Posted on

U.S. Marine Admits Defrauding Department of Veterans Affairs and Threatening Federal Agent

d18fe126a47e941fd10ab5bb27063534 2591996778

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Long Valley NJ,  A Morris County, man today admitted defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of more than $118,000 in disability benefits and sending an interstate text message threatening a federal agent with bodily injury, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Continue reading U.S. Marine Admits Defrauding Department of Veterans Affairs and Threatening Federal Agent

Posted on

Wounded Heroes Documentary Brings Hope to Our Military, First Responders, and Everyone Battling Post Traumatic Stress

unnamed 1 1

Opening Tomorrow March 5th a New film shines a light on bold new alternative non-drug treatments and programs that heal the wounds of PTS

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, in the Wounded Heroes Documentary due out March 5th, 2021, PTS sufferers are finally getting their voices heard as they speak out about their mistreatment by the healthcare system, the medications that are making them worse, and the amazing new proven therapies that are giving them back their lives.

Continue reading Wounded Heroes Documentary Brings Hope to Our Military, First Responders, and Everyone Battling Post Traumatic Stress

Posted on

Caldwell University Agrees To Pay More Than $4.8 Million To Resolve Allegations Of Scamming the Department of Veterans Affairs

va og twitter image

 

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Caldwell NJ, Caldwell University has agreed to pay the United States more than $4.8 million to resolve allegations that it engaged in a fraudulent scheme to defraud a federal education benefit program, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Continue reading Caldwell University Agrees To Pay More Than $4.8 Million To Resolve Allegations Of Scamming the Department of Veterans Affairs

Posted on

Understanding Your Benefits Upon Retirement from The U.S. Military

M249 with Mk46 stock1

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, After sacrificing your time and risking your life for your country, the U.S. military makes sure to take good care of its veterans by ensuring they have access to the benefits they were promised upon enlisting. Not everyone is properly educated as to how to best leverage their newly accessible benefits and can lose out on hundreds or thousands of dollars’ worth of claimable perks.

One of the most important documents for securing these benefits is the DD-214, be sure to have this document as well as photocopies of this document on hand for whenever they may be needed. Obtaining the document can be done by individuals by contacting the military directly or by employing a service like DD214direct to go in person to where the military keeps the DD-214 forms and obtaining a copy. The DD-214 denotes your official separation from the U.S. military, it is essential in benefit application process as well as when it comes time to prove your service to employers after you’ve exited the military. It contains all relevant information with regards to the circumstances of your term of service.

Continue reading Understanding Your Benefits Upon Retirement from The U.S. Military

Posted on

Representatives Garrett and Frelinghuysen Lead the Charge for New Veterans Outpatient Clinic Opening in Newton

Scott Garrett

May 17, 2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,Newton will be the home of a new Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) outpatient health care clinic to serve veterans in the nearby area. Reps. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) and Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) helped lead the charge for a new facility by demonstrating to VA officials how veterans in Sussex and Warren Counties were underserved by a lack of a nearby facility. This clinic will improve the lives of local veterans by allowing them to receive the vital health care services they need closer to home.

“I’m very happy that veterans in Sussex and Warren Counties will soon have a VA outpatient clinic nearby to serve their needs,” said Garrett. “For too long, our heroes in this part of the state had to travel long distances to receive the treatment they’ve earned—sometimes foregoing the process altogether—but that will change with the opening of this facility.”

The process to open the Sussex County-based outpatient clinic is well underway with a site being finalized, equipment needs being assessed, and staff recruitment beginning. The facility is expected to open in July or August 2016.

Posted on

IG report: 300,000 vets died while waiting for health care at VA

VetsDay2011V_theridgewood+blog

file photo Boyd Loving

Published September 03, 2015
FoxNews.com

WASHINGTON –  More than 300,000 American military veterans likely died while waiting for health care — and nearly twice as many are still waiting — according to a new Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general report.

The IG report says “serious” problems with enrollment data are making it impossible to determine exactly how many veterans are actively seeking health care from the VA, and how many were. For example, “data limitations” prevent investigators from determining how many now-deceased veterans applied for health care benefits or when.

But the findings would appear to confirm reports that first surfaced last year that many veterans died while awaiting care, as their applications got stuck in a system that the VA has struggled to overhaul. Some applications, the IG report says, go back nearly two decades.

The report addresses serious issues with the record-keeping itself.

More than half the applications listed as pending as of last year do not have application dates, and investigators “could not reliably determine how many records were associated with actual applications for enrollment” in VA health care, the report said.

The report also says VA workers incorrectly marked thousands of unprocessed health-care applications as completed and may have deleted 10,000 or more electronic “transactions” over the past five years.

Linda Halliday, the VA’s acting inspector general, said the agency’s Health Eligibility Center “has not effectively managed its business processes to ensure the consistent creation and maintenance of essential data” and recommended a multi-year plan to improve accuracy and usefulness of agency records.

Halliday’s report came in response to a whistleblower who said more than 200,000 veterans with pending applications for VA health care were likely deceased.

The inspector general’s report substantiated that claim and others, but said there was no way to tell for sure when or why the person died. Similarly, deficiencies in the VA’s information security — including a lack of audit trails and system backups — limited investigators’ ability to review some issues fully and rule out data manipulation, Halliday said.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/09/03/ig-report-close-to-300000-vets-died-while-waiting-for-health-care-at-va/?intcmp=hpbt1