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MILITARY
UPDATE
July 29, 2010
60-DAY COUNTDOWN NEARS FOR PAYING
NEW ‘AO’ CLAIMS
by Tom Philpott
The Department of Veterans Affairs likely will begin in
October to pay thousands of disability claims to Vietnam
veterans with ischemic heart disease, Parkinson’s disease
and B-cell leukemia – illnesses newly associated with
exposure to defoliants, including Agent Orange, used in that
war.
A 60-day countdown to the day that VA can start compensating
up to 86,000 veterans retroactively for these diseases will
begin when VA publishes its final implementing regulation,
which could be next week.
Congress sent a strong signal of support to these veterans
in July when first the Senate and, on Tuesday, the House
passed the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010 (HR 4899)
which included $13.4 billion for VA to pay the first wave of
compensation claims for these diseases.
VA estimates this expansion of Agent Orange-related claims,
which VA Secretary Eric Shinseki announced last October,
will benefit over time more than 153,000 and cost more than
$42 billion in its first decade of payments.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget is near to
clearing the VA regulation through its last review hurdle.
Once the final regulation is published in the Federal
Register, Congress will have 60 days to review and possibly
block the regulation.
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) showed his intent to lead that review
by adding language to the war supplemental stating that, as
the Congressional Review Act requires, none of the $13.4
billion can be spent for 60 days. This gives Congress time
to weigh the cost and review the science behind the
decision.
Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate
Veterans Affairs Committee on which Webb serves, has
scheduled a Sept. 23 hearing where presumably VA officials
and independent medical researchers will explain why these
diseases should be compensable for any veteran who suffers
from them and served even a day in Vietnam.
Webb has argued the VA is interpreting the Agent Orange Law
of 1991 too liberally, linking ailments generally associated
with aging to wartime exposures, and committing VA to
billions of dollars in added compensation payment, because
Congress chose to forfeit its own oversight
responsibilities...
Read more at:
Military. COM
or
FRA.org |