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PUBLISHED REPORT SAYS VA WILL MAKE ALS A
PRESUMPTIVE SERVICE-CONNECTED DISEASE -- The
news came during a conference call among VA
Secretary
James Peake, Sen. Lindsey Graham and retired Air
Force
Brig. Gen. Tom Mikolajcik, who suffers from ALS.
This is a strange story.
Secretary Peake calls a veteran to tell him of a
policy change but makes no public announcement?
Peake didn't inform Rep. Bob Filner and Sen.
Daniel Akaka, Chairs of their respective Veterans' Affairs Committees,
both Democrats. Why not? Maybe the paragraph below will
explain.
All of the politicians mentioned in the story are
Republicans and up for reelection this year.
This reeks of using veterans for political gain
in an election year. It should be pointed out the Secretary Peake is
a Republican political appointee.
And, there are other questions. Here are a
few from Paul Sullivan, head of Veterans for Common Sense:
VCS sees this as only a temporary victory, as
there are no laws or regulations for the ALS benefits, only the
Secretary's policy change. Our other concerns include: Will VA
contact veterans with prior denied claims, or approve claims only
prospectively? Will VA contact deceased veterans’ families for
compensation and education benefits? Will VA make this retroactive
to the date of the claim, or pay from the date of the Secretary's
temporary policy change? How much will this cost taxpayers?
Does VA have enough staff to process these claims? How many veterans
and survivors does VA expect to file new claims or re-open prior claims?
These are all good questions and must be answered
before we really understand what this benefit means.
For more information about veterans and ALS, use
the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=als&op=and
Story here...
http://www.charleston.n
et/news/2008/jul/15/victory_vets_als47483/
Story below:
-------------------------
Victory for vets with ALS
Retired general who fought for cause thrilled to learn of new VA
disability designation
By Jill Coley
The Post and Courier
Two years of hard work came to fruition Monday in
a move that could benefit thousands of veterans who suffer from Lou
Gehrig's disease.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will grant a service-connected
disability, the highest category of disability, to all veterans with ALS,
or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative disease that affects
veterans at a rate at 1.6 times
 the
general population.
The news came during a conference call among Dr. James Peake, secretary of
Veterans Affairs, Sen. Lindsey Graham and retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Tom
Mikolajcik, who suffers from ALS and spoke from his Mount Pleasant home.
Mikolajcik cried when he heard the news. He deflected credit for the
policy change and praised Peake and South Carolina legislators, including
Graham, Rep. Henry Brown and Sen. Jim DeMint. "This will impact thousands
of veterans," Mikolajcik said. "This is a reason to have hope — hope
meaning helping other people endure."
ALS strikes about 15 Americans daily, shutting down nerve cells
responsible for movement. Limbs weaken and atrophy before paralysis
spreads to the trunk of the body. Seventy percent of people with ALS die
within five years.
Mikolajcik was diagnosed almost six years ago. He still breathes on his
own and gets out "a little bit," he said. In January, he was implanted
with diaphragm-pacing stimulators to help maintain muscles used in
breathing.
Previously, only veterans of the first Gulf War received full benefits for
ALS. The new designation should take effect in August, Mikolajcik said.
There are eight categories of care in the VA system. A catastrophic
illness could give a veteran Category 4 status, Mikolajcik said, and will
provide medication and some equipment.
"There's a huge difference between Category 4 and 1," Mikolajcik said.
That difference, that could mean a disability pension, help with
transportation and grants for home modification, he said.
Mikolajcik, who receives full benefits, said that he could not maintain
his standard of living without the VA's help. And seeing other veterans go
without those same benefits drove him to continue his campaign with
legislators and officials.
"Patients with ALS ought to have an opportunity to have a quality of
life," he said. "While I can't go to the beach and watch my grandchildren
draw in the sand, they can be with me, and I can still have joy and
quality of life. While my body's dead, I am not."
Why veterans are more likely to get the disease is unknown, Mikolajcik
said. A voluntary registry of veterans with ALS recorded 2,117 people from
2003-07. Those are only the veterans who knew of the registry and made the
call, he said. Today, only 800 of them are alive.
Mikolajcik met with the previous VA secretary in 2007, and he was told
more studies were needed. In April, the retired general met with the new
secretary, Peake, when he visited Charleston with Brown.
The former commander of Charleston Air Force Base has visited Congress
three times to push for ALS research and testified before a congressional
committee last summer.
"'No' is not an acceptable answer, not when it affects the lives of people
who have served their country so bravely and valiantly," Mikolajcik said.
Reach Jill Coley at 937-5719 or
jcoley@postandcourier.com.
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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