Veterans with ALS - Important VA Benefits!

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

The VA has finally recognized the need for support of veterans with ALS, but they screwed up the notification process. Please help me spread the word to these veterans!

The deadline was today, but I am asking the VA to extend the deadline since many families have still never received proper notification.

This is the statement posted on VA.gov:
Statement on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Last September the Secretary of Veterans Affairs made amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) a presumptively compensable illness for all Veterans with 90 days or more of continuous active service in the military. As a result, the VA can now pay disability compensation to Veterans with ALS. Their survivors are also eligible for VA benefits.

In an effort to provide Veterans this new and much-needed support, VA sent notification letters to Veterans with ALS advising them of their potential eligibility for disability compensation benefits. On August 13, 2009, VA sent outreach letters to 1,864 Veterans and survivors across the country. Unfortunately, VA made a coding error and a number of Veterans who should not have received this letter did. The Department is reviewing individual claims files for all the recipients of this letter to identify those who received it by mistake.

VA employees are calling Veterans and survivors to ensure that they understand the purpose of the letter, explain why they mistakenly received the letter, and express VA's sincere apologies for the distress caused by this unfortunate and regrettable error.

(Please help me spread the word to those veterans with and without email)

Best regards,

-- Gary Wright II

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