Pvt Charles J Shutt Detachment VAVS

National health care reform, which could be signed into law this week, has a key new benefit for families that will not apply to military families enrolled in the Tricare health insurance program.A key expansion of benefits in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, HR 3590, is a requirement for health insurers to cover unmarried children up to the age of 26 who are carried on the policy of a parent.

The Veterans Affairs Department says it will look again at the rejected claims of veterans who say their Gulf War service caused a mysterious illness, the first step toward potentially compensating them nearly two decades after the war ended.VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said the decision is part of a “fresh, bold look” his department is taking to help veterans who have what’s commonly called “Gulf War illness” and have long felt the government did little to help them.

Military personnel face many challenges after being wounded or injured, but a program providing assistive technologies for wounded service members helps empower them for continued employment.

Since 2004, the Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) has filled more than 15,200 requests by wounded service members for assistive technologies. CAP provides wounded veterans with the tools necessary to access computer and telecommunications environments.

An on target article from the West Roxbury News and writer By Reginald Zimmerman

From the Civil War to the Vietnam War, it has been called nostalgia, shell shock, soldier’s heart and battle fatigue, but today the diagnosis sounds far more clinical: post-traumatic stress disorder.

On Nov. 20, the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services and held an eight-hour conference on educating and caring for the mental health needs of veterans and their families.

More than 100 mental health-care providers and educators came together to discuss treating veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, brain trauma sustained in the line of duty, depression and suicide intervention.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Kaiser Permanente today announced an exciting program designed to improve care and services to our Nation’s heroes. VA and Kaiser Permanente are launching a pilot program to exchange electronic health record (EHR) information using the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) created by the Department of Health and Human Services.

“The ability to share critical health information is essential to interoperability,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric K. Shinseki. “Utilizing the NHIN’s standards and network will allow organizations like VA and the Department of Defense to partner with private sector health care providers to promote better, faster and safer care for Veterans.”

Many Veterans Exposed to Asbestos A large number of veterans that have served the country have been exposed to the deadly carcinogenic asbestos according to a recent report from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The department claims that hundred of ...