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Relevant pages: Veterans Disability
News
New Report Shows Vietnam Veterans Who Served in Guam were Exposed to Agent Orange
February 17, 2021New research is helping Vietnam-era Veterans obtain disability benefits by providing evidence that they were exposed to Agent Orange when serving in Gaum.
According to an article published by Radio.com, “Last year, two Veterans groups published a white paper citing research to support that “as likely as not,” veterans who served on Guam from 1962 to 1975 met the legal standard for exposure to Agent Orange and other “dioxin-containing herbicides.” Now, the groups — National Veterans Legal Services Program and Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law — have released updated research expanding that timeline to include veterans who served on Guam from 1958 to 1980.”
Relevant pages: Veterans Disability
Categories: Veterans Disability News
Wolf & Brown Law Offices Names Attorney Matthew, J. Brown, Esq. as a Partner of the Firm
February 4, 2021Matthew J. Brown, Esq., the VA-accredited attorney for the Veterans department, has been with the firm since 2017.
“I am very pleased to welcome Matthew as a new partner of the firm.”, said partner and owner Michael Brown. “Since rejoining Wolf & Brown and taking over our Veteran’s department, he has continued to impress with solid judgment, continued growth, and a nuanced and pragmatic approach to the law. This is a tremendous asset to our clients and an invaluable addition to our firm as we continue to strengthen our litigation practice.”, he added. “This helps strengthen our ability to provide the highest quality services to our clients.”
Matthew graduated with a Juris Doctorate from Rutgers School of Law-Camden in 2015. His practice focuses solely on claims and appeals before the Veterans Administration for disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation. Matt recently secured a favorable decision and settlement for a Vietnam-era veteran who has been denied service-connection for more than 50 years.
“I am ecstatic to be a partner at Wolf & Brown – not only to continue to provide quality representation to our veteran clients but also to the firm as a whole.”, said Matthew. “It has been an honor and pleasure to represent those who sacrifice for our country, and build that relationship with our Veterans.”, he added. “I look forward to continuing to work with them and navigate the bureaucracy that is the Veterans Administration.”
Wolf & Brown Law Offices is located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. For more information, please visit www.wolfandbrown.com or call (856) 428-6677.
Click here to view and download the official press release (PDF)
Categories: Veterans Disability News, Wolf and Brown News
Veterans Seeking Coronavirus Vaccine are Denied
Lawmakers are urging the government to increase its efforts to provide Veterans with the coronavirus vaccine. Many have been denied because they have higher incomes and/or do not have a service-connected disability.
According to an article published by South Florida SunSentinel, “Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, has appealed to Dat Tran, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, to waive certain requirements veterans must meet before they can receive the COVID-19 vaccine from the VA…Wasserman Schultz became aware of the problem after the South Florida SunSentinel published a story Jan 21 about veterans turned away from a VA clinic in West Palm Beach over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend because they didn’t meet income requirements.”
Relevant pages: Veterans Disability
Categories: Veterans Disability News
Veterans Call for $11 Billion Increase in VA Budget
February 3, 2021Veterans and veterans advocacy groups across the country are calling for an $11 billion increase in the Department of Veterans Affairs budget in anticipation of the Biden administration’s rollout of its fiscal 2022 federal budget.
According to an article published by Military.com, “Three organizations — Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America and Veterans of Foreign Wars — released their annual VA “independent budget” Monday, an assessment of veterans’ needs heading into the fiscal 2022 congressional budget deliberations process. The report is an “attempt to produce an honest assessment of need” not subject to the “politics of federal budget development and negotiations that inevitably have led to continuous funding deficits,” the authors wrote.”
The requested increase will aim at addressing what veterans view as shortfalls in health care and benefits services.
Relevant pages: Veterans Disability
Categories: Veterans Disability News
Frates Bill Signed into Law
January 22, 2021The ALS Disability Insurance Access Act – a bill championed by the late Pete Frates – is now law. The act ensures that individuals diagnosed with degenerative nerve disease are eligible for immediate Social Security Insurance benefits.
According to an article published by The Salem News, “It waives a standard five-month waiting period before benefits can begin for individuals, even after they become disabled. Frates, a Beverly native who brought worldwide attention to ALS until his death in December 2019 just shy of his 35th birthday, launched the effort for this legislative initiative with his family four years ago. It soon drew support from U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem.”
Relevant pages: Social Security Disability
Categories: Social Security Disability News
Delays Continue on VA’s Hospital Rating System
January 19, 2021Veterans are complaining that the Department of Veterans Affairs has yet to deliver on its promise to create a more transparent way to compare the quality of its hospitals with others. This information is important because it helps veterans confirm that they are getting quality care that is comparable to other providers and also highlights the areas in which VA healthcare needs to improve.
According to Stars and Stripes “Public online quarterly reports that measured 46 categories of VA hospital issues, such as infection and mortality rates, have not been updated since 2019, though VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said they would be. At the same time, the VA has dumped its hospital rating system that awarded one to five stars for quality and replaced it with incomplete or confusing information, some veterans say.”
Relevant pages: Veterans Disability
Categories: Veterans Disability News
VA Benefit Overpayment Notices to Resume
January 6, 2021This month, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that they will be resuming benefit overpayment notifications and all veterans who received benefit overpayments in 2020 are now responsible for paying them back.
According to an article published by 8 News, “The VA announced Wednesday that it is resuming its mailing notification letters to veterans for benefit overpayments that were suspended from April 3 to Jan. 1, 2021. According to a release, the collection of these overpayments was deferred to provide financial relief to veterans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Categories: Veterans Disability News
Happy Holidays from the Wolf & Brown Team
December 23, 2020We wish you and yours a happy (and safe!) holiday season. We will be closed on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24), Christmas Day (Dec. 25), and New Year’s Day (Jan. 1), but you can always contact us anytime. We will respond as soon as possible when we return.
Categories: Wolf and Brown News
Veterans With Serious Cases of COVID-19 to be Eligible VA Disability Benefits
December 21, 2020As part of new legislation approved by Congress this month, veterans who have tested positive for COVID-19 while on duty and suffered disability or death, will be entitled to VA benefits.
According to an article published by Military Times, “A provision in the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 designates COVID-19 as a presumptive illness – a descriptor that paves the way for affected service members or veterans who suffer long-term consequences of the virus to receive compensation and benefits. To be eligible for disability, the individual must have served on active duty for more than 48 hours at one time and developed the illness during service or within 14 days after the qualifying period of duty.”
Relevant pages: Veterans Disability
Categories: Veterans Disability News
Social Security Administration’s New Proposal May Prevent Benefits for Older Americans
December 9, 2020The Social Security Administration (SSA) recently sent a proposal to President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that may likely prevent hundreds of thousands of American citizens from receiving Social Security benefits.
According to an article published by The Hill, “The document that leaked suggests the proposal could ultimately prevent as many as 500,000 Americans from receiving benefits. [The] proposal, as described in press reports, would make it harder for older workers to receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. By law (not regulation), SSA is required to consider age, education, and work experience when determining whether a person meets the statutory definition of disability.”
Relevant pages: Social Security Disability
Categories: Social Security Disability News