VA AND DoD START PILOT PROGRAM FOR SINGLE DISABILITY
PHYSICAL EXAM -- Just one examination will be
used for
military fitness for duty and VA disability pay.
For more about the VA / DoD seamless transition
program, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.
yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=seamless+transition&op=ph
VA press release here...
http://www.
vawatchdog.org/07/vap07/vap110707-1.htm
Press release below:
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VA and DoD Pilot Single Physical
November 7, 2007
One Exam Used for “Fitness for Duty” and Disability Pay
WASHINGTON – In a landmark agreement to simplify life for service members
with medical problems as they leave the military and return to the
civilian world, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department
of Defense (DoD) signed a memorandum to pilot a single physical
examination to be used by both Departments.
“This agreement commits VA and DoD to develop a single process to assess
the medical conditions of wounded, injured or ill service members,” said
Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon H. Mansfield. “We will make it
easier for these heroes to go back to their homes, with the key questions
about their eligibility for VA compensation already decided.”
The agreement, signed Nov. 6 by Mansfield and Dr. David S.C. Chu, Under
Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, calls for a pilot
program to evaluate a single physical examination that would be used by
DoD to determine the medical fitness of injured personnel to remain in
uniform and by VA for awarding disability compensation.
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Today’s announcement continues progress on the
recommendations of the President’s Commission on Care for America’s
Returning Wounded Warriors, co-chaired by former Sen. Robert Dole and
former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.
The pilot, which begins late this month, involves VA and DoD facilities in
Washington, D.C. Service members from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center,
the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, and the Air Force’s Malcolm
Grow Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base will participate in the
pilot.
Medical evaluations will be performed by VA, although the agreement notes
the physicals could actually take place in VA medical centers, military
installations, VA contracted examination centers or other facilities.
The memorandum says the process “lays the foundation for building a
network of qualified providers and resources that will meet both DoD and
VA requirements and ease the transition of members from military service
to veteran status.”
The evaluations will be based upon VA’s system for disability examinations
and include an examination of medical conditions identified by military
physicians that call into question a service member’s fitness for duty, as
well as other applicable medical conditions identified by the service
member together with VA.
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