the desert oracle - amazon s3€¦ · again need attention. advocates would have preferred a...

February 2016 Volume 34

The Desert Oracle

facebook.com/AZPVA www.azpva.org

The Desert Oracle

5015 N 7th Ave. Suite 2 Phoenix, AZ 85013 Office: (602)-244-9168 Fax: (602) 244-0416 1-800-621-9217 Office Hours: Mon-Fri 8:00am – 4:00pm

The views expressed in the articles of the Desert Oracle are the opinions of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the AZPVA. Any article not attributed to an individual / group was compiled with available information by APVA staff/members. The Desert Oracle does encourage our readers to submit their articles, interests and/or rebuttals.

Attention All Readers !!!! The Arizona Chapter has a prosthetics Lending closet. For a small donation you can acquire a power wheelchair, a manual wheelchair, shower equipment, aluminum walkers, canes, crutches. We also have Hoyer Lifts (manual & electric) Do not hesitate to call the Chapter office if you are in need of any type of equipment. We may have just what you need.

Call us at : 602-244-9168

Paralyzed Veterans of America Arizona Chapter

E-mail - [email protected] Web - www.azpva.org

Contents

Board of Directors…….………..….……..…..pg. 2

Notes From Our NSO...…..….....……….…..pg. 3

Hunkiapi…………………………………….....pg. 4

Tax Credit Extentions……….. ………………pg. 6

VA Identity Theft Help Line…………………..pg.7

Operation PAVE ……….…………………….pg. 8

NVWG 2016 Info…………………….……….pg.11

PVA Outlines Policy Priorities ………..……pg.12

Woman's Expo 2016……..………………….pg.14

Membership Report………………………….pg.15

Birthdays…………………………………...…pg.16

Officers John Tuzzolino, President Gordon Moye, Vice President Leonard Smith, Secretary Dianne Brunswick, Treasurer

Board of Directors Joseph Chitty Joseph Hamilton Sue Wudy National Director Leonard Smith Executive Director Peter R. Quinn Administrative Assistant Anthony O’Clair Office Assistant Cyndee Collings Membership and Volunteer Coordinator Anthony O’Clair PVA National Service Officer’s Michael Wilson, Sr. National Service Officer Jacqueline Berkshire, Senior Secretary PVA National Service Office 3333 N. Central Ave., Ste. 1055 Phoenix, AZ 85012 602-627-3311 Fax- 602-627-3315 800-795-3582

Notes From Our Senior NSO Michael Wilson

Veterans Choice Program In 2014 Congress established the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act. The Choice Act administered the Veterans Choice Fund to implement the Veterans Choice Program. This program will run for 3 years or until the Fund is exhausted. The Veterans Choice Program (VCP) provides veterans who are enrolled in VA health care to schedule an appointment within 30 days of the veteran’s pre-ferred date or when clinically appropriate. VCP allows eligible veterans to seek and receive care from community-based providers when their local VA health care facility cannot provide the services due to: Lack of available specialists. Extended wait times for appointments at a VAMC. Extraordinary distance from the veteran’s home. Eligibility for the Veterans Choice Program: If VA is unable to schedule your appointment within 30 days. The veteran lives more than 40 miles driving distance from a VA medical center. The veteran needs special mode of transportation to the closest VA medical facility. Traveling to a VA medical facility causes unusual or excessive burden because of medical condition.

The veteran’s specific health care needs cannot be met at the veteran’s local VA medical facility.

The use of the Choice Program does not affect the veteran’s VA health care and the veteran is not responsible for any cost shares for Medicare, Medicaid, or TRICARE. If the veteran currently pays VA copayments, he/she will be subject to the same copayment and will be billed after care is provided. Health Net Federal Services, LLC (Health Net) will coordinate with VCP-eligible Veterans to obtain authorization for all care within the program. Health Net will schedule the appointment and send the authorization to the participating VCP provider. Remember, veterans are eligible to use the Choice Card only under specific circumstances. If a veteran presents a card without an appointment or authorization from Health Net, he/she may not be eligible to obtain services. If eligible for Beneficiary Travel, the Choice Program has the ability to pay for travel. The Choice Program non-VA provider will issue a prescription with up to a 14-day supply of a National Formulary drug. The veteran may have the 14-day supply prescription filled at any non-VA pharmacy of his/her choice and may submit a request for reimbursement to VA. Prescriptions past 14 days must be filled at the veteran’s VA pharmacy.

To verify eligibility, veterans must call the Choice program call center at: 866-606-8198.

The Desert Oracle

"I am related to everyone."

RESTORE The individual or family unit through complete wrap around services and support.

RENEW A sense of hope, balance, and purpose through a customized therapeutic plan

utilizing holistic and conventional modalities on the farm.

GROW Physical, mental, and emotional well-being through hands on experiences that nurture social skills, problem solving, and independence; maximizing potential and a sense of

belonging and community.

GIVE To the local community through the produce and services offered on the farm.

For more information on this program, please contact : Erika Green at 480-393-0870 or [email protected]

They're owed a salute. And, now it's easier than ever to share one. Through the Paralyzed Veterans of America's G.I.V.E. Clothing Donation program, service never goes out of style. By dropping off your used goods in one of our donation drop boxes or by scheduling a pickup - you're saluting the people who've sacrificed so much in service to this great nation. Your donation is tax deductible and pickup is FREE.

To schedule a residential pickup, please contact the number listed below for Paralyzed Veterans of America’s G.I.V.E Clothing Donation program. We are aggressively expanding this program, so please continue to check back with us for future listings. *Sorry we are unable to accept large items such as upholstered furniture, mattresses, box springs and console TVs.

-Clothing -CDs -Shoes, hats, belts -Ceramics -Drapes

-Books -Bedding -Housewares -Clocks -Small appliances

Arizona Phoenix: 623-915-6287

The Desert Oracle

End of Year Budget Agreement Contains Social Security Fixes, Tax Credit Extensions

The compromise budget agreement that raised the debt limit through 2017 and that avoided a government shutdown by funding the federal government for two years, also contained a number of provisions of importance to veterans with disabilities and their families. Of particular interest to the 1 million veterans on Social Security disability insurance (SSDI), the legislation provided for a clean reallocation of Social Security trust funds to avoid the depletion of the SSDI trust fund in 2016. This adjustment in the amount of payroll taxes flowing into the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance trust funds will remain in effect for six years, through 2022, after which the SSDI trust fund will once again need attention. Advocates would have preferred a reallocation that would enable the trust funds to operate cleanly through 2034. However, this measure prevents a 20 percent cut in SSDI benefits which would have taken place in 2016 without action by Congress. The budget bill also restored the ability of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to conduct demonstration programs in Title II, which covers the SSDI program. This demonstration authority had lapsed in 2005. SSA is directed to conduct a national benefit offset demonstration to test gradually reducing SSDI benefits as earned income rises. Medicare premiums will not increase to more than $120 per month, instead of the expected $150 per month. There will also be increased rebates for generic drugs and the auto-enrollment in employer health plan provisions of the Affordable Care Act were repealed. Finally, the budget deal included provisions retroactively renewing and extending for five years the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and the VOW To Hire Heroes tax credit. These two programs provide an incentive to employers to hire veterans and people with barriers to employment by offering them tax credits against a portion of their payrolls. The Department of Labor expected to send a directive to states to issue the necessary certifications for 2015 hires by December 31st of last year.

The “Seniors and Veterans Emergency (SAVE) Benefits Act” Veterans with service-connected disabilities and low-income veterans will see no increase in their compensation and pension benefits in 2016 because the Social Security Administration (SSA) an-nounced last October that there would be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in retirement, survivors and disability benefits this year. For many years, veterans’ service-connected disability compensation and low-income veterans’ pension benefits have been tied to the Social Security COLA. As a result, when SSA offers no inflation adjustment to beneficiaries, this has an adverse impact on over 4 million veterans with service-connected disabilities and another 300,000 low-income veterans on pension. PVA supports S. 2251 and H.R. 4144, the “Seniors and Veterans Emergency (SAVE) Benefits Act,” a bill that would provide a one-time payment of $550 to Social Security beneficiaries as well as veteran recipients of compensation and pension to address the lack of inflation adjustment in benefits this year. More than 1 out of 5 adult Social Security beneficiaries have served in the military, and veterans and their families comprise 35 percent of the Social Security beneficiary population. At a time when health care costs, utilities, and many other necessary expenses continue to rise, this very modest provision will help millions of veterans with disabilities and their families. We urge Members of Congress to co-sponsor this legislation and act quickly on its passage.

VA Identity Theft Help Line: 1-855-578-5492 Hours of Operation: 8:00 A.M. - 8:00 P.M. (Eastern), Monday-Friday

Every piece of personally identifiable information, whether it’s a Social Security number, date of birth, home address, etc., is more than just a number. It represents a person’s identity, livelihood, and personal or financial well-being. VA’s More Than a Number identity protection program provides information to educate Veterans and their beneficiaries on how to protect themselves from identity theft. On this website, you will find a wide range of information on identity theft, how to spot it, ways to prevent it, and what to do if you suspect you are a victim. You can also browse through links to other useful identity theft resources from across the Web. In addition, we have created a toll-free Identity Theft Resource Line for Veterans and their beneficiaries to call for more information or if they suspect that their identities may have been compromised. The toll-free number is 855-578-5492. We hope that these More Than a Number resources provide another way for VA to help protect those that have protected this great country.

Congress Approves Federal Budget for FY 2016, Advance Appropria-tions for VA Health Care for FY 2017

Just prior to recessing for the Christmas holiday, Congress enacted P.L. 114-113, the “Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY 2016.” The VA received a significant increase in funding for Medical Services to augment previously appropriated funds for FY 2016. Additionally, the received its requested levels of funding for advance appropriations for FY 2017. When medical care collections are factored in, resources for FY 2017 for all medical care nearly match the advance appropriations recommendations of The Independent Budget. The VA also received substantial increases in Medical and Prosthetic Research and Major Construction.

The Desert Oracle

Operation PAVE Closes 2015 With 407 Job Placements for Veterans, Caregivers

More than 400 veterans, transitioning service members and caregivers found fulfilling careers in 2015 thanks in part to Paralyzed Veterans of America’s premier vocational rehabilitation program that provides free, one-on-one career assistance and benefits counseling to veterans and their families. Operation PAVE (Paving Access to Veterans Employment) ended calendar year 2015 having placed 407 veterans, transitioning service members or caregivers around the country into jobs. The 407 placements far exceeded PAVE’s goal for 2015 to secure employment for one veteran every workday of the year. "I attribute our program’s success in 2015 to the hard work and commitment of the PAVE staff and to the support of our nationwide Paralyzed Veterans of America team,” said Shelly Stewart, director of Operation PAVE. “Our teams literally took our mission to communities across the country through proactive, targeted outreach and collaboration with our network of community partners.” The 2015 launch of the Wounded Veteran and Caregiver Employment Conference, which Operation PAVE hosted in partnership with the Commerce Department’s Hiring Our Heroes Foundation, played a role in helping the program reach more clients, Stewart said. All conference registrants received post-event support from an Operation PAVE counselor, and those counselors were instrumental in placing more than 50 percent of conference registrants into jobs, she added. “Because of Hiring Our Heroes’ partnership with our program, they were also able to exceed their program goals within the first year of the Wounded Veteran and Caregiver program,” Stewart said. Operation PAVE, recipient of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Don Weber Award for leadership in veteran hiring, provides veterans and their families with one-on-one career counseling and assistance. Assistance includes resume refinement, interview preparation, vocational counseling and employer networking at no charge. The program builds on Paralyzed Veterans of America’s mission to be “partners for life” in ensuring veterans and their families not only find employment but also maintain it. In 2016, Operation PAVE will build on its tremendous growth and success last year through the hard work of its Masters-level, certified vocational rehabilitation counselors who specialize in removing common employment barriers for veterans and work to connect veterans with jobs that match their interests, skills and experience. The program in 2015 also piloted the use of two employment analysts in the Richmond and National offices who worked to cultivate employer relationships and represent their interest in seeking qualified veterans for available jobs. “Going forward, we want to establish the employment analyst position because of the great results of the pilot program,” Stewart said.

Operation PAVE also will host in partnership with the Hiring Our Heroes Foundation six new Wounded Veteran and Caregiver Employment conferences in 2016, with locations in Tampa, San Antonio, San Diego, Honolulu, Seattle and Nashville. The first conference will take place Feb. 23 at Hillsborough Community College-Brandon Campus in Tampa. More information on that event can be found at this link. “We are gearing up for another dynamic year, as we seek to impact the lives of veterans, transitioning service members and caregivers in more meaningful ways in 2016,” Stewart said.

The Desert Oracle

Paralyzed Veterans of America is making it easier than ever to give back through Wheels Helping Warriors, a vehicle donation program that raises funds to help provide veterans access to free employment counseling, benefits assistance, advocacy, adaptive sports and recreation programs, and much more. Every vehicle has value. Regardless of the condition, your donated vehicle will sell at auction and proceeds will fund a lifetime of support for seriously injured veterans and their families. Paralyzed Veterans of America’s Wheels Helping Warriors vehicle donation program will gratefully accept the following vehicles: It’s simple to give: Be sure you have vehicle title, fill out the online form below or call a Paralyzed Veterans Wheels Helping Warriors vehicle donation representative at 1-866-841-2023 to schedule a FREE pickup. The average pickup time is 24-48 hours from the time of your request. Even if your vehicle doesn’t run, we will accept your donation. You may even earn a tax break too! Once your vehicle has been sold, we’ll send you a receipt for your tax records and the sale of the proceeds will be donated to Paralyzed Veterans of America. We appreciate your support of Paralyzed Veterans of America’s Wheels Helping Warriors vehicle donation program. With your donation, we are able to improve lives and empower veterans - and all Americans - living with disability. So, thank you!

Airplanes Motorcycles Boats

RVs/campers Cars Semi-tractors

Farm equipment SUVs Horse trailers

The Desert Oracle

36th Annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games Salt Lake City, Utah Information

Who Can Participate? Any Veteran with a Spinal Cord Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Amputation or other neurological injury that uses wheelchair for sport, and, must be eligible for care in the VA. Since 1985, Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Department of Veterans Affairs have joined forces to work collaboratively to organize and execute the NVWG. This partnership enables the strengths of both organizations to come together to make the NVWG one of the largest annual wheelchair sports programs and truly a world class event! Taking the partnership to the next level… This is not just a one week experience… VA Rehabilitation Programs and Paralyzed Veterans of America chapters across the country work to empower Veterans to be more active and healthy in their daily lives by getting them involved in sports and recreation programs highlighting fitness, social networking, and community involvement. Sports and recreation reinforce critical values necessary for health while combating the risk of isolation, depression, and other factors associated with health. That is what the Games are about! How to Get Involved 1. Register online http://wheelchairgames.org/registration/ 2. Start preparing now! Remember, it’s not about what you do the week of the Games, but rather what you do every week at home! Contact your local VA therapist or Paralyzed Veterans Chapter representative to begin. We can help direct you in the right direction locally, give us a call. Dave Tostenrude, NVWG Director, Department of Veterans Affairs 206-445-3519 [email protected] Tom Brown, Paralyzed Veterans Sports Consultant 817-673-2812 [email protected] To Support or Become a Sponsor for the National Veterans Wheelchair Games: 100% of donations received for the National Veterans Wheelchair Games go to directly support the operational expenses of the Games. Jane Eakins, (800) 424-8200 ext. 687 [email protected] Kim Hirose, (202) 416-7674

[email protected]

Continued on page 10

PVA Outlines Policy Priorities for the 2nd Session of the 114th Congress PVA has identified the following legislative and policy priorities for the 2nd session of the 114th Congress. These priorities have been presented to leadership in the House of Representatives and Senate and to our partners in the veterans and disability communities. These issues will inform our agenda at this year’s Advocacy and Legislation Seminar, and they will be addressed in PVA President Kovach’s annual testimony in March. Legislative Program Priorities (Veterans Issues):

Veterans Health Care Reform. This issue reflects the work The Independent Budget (PVA, DAV, and VFW) has been doing to reshape and reimagine what a veterans’ health care system should look like and function like. It is grounded in the principles that veterans health care should be high-quality, accessible, comprehensive, and veterans-centric. Our reform plan is built on four pillars: restructure, realign, redesign, and reform. We will be doing an entire presentation on this work at the seminar.

Expand Eligibility for the VA Comprehensive Caregiver Program. This is the highest legislative priority for PVA. We continue to work to expand access to the Comprehensive Family

Caregiver Program administered by VA to veterans of all eras (not just those injured after September 11, 2001). This might actually get achieved this year if Congress can get passed

its wrangling over how they are going to pay for it.

Procreative Services for Catastrophically Disabled Veterans. This is also one of our highest priorities for this year. Legislation under consideration would allow VA to provide for reproductive services, to include in vitro fertilization (IVF), to veterans with catastrophic injuries

that preclude them from having children. This issue seems like a no-brainer to most people we have discussed this with. Unfortunately, when the legislation was brought forward by the Senate VA Committee to make this happen, political ideology trumped doing the right thing and the bill was pulled.

Protection of Specialized Services, to Include Reinstatement of the Annual Capacity Report. In all of the continued work to reform the delivery of veterans health care, it is incumbent upon PVA to ensure that changes made will not have a detrimental impact on the services that veterans rely upon most from VA--specialized services. These are the programs that we have to work to protect as veterans health care delivery evolves (which it will).

Problems with Denial of Clothing Allowance for Catastrophically Disabled Veterans. Fred Downs, PVA’s Prosthetics Consultant, has been tracking this issue with our National Service

Officers. This is more of a policy issue than a legislative issue. However, as we did with the warrant transition process, we need to educate the members of Congress and their staffs about these problems so that we might bring pressure to bear on the VA to fix this problem.

Advocacy Program Priorities (Disability Issues):

Air Carrier Access Problems for People with Disabilities. This is a highest priority issue for the National Advocacy program. It is no secret that people with disabilities, particularly those with significant disabilities, experience a wide array of problems and seemingly discriminatory acts during air travel. We will be working to change the way people with disabilities are treated

during air travel and to improve that experience in every way possible.

The Desert Oracle

Complex Rehab Accessories Extension On December 18, 2015, the President signed S. 2425, the “Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act” into law. The legislation among other things instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall not prior to January 1, 2017 use information on the payment determination under the competitive acquisition programs to adjust payment amounts for wheelchair accessories, including seating systems and seat and back cushions when furnished in connection with Group 3 complex rehabilitative power wheelchairs. However, this one year delay does not apply to the same wheelchair accessories for complex rehabilitative manual wheelchairs. These accessories will be subjected to the competitive acquisition / bid of the 2016 Medicare fee schedule. The Act also instructs the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a GAO study on wheelchair accessories furnished in connection with Group 3 complex rehabilitative power wheelchairs. The study shall include an analysis of the following with respect to such wheelchair accessories and seat and back cushions: a breakdown of utilization and expenditures, a comparison of the payment amount under the competitive bid program including beneficiary cost sharing, the aggregate distribution of said accessories and the items descriptions and associate HCPCS codes. The report is due back to Congress by June 1, 2016.

Complex Rehabilitation Technology. PVA believes that a separate Medicare Complex Rehabilitation Technology (CRT) benefit is needed. CRT refers to products and services, including medically necessary individually configured manual and power wheelchair systems,

adaptive seating systems, alternative positioning systems and other mobility devices that require evaluation, fitting, design, adjustment and programming. Such technology is designed

to meet the specific and unique medical and functional needs of someone diagnosed with a catastrophic illness or disability.

The “Seniors and Veterans Emergency (SAVE) Benefits Act.” Veterans with service-connected disabilities and low-income veterans will see no increase in their compensation and pension benefits in 2016 because the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced last October that there would be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in retirement, survivors and disability benefits this year. PVA supports H.R. 4144 and S. 2251, the “Seniors and Veterans

Emergency (SAVE) Benefits Act,” a bill that would provide a one-time payment of $550 to Social Security beneficiaries as well as veteran recipients of compensation and pension to address the lack of inflation adjustment in benefits this year.

As the year progresses, our priorities will likely shift based on legislation that is introduced or currently pending. However, the greatest focus in the Legislative program will be the Veterans Health Care Reform issue, and the greatest focus in the Advocacy program will be Addressing Air Carrier Access Problems for people with Disabilities.

Continued from pg. 9

MEMBERSHIP REPORT from

The Arizona Chapter

The Arizona Chapter voting membership stands at 505 as of February 1st 2016. National and AZPVA records show our voting membership as:

268- Service Connected 237- Non-Service Connected

The Arizona Chapter encourages each of our members to contact the Chapter and let us know how you are doing, and if we can help you in any way. If you know of any of our members who have passed away, or if you have an address/phone change, please contact the Chapter as soon as possible. Also, if you would like to receive the Desert Oracle Newsletter by e-mail, please call or e-mail the office with your e-mail address.

Do you know a veteran with spinal cord dysfunction who isn’t a member of the AZPVA? Let us know at the Chapter office by calling

602-244-9168 or 1-800-621-9217 e-mail: [email protected]

February 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29

Deceased Members February 2016 Please have someone contact our Chapter office in the event of a member’s death so that we can inform other member’s who might wish to pay their respects to the departed.

Jon C. Taylor Will E. Sullenger Joe F. LoRusso Jake I. Farrell Tom R. Epperson William A. Ball

Lester O. Ackerman Edward J. Drews Dennis A. Ambruso Michael F. Tanner Mark R. Gibson Hartvig E. Holmberg, III Shelia F. Sessions Edwin O. Nick Ronny Sims John E. Short, Sr. Allen C. Berryhill Gregory Runkel Brenda A. Way Lanny S. Lighthill John R. Makin Gayle R. Scott (Hedin) Tommy R. Brooks

Stephen D. Knode Billy J. Moore Charles J. Newbold Bobby D. James Edward C. Noriega Francisco Concepcion Jackie Hymers Charles C. Hudson Howard D. Deatherage, Jr. Thomas S. Heesch Terry J. Forcier Valentina T. Rawls Michael A. Gaita James J. Huff Matthew R. Winters Ellen P. Ferchland David N. Ferrazzi

Susan M. Hansen Michael D. Hays Michael J. Berry Ernest "Burt" B. Buxton Edward S. Delgado Joseph E. Stanislawski Keith M. Jacobsen Lawrence F. Celano George J. Sheehan, Jr

the desert oracle - amazon s3€¦ · again need attention. advocates would have preferred a...

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