DoD Statement on Anthrax
Dec 23, 2003 - The Department of Defense is currently reviewing a preliminary injunction recently granted by the U.S. District Court…

DoD Stops Anthrax Vaccinations
Dec 22, 2003 - a federal judge in Washington ordered the Defense Department to halt anthrax vaccinations for service members without their consent…

CARES Report Delayed
Dec 22, 2003 - The commission studying the draft plan for restructuring the health care services of the VA says the panel needs more time…

Veterans Receive Cost-Of-Living Increase In Benefits
Dec 22, 2003 - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is including a 2.1 percent increase in the disability benefit payments…

IOM Creates Web Site for Veterans
Dec 17, 2003 - The Institute of Medicine has created a new Internet Web site with information about a variety of military-related health issues…

VA to Survey Gulf War Veterans' Health
Dec 15, 2003 - We are committed to finding answers for veterans who still suffer from a variety of symptoms and illnesses…

VA Reports Performance Improvements For 2003
Dec 10, 2003 - The VA is delivering high quality health care, benefits and memorial services to the nation's veterans, according to VA's FY 2003 Annual Performance and Accountability Report…

Keep Our Promise Bill Updated
Nov 26, 2003 - Recruiting promises of lifetime medical care for military retirees and families changed by law to space available care…

Veterans Benefits Act
Nov 26, 2003 - The Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 restores Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, home loans, education and burial benefits for surviving spouses who remarry after age 57…

OMB Opposes Additional VA Health Care Funding
Nov 24, 2003 - The Office of Management and Budget is opposing an additional $1.3 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs health care budget…

Talk of Closing Manhattan V.A. Hospital Prompts Campaign to Save It
Nov 12, 2003 - The hospital is on a list of those the Bush administration has recommended studying to determine the impact that closing or service reductions would have on patients…

Talk of Closing Manhattan V.A. Hospital Prompts Campaign to Save It
Nov 12, 2003 - The hospital is on a list of those the Bush administration has recommended studying to determine the impact that closing or service reductions would have on patients…

Pentagon keeps dead out of sight
Nov 2, 2003 - Bush team doesn't want people to see human cost of war Even body bags are now sanitized as `transfer tubes'…

Carson Soldier Faces Charge of Cowardice
Nov 2, 2003 - Staff Sgt. George Porgany, 32, a Special Forces interrogator, is charged with showing "cowardly conduct as a result of fear, in that he refused to perform his duties…

Hospital Meal Bills Nixed for Wounded
Nov1, 2003 - A 1981 law dunning enlisted patients $8.10 a day for hospital meals appears headed for the scrap heap…

Journal Supports VA Reorganization
Oct. 24, 2003 - Under pressure from veterans groups, the GOP leadership announced yesterday that it will allow more veterans to collect both full retirement and disability benefits…

Veterans to Collect Both Full Retirement and Disability Benefits
Oct. 17, 2003 - Under pressure from veterans groups, the GOP leadership announced yesterday that it will allow more veterans to collect both full retirement and disability benefits…

The House Has Approved the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003
Oct. 17, 2003 - One provision would allow surviving spouses of veterans to remarry after age 55 without losing Dependency and Indemnity Compensation…

Sick, wounded U.S. troops held in squalor
Oct. 17, 2003 - The National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers' living conditions are so substandard, and the medical care so poor, that many of them believe the Army is trying push them out with reduced benefits for their ailments…

Medical Care Bill For SHAD/112 Vets
Oct. 9, 2003 - The bill would authorize VA medical care to veterans of Projects SHAD/112…

VA Makes Good on Pledge to Reduce Claims Backlog
Oct. 8, 2003 - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pending inventory dropped to 253,000 claims, representing a 41 percent reduction in inventory from a high of 432,000…

VA Increases Payments to Medal of Honor Recipients
Oct. 8, 2003 - Under the new rates, the payments will rise from $600 monthly to $1,000 monthly…

New ID Number for Former Spouses who have not remarried
Effective Oct. 1, 2003, DEERS (Defense Eligibility Reporting System) will reflect Tricare eligibility for former spouses who have not remarried…

Smallpox Research Project Data Presented At a presentation today at the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Washington, D.C.
Sep. 30, 2003 - The event marked the completion of an important first-stage in finding a treatment for smallpox. The use of smallpox as a weapon of bioterrorism remains a frightening possibility…

Active Neuromuscular Disease Clinical Trials & Studies Selective Listing
National Registry of Veterans With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
This registry will help the VA to understand patterns of ALS among veterans and provide valuable data for future studies…

Senator Concerned About CARES
September 27, 2003 - Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., says he is "unconvinced" that the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services initiative is on the right track to providing the highest quality care in a timely fashion…

Tricare Retail Pharmacy Contract Award Announced
September 26, 2003 - The new single contract will integrate with other health contracts to create one uniform benefit…

New Decision On Hepatitis C - by Mike Murphy
September 24, 2003 - Anyone who had inoculations with the jet injector is at risk of having Hepatitis C and should be tested…

VA Seeks Former POWs For Possible Benefits
September 19, 2003 - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is asking former prisoners of war not currently using VA benefits to contact VA to find out if they may be eligible for disability compensation and other services…

Senators Concerned About VA's Plans For Closings and Restructuring
September 12, 2003 - "There's a great deal of skepticism in the veterans' community,'' said Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Arlen Specter…

This Month In Repressed History
U.S. Uses Bio-Weapons on Their Own People
August 25, 2003 - After several years of urging by the department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) issued a press release admitting that it had conducted a series of tests under the title "Project 112" in which American servicemen were intentionally dosed with chemical and biological weapons…

Provision of Hospital and Outpatient Care to Enrolled Veterans
January 17, 2003 - This Veterans Health Administration (VHA) directive outlines departmental policy and procedures for implementing changes resulting from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Interim Final Regulation governing Provision of Hospital and Outpatient Care to Veterans…

VA Strategic Plan Drives Budget Request
August 25, 2003 - The VA strategic plan establishes detailed goals, objectives, performance targets and outcome measurements focused on both immediate priorities and long-term goals…

Tricare Managed Care Support Contracts Awarded
August 21, 2003 - These contractors will provide health care services to our 8.7 million uniformed services beneficiaries and support to military hospitals and clinics in the United States…

This Month In Repressed History:
VA Shreds Evidence of Atomic Veterans
…they make our government seem pretty responsible compared to their rampant unaccountability toward the veterans who were forced to participate in this often reckless nuclear atmospheric testing…

The House Veterans Affairs Committee on June 26 passed by unanimous voice vote a bill (HR 2357) that establishes standards for veterans' access to medical care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to Congress Daily Markup Reports…

VA Awards $16.3 Million to Texas for Two State Veterans Homes
July 31, 2003 - The VA has awarded two grants totaling more than $16.4 million to the state of Texas to build two new 160-bed veterans nursing home facilities, one each in El Paso and McAllen…

VA Takes Major Step in National CARES Planning Process
July 31, 2003 - CARES (Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services) is a landmark study of the nation's largest health care system, operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs…

Seven VA Facilities Subject To Closure
July 31, 2003 - The VA has forwarded a plan to an independent CARES commission which aims to eliminate outdated or underused VA medical facilities and to continue shifting its focus to outpatient care…

The Veterans Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996 is now unraveling
July 31, 2003 - More than 164,000 veterans who are in the recently created Priority Group 8 have been prohibited from entering the system…

U.S. Fights Funds for Ex-POW's
July 30, 2003 - Assets seized from the Iraq government should be used to rebuild the county and not to compensate 17 Americans held captive in Iraq during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Justice Department lawyers told a judge Tuesday…

Department of Defense Statement on the Death of Bob Hope
July 28, 2003 - The first and only American ever to be made an honorary Veteran of America's Armed Forces…

Dr. Victor Westphall Dies
July 22, 2003 - Dr. Victor Westphall was the founder of the nation's first Vietnam Memorial at Angel Fire, New Mexico…

Investigations of Chemicals Will Continue
July 11, 2003 - The Pentagon has assured Congress that it will not shut down its inquiry into a cold war program that tested the vulnerability of American forces to chemical or biological attack…

Combat-Related Special Compensation Update
July 1, 2003 - Over 12,000 applications have been received by DoD for Combat-Related Special Compensation, a program that began June 1. At least 100 will be approved to receive payments July 1…

SHAD - Project 112 - Deseret Test Center Investigation Draws To A Close
June 30, 2003 - Investigators have identified 5,842 servicemembers as having been present in one or more of these tests, and their names have been provided to the Department of Veterans Affairs…

Eight Bills Clear Committee in Busy Markup Session
June 26, 2003 - New Benefits for Veterans and Surviving Widows: New VA Hospitals and National Cemeteries To Be Built…

New Deal Moves Asbestos Trust Over Big Hurdle
June 25, 2003 - Senators reached a compromise yesterday that would make it easier for asbestos victims to qualify for payments…

Lane Evans Bill Seeks Full VA Health Funding: Keep Our Promise to America's Veterans
June 23, 2003 - Cosponsor HR 2318, The Assured Funding for Veterans Health Care Act of 2003…

Chemical and Biological Defense Annual Report Released
May 22, 2003…

Readjustment Counseling Service Vet Center Eligibility
June, 2003 - Legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, changes eligibility for Vet Center services…

CLL added to list of Vietnam War illnesses
June, 2003 - Institute of Medicine study shows a link between CLL and exposure to the Dioxin-laced herbicide Agent Orange…

IOM Identifies Link with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Principi Extends Benefits
On January 23, 2003, the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine (IOM) officially released the fifth comprehensive report in a series entitled Veterans and Agent Orange…

Agent Orange
June 10, 2003 - The Supreme Court deadlocked Monday on whether it is too late for sick Vietnam veterans to sue chemical companies over Agent Orange exposure, but allowed vets to continue lawsuits claiming they were wrongly shut out of a decades-old national settlement…

Supreme Court Axes Class Action
June 2, 2003 - Supreme Court elected not to hear an appeal by veterans who had sued the government over promised health care…

Group strives to elicit wartime GIs' little-known details
May 11, 2003 - A group called America's Veterans knows this vast population of former soldiers, the average group that exists in and around those honored for triumphant and valiant battles…

VA Offering Co-payment Refunds
May 10, 2003 - Veterans who had Medicare or Tricare supplemental insurance coverage from the Hartford Life Insurance Company or the USAA Life Insurance Company may be eligible for a refund of co-payments…

Health Assessments Due After Deployments
May 10, 2003 - The Department of Defense announced a plan to enhance the post-deployment health assessment process…

MOAA Files Brief for Class Act Group
May 10, 2003 - The Military Officers Association of America, formerly TROA, has filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a lawsuit by a group of veterans who have sued the U.S. Government over promised health care…

Health Care Assistance Rules Tighten
May 9, 2003 - Effective April 14, 2003, military and civilian hospitals, providers and other health care organizations were required to comply with the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996…

Asbestos Verdict in California Case Worries Insurers
May 8, 2003 - A jury verdict in California may lead to a wave of new asbestos litigation that would greatly increase costs for insurance companies…

DoD Enhances Post-Deployment Health Assessments
April 29, 2003 - One improvement is a more comprehensive examination that will better assist medical personnel in evaluating the health of returning servicemembers…

Cutback Imperil Health Coverage For State's Poor
April 28, 2003 - Millions of low-income Americans face loss of health insurance or sharp cuts in benefits under proposals now moving through state legislatures around country…

Asbestos Accord Said to Be Near
April 24, 2003 - Companies, insurers, unions and Democratic and Republican senators are nearing an agreement in principle to end all asbestos lawsuits and instead pay people with asbestos-related diseases from a national privately financed trust…

Experimental Treatment May Benefit Hepatitis C Patients
April 18, 2003 - New compounds help some control infection. Scientists also get clues into how virus works…

VA Heart Attack Care
April 17, 2003 - Heart attack victims who went to Veterans Affairs hospitals during 1997 through 1999 had higher death rates than Medicare patients treated in civilian hospitals…

Nationwide Inquiry at Veterans' Hospitals
April 13, 2003 - The Bush administration has ordered a nationwide review of medical research at 115 veterans' hospitals and has halted some studies after investigators found serious violations of federal rules, including some that may have contributed to the deaths of patients…

Pentagon Revises Smallpox Vaccination Policy
April 4, 2003 - The government has suggested that anyone with certain heart-related risk factors not take the vaccine…

U.S., China Agree To Enhanced Cooperation On POW/MIA Matters
March 29, 2003 - A Department of Defense delegation has concluded a visit to China to discuss additional cooperation in resolving POW and MIA cases…

VA Claims They Are Prepared For Post-Deployment Era
March 27, 2003 - When troops return home from the Middle East, they will benefit from a wide array of programs and services not available to veterans of previous conflicts…

The DoD Seeks Veterans Involved in Operation Shad/Project 112
March 16, 2003 - "Little did we know that we were in this Operation SHAD. When we landed we had A4 Skyhawks passing overhead simulating close air support, or so we were told"…

F.D.A. Requires Bar Codes on Drugs
March 24, 2003 - Moving to cut the high rate of medical errors, the Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday that it would require bar codes on all medications…

Payments Due Academy Life Insurance Policyholders
March 3, 2003 - The Academy Life Insurance Co. is seeking an estimated 110,000 current and former service members who may be eligible to receive payments…

Effective Dates of Benefits for Disability or Death Caused by Herbicide Exposure; Disposition of Unpaid Benefits After Death of Beneficiary
January 28, 2003 - VA proposes to amend its adjudication regulations concerning certain awards of disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC).

Leukemia, Agent Orange Link Found
January 23, 2003 - Researchers have found a link between a type of leukemia and Vietnam soldiers exposed to herbicides like Agent Orange…

TriCare-Gate
January 20, 2003 - In what's described as the largest ID theft ever, patient records, Social Security numbers, and even some credit card numbers from over 500,000 military users…

VA Announces Record Budget, Health Care Changes
January 17, 2003 - "VA is maintaining its focus on the health care needs of its core group of veterans - those with service-connected disabilities, the indigent and those with special health care needs," Principi said.

DoD Establishes Health Information Security Task Force
January 3, 2003 - Department of Defense announced today additional steps to enhance patient protection from unauthorized access to or criminal use of sensitive personal information…