Benefits

If you are a war time era veteran and either you or your spouse is living in an assisted living residence, you may be eligible for benefits from the VA. This is the same benefit that one in a nursing home can apply for. The VA will need to know the cost of all medical expenses and income and assets. If eligible a veteran can receive from $1.00 up to $1644.00 for a single veteran and up to $1949.00 for a married veteran. This will depend on information that is supplied to the VA. To find out more about this benefit please call this office at 319-346-6628 and ask for information about VA Pension with Aid and Attendance.

If you are a war time era veteran and either you or your spouse is living in a nursing home or living at home and you also are either in need of Aid and Attendance (the assistance of another as ordered by a doctor) or are Housebound (cannot leave your home with out the aid of another), you may be eligible for benefits from the VA. The VA will need to know the cost of all medical expenses and income and assets. If eligible a veteran can receive from $1.00 up to $1644.00 for a single veteran and up to $1949.00 for a married veteran. This will depend on information that is supplied to the VA. To find out more about this benefit please call this office at 319-346-6628 and ask for information about VA Pension with Aid and Attendance/Housebound.

If you are a veteran who has served 90 continuess days of active duty and you have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or are the surviving spouse of a veteran who died of ALS you may be eligible for benefits from the VA. The VA has made this condition presumptive from your military service no matter when you served. For the veterans this means that you can receive health care, medications and monetary assistance (compensation) from the VA. For the surviving spouses this may also mean that you can receive monetary assistance (compensation known as DIC) and possible health coverage and medications from the VA. For more information please call 319-346-6628 and ask for information on ALS. See a copy of the VA news release below:

Cites Association between Military Service and Later Development of ALS

WASHINGTON – Veterans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may receive badly-needed support for themselves and their families after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that ALS will become a presumptively compensable illness for all veterans with 90 days or more of continuously active service in the military.

“Veterans are developing ALS in rates higher than the general population, and it was appropriate to take action,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake said.

Secretary Peake based his decision primarily on a November 2006 report by the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the association between active-duty service and ALS.

“We are extremely grateful to Secretary Peake, Congressman Henry Brown and Senator Lindsey Graham for standing on the side of veterans with ALS across the country,” said Gary Leo, president and CEO of The ALS Association. “Thanks to their leadership, veterans with ALS will receive the benefits and care they need, when they need them. Thanks to their efforts, no veteran with ALS will ever be left behind.”

The report, titled Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Veterans: Review of the Scientific Literature, analyzed numerous previous studies on the issue and concluded that “there is limited and suggestive evidence of an association between military service and later development of ALS.”

“ALS is a disease that progresses rapidly, once it is diagnosed,” the Secretary explained. “There simply isn’t time to develop the evidence needed to support compensation claims before many veterans become seriously ill. My decision will make those claims much easier to process, and for them and their families to receive the compensation they have earned through their service to our nation.”

ALS, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neuromuscular disease that affects about 20,000 to 30,000 people of all races and ethnicities in the United States, is often relentlessly progressive, and is almost always fatal.

ALS causes degeneration of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that leads to muscle weakness, muscle atrophy, and spontaneous muscle activity. Currently, the cause of ALS is unknown, and there is no effective treatment.

The new interim final regulation applies to all applications for benefits received by VA on or after September 23, 2008, or that are pending before VA, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, or the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on that date.

VA will work to identify and contact veterans with ALS, including those whose claims for ALS were prev

The Department of Veterans Affairs will ensure access to audiology and eye care services including preventive health (care) services and routine vision testing for all enrolled veterans and those veterans exempt from enrollment.

Eyeglasses and Hearing Aids

The VA will provide eyeglasses and hearing aids to veterans who meet the following criteria:

• Veterans with any compensable service-connected disability.
• Former Prisoners of War.
• Purple Heart recipients.
• Veterans getting benefits benefits under Title 38 United States Code.
• Veterans who are qualified for an increased pension based on being permanently housebound and in need of regular aid and attendance.
• Veterans with vision or hearing impairment resulting from diseases or the existence of another medical condition for which the veteran is receiving care or services from VHA, or which resulted from treatment of that medical condition, e.g., stroke, polytrauma, traumatic brain injury, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, vascular disease, geriatric chronic illnesses, toxicity from drugs, ocular photosensitivity from drugs, cataract surgery, and/or other surgeries performed on the eye, ear, or brain resulting in vision or hearing impairment.
• Veterans with significant functional or cognitive impairment evidenced by deficiencies in the ability to perform activities of daily living.
• Those who have vision and/or hearing impairment severe enough that it interferes with their ability to participate actively in their own medical treatment and to reduce the impact of dual sensory impairment (combined hearing and vision loss).
• NOTE: The term "severe" refers to a vision and/or hearing loss that interferes with or restricts access to, involvement in, or active participation in health care services (e.g., communication or reading medication labels). The term is not to be interpreted to mean that a severe hearing or vision loss must exist to be eligible for hearing aids or eyeglasses.
• Those veterans who have service-connected vision disabilities rated zero percent or service-connected hearing disabilities rated zero percent if there is organic conductive, mixed, or sensory hearing impairment, and loss of pure tone hearing sensitivity in the low, mid, or high-frequency range or a combination of frequency ranges which contribute to a loss of communication ability; however, hearing aids are to be provided only as needed for the service-connected hearing disability.

Veterans meeting the eligibility requirements to receive health care are eligible for diagnostic audiology services and eye & vision care services. Veterans cannot be denied access to audiology services and/or eye & vision care services covered by the Medical Benefits Package even if they do not meet the eligibility criteria for hearing aids and/or eye glasses.

For additional information, veterans can contact the prosthetic representative at the nearest VA health care facility.

For any questions and/or assistance please call the Veterans Affairs Office at (319) 346-6628.