ALS UPDATE

Thanks to Irish, for this update.

Apparently either the reporter misreported the phone conversation with Dr. Peake and the commencement date of 1 Aug 2008 or Dr. Peake misspoke when he told the General they were going to cover all Veterans with ALS or a combination of both.

It seems the reporter and the issued report does not jibe with the ALS Association and its understanding of the present issue.  While it seems it is under consideration and review the real honest, if there is such a thing by VA, VA decision has not been made nor has any date been set for compensations to begin.

I thought they had given in too easy on the facts when their entire purpose and existence is to deny all facts that relate to compensate SERVICE CONNECTED benefits and waiting for the Campaigning Armies or Specific Era Veterans to die.

See Below:

From the ALS Association

As you know, The ALS Association has been working to establish ALS as a service connected disease to ensure that veterans with ALS receive the disability and health benefits they need when they need them.

In July, we shared with you that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs was planning to announce that veterans with ALS will automatically be considered service connected and eligible for full VA benefits, as of today, August 1, 2008.

We wanted to update you that the VA has not made any announcement of a change in policy for veterans with ALS.  However, we continue to anticipate that the VA will issue regulations on this issue and will establish ALS as service connected disease.  The details of those regulations are still under review at the VA and it is not yet clear exactly when regulations will be officially announced.

Therefore, until regulations are released and the VA makes an official announcement, we continue to emphasize that the issue is still under review and details have not been finalized.

We also want to alert veterans with ALS and ALS Association Chapters that some organizations have released and posted on their website inaccurate and misleading information about this issue stating that veterans with ALS are considered service connected as of today, August 1.   THIS IS NOT TRUE.
 
Unfortunately, the organizations that have shared this information have not been involved in the executive branch rulemaking process and have based their information on unsubstantiated accounts.
 
We encourage Chapters and veterans to share this alert with others in the veteran community so that they receive accurate information on the status of this important issue.   We also encourage veterans to join our Roll Call of Veterans so that we can provide them with the latest updates on this and other issues important to veterans with ALS.

If you have any questions, please contact the Advocacy Department of The ALS Association at advocacy@alsa-national.org.

I would encourage all family members of those families with ALS associated Veteran Members to contact their congressperson and senators on this issue, as often as they can, to get this VA inclusion done as soon as possible.

This is an update on the original reported article at:   http://www.2ndbattalion94thartillery.com/Chas/als.htm

Kelley