WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Benefits getting better for Vt. veterans

Benefits getting better for Vt. veterans

Burlington, Vermont - February 16, 2010

"Most veterans don't want to talk about it. Even with a vet. And if they don't talk about it, and they don't put their claim in, it may be too late," said Asiat Ali, a veteran of the Korean War.

Veterans like Ali addressed their health care concerns to Congressman Peter Welch at a round table for veterans in Burlington on Tuesday. They want to make sure troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan get the treatment they need for post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

"It doesn't depend on whether you agree or disagree with the policy," said Welch, D-Vermont. "It's respect for the men and women who put the uniform on and defend democracy. And when they get home, they are entitled to get the health care they need, as long as they need it."

Also in Burlington, Senator Bernie Sanders said the 20 percent increase in funding for veterans proposed by the president will improve health care benefits for Vermonters that serve their country.

"We have in the state tens of thousands of veterans who have honorably served their country and put their lives on the line, defending us, they are entitled to the best quality health care that we can provide," said Sanders, I-Vermont. "They are entitled to make sure that they are entitled, and they get those benefits in a timely manner."

The proposed budget would expand access to VA care for middle-income veterans, enable post 9/11 veterans and their family members to get higher education assistance, add two veterans' health clinics in Brattleboro and the Northeast Kingdom and reduce the backlog of claims for disability payments to veterans.

"It is my hope that the day will come, when every veteran will in fact, walk into the door. So we are making some progress in opening up access to veterans," Sanders said.

Over in White River Junction, Senator Patrick Leahy toured the construction site of a new homeless shelter by the Upper Valley Haven that will partner with the VA to reduce the costs for veterans to stay at the facility.

"We are here to provide services to all veterans from all wars," said Robert Walton, the director of the VA Medical Center in White River Junction. "I mean it is not a unique issue. We have found veterans from Vietnam who have traumatic brain injury and we've done health screening on them, so it is an issue that exists. So we are here to provide treatment to veterans."

According to Senator Sanders, the Brattleboro clinic will open within a few months, and the clinic in the Northeast Kingdom will open within the next year.

Now state officials are urging veterans and their families to call the VA in White River Junction for questions about accessing benefits or Senator Sanders' office in Burlington directly regarding questions about the proposed health care changes. Call the VA in White River Junction at 1-866-687-8387 (866-OUR-VETS) or Senator Sanders' office in Burlington at 1-800-339-9834 -- or visit -- http://www4.va.gov/healtheligibility/eligibility/PG8Relaxation.asp.

Melinda Davenport - WCAX News