securities under the U.S. Department of the Treasury Mentor-Protégé program.
Through this agreement, JP Morgan provided capital to Academy Securities and continues its mentorship by offering training and consultation on overall business and organizational management matters. JPMorgan Chase has long been committed to positioning our nation’s veterans, service members and their families for long-term, post-military success.
For more information about the CalVet Home Loans Program, call 1-916-503-8318 or visit www.calvet.ca.gov/HomeLoans.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
As of March 3, nearly 116,000 veterans started all-oral hepatitis C medications in VA, of which 96,654 veterans completed treatment and have been cured.
“As the largest single provider of HCV care in the U.S., this is terrific news because it means we are within striking range of eliminating hepatitis C among veterans under the care of the veterans Health Administration,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “Diagnosing, treating and curing hepatitis C virus infection among veterans has been a significant priority for VA.”
HCV infection can lead to advanced liver disease, or ALD, liver cancer and death. Treatment of HCV can prevent development or progression of ALD, greatly improving survival.
However, before 2014, HCV treatment required weekly interferon injections for up to a year, with low cure rates (35-55 percent) among veterans and significant physical and psychiatric side effects leading to frequent early discontinuation.
Up to that time, of the approximately 180,000 veterans in VA care who had been diagnosed with chronic HCV infection, only 12,000 had been treated and cured, while over 30,000 had developed ALD.
In early 2014, highly effective, less toxic, all-oral, direct-acting antivirals became available, revolutionizing the treatment of HCV.
With the support of Congress and other stakeholders, VA implemented an aggressive program to find all undiagnosed veterans in VA care with HCV — including those who did not know they carried the infection — link them to HCV care, and offer them treatment with these new medications.
At the peak of this effort to rapidly deploy all-oral direct-acting antivirals, VA began treating close to 2,000 veterans with HCV every week; nearly one treatment started every minute of every work day.
As a result of this historic effort, the overall death rate one year after treatment reduced to 80 percent among veterans in VA care with HCV. Veterans cured of HCV with these medications were also 84 percent less likely to develop liver cancer.
The announcement cements VA’s position as a national leader in diagnosis and treatment of HCV and marks a major milestone in the nation’s fight against viral hepatitis.
VA is on track to treat more than 125,000 veterans with these lifesaving medications by October. Currently, fewer than 27,000 veterans in VA care remain to be treated.
All marketed hepatitis C medications are on the VA National Formulary Hepatitis C medications used today have few side effects and can be administered as a once a day treatment for as little as eight weeks.
For more information, visit https://www.hepatitis.va.gov/.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The event will take place at the American Legion Hall, 14770 Austin Drive, Clearlake, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Veterans will have the opportunity to meet service providers and community organizations, enjoy lunch and comradery from other veterans.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about veteran healthcare benefits and benefits from other organizations in Lake County.
All veterans and family members are encouraged to attend.
Veterans must have DD214 or Veteran ID card on hand.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
SAN ANTONIO – U.S. Air Force Airman Mark K. Breiner graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training also earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Breiner is the son of Kristopher and Jennifer Breiner of Middletown, Calif.
He is a 2018 graduate of Middletown High School, Middletown, Calif.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
Secretary Wilkie announced his decision at a hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies.
“Those who hold the Purple Heart, the recognition of wounds taken in battle, will now receive priority consideration when it comes to claims before the Department of Veterans Affairs,” said Secretary Wilkie.
The Veterans Benefits Administration will amend its priority processing categories to include initial claims received from Purple Heart recipients on or after April 1, 2019.
Purple Heart recipients are already treated on a priority basis at VA hospitals and are exempt from co-payments for their medical care.
The Purple Heart award is the oldest U.S. military decoration and is awarded to U.S. service members for wounds suffered at the hands of the enemy.
General George Washington awarded the first purple-colored heart-shaped badges to soldiers who fought in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
In 1932, it was revived to commemorate Washington’s 200th birthday.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Specifically, SB 312 would require the California Department of Rehabilitation, in coordination with the California Department of Veterans Affairs, to develop a program that would provide financial assistance so veterans with PTSD may get a service dog.
Additionally, this bill would require the program to help cover additional costs associated with the service dog, including training, equipment, and veterinarian services.
Currently, there is no state supported program that pairs disabled veterans with service dogs nor helps with the cost incurred by the veteran in procuring a service dog.
“These brave men and women put their lives at risk every day to protect our country’s freedom. When they return home from service, we must make sure that we are doing everything possible to provide them with the necessary support in readjusting to civilian life,” Sen. Leyva said.
“There are already several nonprofits that work to pair veterans with service dogs across our state, but so much more can and must be done to standardize the process and make these connections a reality,” Leyva said. “These brave heroes deserve to be able to access service dogs so that they can receive the support they need from these faithful companions. SB 312 will help to bridge these gaps in our system that currently make it difficult for our veterans with PTSD to receive the service dogs they need for their safety and independence.”
The United States is home to nearly 20 million veterans. Of those, nearly two million live in California, which is the most in the country. Unfortunately, in some cases, these brave men and women return from service mentally and/or physically disabled.
Of the 20 million veterans in the United States, 5 to 20 percent suffer from PTSD. The trauma that some veterans endured during service has led to higher rates of suicide than the general population.
According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, on average 20 veterans per day commit suicide as result of PTSD. Studies have shown that the pairing of veterans with service dogs has a significant effect on reducing symptoms associated with PTSD.
SB 312 will soon be assigned to the appropriate Senate policy committee(s) for consideration.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
VA’s Board of Veterans’ Appeals and the Veterans Benefits Administration Compensation Services, or CS, are developing small-video training modules to focus on medically complex disabilities that often go to appeals, and in July 2018, started gathering information from both organizations’ training and quality assurance elements to focus on challenges with knee-disability ratings, since these evaluations can be complicated for both claims and appeals.
“The Board and CS have worked closely in a variety of ways,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “This hands-on, comprehensive approach to training development is focused on delivering consistent, easy-to-understand decisions to veterans.”
The training was updated at the request of veteran service organizations to provide more detailed training for rating and examination teams.
The Board and CS are working together to identify and address training needs for a number of conditions. Additional planned training modules will help deliver better service to Veterans and their families.
Feedback from rating teams has been overwhelmingly positive. The new training uses video with scenarios, instead of the typical slide-based format, and will be used as the new model for training videos.
All VBA disability claims processors and contract examination staff are required to complete the training by March 31.
This training initiative is part of many improvements that support the Appeals Modernization Act, which will be implemented in February.
For more information about VA appeals, visit https://benefits.va.gov/benefits/appeals.asp and https://www.bva.va.gov/.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The realignment closes the North Atlantic District Office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and shifts states into more geographically similar areas.
The District Office located in St. Louis, Missouri, will now be responsible for the newly realigned Northeast District.
“The VBA district realignment is part of our effort to modernize the organization and become more efficient,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “This transition affects the management oversight and reporting structure for regional office directors, but will not affect day-to-day operations for employees or impact beneficiaries.”
The realignment does not affect the daily operations of any regional office.
After the restructuring, the four district offices will be:
– Northeast District: St. Louis;
– Southeast District: Nashville, Tennessee;
– Continental District: Denver, Colorado;
– Pacific District: Phoenix, Arizona.
More information on the VBA district structure is available at https://www.benefits.va.gov/benefits/offices.asp.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
Specifically, VA will support CDC’s Modernizing Death Reporting project by integrating patient mortality data from VA’s Electronic Health Record, or EHR, system.
A component of vital statistics, mortality data provides a critical view of the overall health of the nation. Moreover, mortality data identifies important variables for those dying in the U.S., assisting with the modeling of population life expectancy and cross-comparisons for health factors.
VA’s collaboration with CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics marks a shift in the way that mortality data has traditionally been provided, increasing the speed of data transmission and mitigating any loss of data value due to decreased interoperability.
VA believes that open, Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources-based Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) form an essential component of a modern interoperability strategy.
To that end, VA is committed to working collaboratively to expand available Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, or FHIR, and their utilization.
CDC has been hard at work to increase the speed, quality and interoperability of mortality data captured and reported, and this new collaboration with VA further enables the advancement of this important work.
“Delivering data directly to CDC’s systems in this manner underscores VA’s commitment to a modern interoperability strategy,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “We look forward to future opportunities to enhance our partnerships and champion interoperability across the federal government.”
Using FHIR-based standards increases the value of this mortality data, as data is provided more quickly, enabling faster analysis and the delivery of more timely healthcare interventions.
For more information on VA’s partnership with CDC, visit https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/modernization/index.htm.
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