Memorial Day will honor veterans of all military service and branches at a recognition service at noon May 27 at Evergreen Cemetery in Bloomington. A modified communal military rites ceremony will be offered for those families of veterans from World War I to the present who have not had military rites performed.
At noon, weather permitting, we will have a flyover, after which there will be a guest speaker. A bugler and an honor guard member will conduct a salute and bugle call for each of the branches of service flags.
Following the service branch salute, the flag-folding team will fold the American flag and make a presentation(s) of the flags to the families. The names of those veterans for whom these military rites are performed will be read. The seven-rifle team will fire three volleys. The bugler will sound Taps, and the bagpiper will perform “Amazing Grace.”
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Anyone interested in being a part of these communal military rites should contact Butch Ekstam at 309-825-2703 no later than May 20.
VA EXPANDS CANCER CARE PROGRAM
VA has expanded the “Close to Me” cancer care program. The expansion will bring new cancer diagnosis, treatment and surveillance services to an additional 9,000 veterans and 30 locations by the end of 2025. VA clinicians will travel to provide veterans with the full continuum of cancer care at nearby community-based outpatient clinics, often in rural locations.
This program will reduce the need for veterans to travel to medical centers for cancer care, affording veterans and their caregivers more time to go about their daily lives and focus on healing. It also allows more veterans to utilize VA care, which is proven to be the best care in America for veterans. Learn more about VA cancer care by visiting cancer.va.gov.
VA CHANGES RULES ON BAD DISCHARGE BENEFITS
VA posted a final rule amending its regulations regarding character of discharge determinations, expanding access to VA care and benefits for some former servicemembers discharged under other than honorable conditions or by special court martial. The rule changes do not affect the character of the discharge, but only expand eligibility for VA health care and certain other VA benefits.
Veterans who were discharged for homosexual acts involving aggravating circumstances or other factors affecting the performance of duty can now reapply for benefits. Also, certain former servicemembers discharged for “willful and persistent misconduct” or an “offense involving moral turpitude” may now reapply for benefits, with the VA considering and determining if compelling circumstances justify an exception that will permit VA to provide benefits. There are other “bad discharge” circumstances that will be reviewed by the VA.
About 75% of the reapplications for benefits of individuals with “bad discharges” based on the reasons listed above have been approved over the last 10 years, providing benefits to an additional 57,000 former servicemembers. Browse VA news for more information about these final rules.
These rule changes still do not address the unfairness of VA rules that use an income means test to deny tens of thousands of honorably discharged veterans from having access to VA health care, simply because the veterans’ household income has been determined by a government bureaucrat to be high enough that the veteran can afford to pay for his or her own health care.
VA SATISFACCTION SURVEY RISES AGAIN
The VA reports that a nationwide survey of more than 480,000 veteran patients who received VA health care in the past 90 days indicates that veteran trust in VA outpatient care has increased to 91.8%, up from 85.6% in 2018.
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This article was originally published by a pantagraph.com . Read the Original article here. .