News & Events

The new Community care Mission Act was passed in 2018 to become effective in June of 2019. The new Mission Act empowers Veterans and enhances care options, by providing  care in a VA Facility, your home or In your Community Hospitals and Urgent Care Centers, (IT WILL BE YOUR CHOICE IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE!)    

This article will consider the “Urgent Care Option that all Veterans can use if they are eligible.

URGENT CARE is one of the new benefits offered as part of the VA Mission Act that gives Veterans greater choice in their health care. The benefit is offered in addition to the opportunity to receive care from a VA provider, such as your local Hospital if they have signed a “Providers Agreement” with the VA. This article will deal with working to insure the Veterans understand how to use the new “urgent care benefit”.

1. What is urgent care?
   Urgent care is a type of walk in health care for situations where you need help but don’t have an emergency. This includes colds, Ear infections, Minor injuries, Pink eye, Skin infections and strep throat.
2. Are there urgent care providers near you?
   VA launched this program in June of this year and are working to expand their network of urgent care providers, adding more each week. Urgent care providers are vetted and must meet strict standards of care and other requirements before they are added to the VA network. To find a location, use the VA facility locator at va.gov/find-locations . If you arrive at an urgent care location and have difficulty receiving care, call 866-620-2071 for assistance.
3. How do I get prescription medication with the urgent care benefit?
   You can get up to a 14 day supply of prescription medication through VA, or VA contracted pharmacy. If you choose to fill an urgent care prescription at a non-contracted pharmacy, you will be required to pay for the prescription when you pick it up and then file a claim for reimbursement at your local VA medical facility
4. Do you have to make copayments for urgent care?
   Co-payments will depend on your assigned priority group with VA Healthcare and the number of times you visit any urgent care provider within one year. You will not pay urgent care anything on your visit. If a co-pay charge is required the VA will Bill you direct
5. ELIGIBILITY
6. You must be enrolled and registered in VA Healthcare
7. You must call 1-833-483-8669 with the last 4 of you Soc. Sec. Number and your birth date and, and they will advise you of your eligibility.

If you have questions please contact the Salem County Veterans office at 856-339-8603

Thank you to Tricia Painter for her donation of Branch and U.S. Flags for the Veterans Cemetery in memory of her father, David James Weitzel, Sr.

Mr. Weitzel is a Veteran of the U.S. Army.

Ms. Painter will be donating a set of flags every year for the next 10 years!

Date & Time: Tuesday, August 13, 2019 from 10am – 12pm

Location: Pennsville Public Library – 190 South Broadway, Pennsville, NJ 08070

Senate President Steve Sweeney, Assembly Deputy Speaker John Burzichelli, and Assemblyman Adam Taliaferro invite you to visit the Third Legislative District’s traveling office.

Our mobile offices are here to put government within your reach. Our legislative staff will be available to assist residents seeking help with any state agency. This includes difficulties such as obtaining unemployment benefits, state taxation concerns or consumer complaints.

Our offices can assist you in requesting information on the status of legislation, submitting notary public applications, providing information on various stat programs and resources, or simply letting us know where you stand on the state issues.

Mobile offices are free and open to all residents of the Third Legislative District. You are welcome to visit any time during the scheduled hours.

You’re entitled to military benefits that could drastically improve the quality of your life right now.

Learn more about your eligibility for benefits relating to:

• Peer support
• Finances
• Education
• Healthcare
• Legal support
• Employment
• Housing
• and more….

1-866-838-7654   ♦   www.njvet2vet.com

1. New Jersey Income tax deduction has doubled for Veterans.
2. New Jersey Senior Freeze increased.

Coming soon to a Riverview Beach Park in Pennsville, NJ:
A TIME FOR REMEMBRANCE: THE VIETNAM TRAVELING WALL

Date & Time: September 25 – 29, 2019, open 24 hours a day.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced a new urgent care benefit under the newly implemented MISSION Act, for eligible Veterans. The urgent care benefit lets Veterans enrolled with the VA Healthcare to visit participating urgent care clinics in their community for treatment of minor healthcare needs.

“We want to be the preferred healthcare provider for Veterans and we will continue to strive to provide convenient, timely and high-quality health care to our Veterans. The new urgent care benefits offer additional options for eligible Veterans and helps VA leverage healthcare resources to better meet the needs of Veteran.” said Director Vince Kane who oversees the Wilmington VAMC and its five outpatient clinics in Delaware and southern New Jersey.

The urgent care benefit offers added convenience for eligible Veterans to use at any time, with any participating provider throughout the country – an excellent benefit for eligible Veterans that may be traveling over these summer months. Veterans do not need to receive VA authorization prior to visiting a participating urgent care provider nor do they have to make a co-payment at the time of their visit. Some Veterans may experience a VA copay after their urgent care visit based on their assigned priority group and the number of times they visit an in-network urgent care provider in a calendar year.

Medications prescribed to Veterans during their urgent care visit are covered for up to a 14-day supply through a VA pharmacy, VA contracted pharmacy or a non-contracted pharmacy. Prescriptions longer than a 14-day supply must be submitted to a VA pharmacy to be filled. If a non-contracted pharmacy is used the Veteran will have to pay out of pocket and file a reimbursement through their local VA.

To be eligible for urgent care benefits, Veterans must be enrolled in the VA health care system and have received care through the VA from either a VA or community provider within the past 24 months. To learn more about VA urgent care benefits contact your local VA facility or visit www.va.gov/communitycare.

Veterans can contact the Wilmington VA Medical Center eligibility office at 800-461-8262 to check on their eligibility status.

If you are a Veteran and need assistance in enrolling in VA healthcare, you can contact one of our Veteran outreach specialists in your area. For the State of Delaware and Salem, New Jersey call 302-357-8715 or 302-932-7519. In Cape May, Northfield, Atlantic and Cumberland, New Jersey call 302-304-5509 or 302-358-9736.

A comprehensive list of participating urgent care community providers is available at www.va.gov/find-locations.

Our veterans deserve a lot of things. Praise. Honor. Security. Respect.

Here’s what they do not deserve: attempts to take advantage of their service. Yet every day, scammers attempt to defraud our veterans of their hard-earned benefits, steal their identity, or take their savings.

Together, we can fight back and take one small step to repay our veterans’ for the service they’ve given and the sacrifices they made.

KNOW THE ENEMY: How Scammers Target Veterans

1. VA LOAN SCAMS : Offers to refinance VA loans at extremely low-rates
2. UPDATE YOUR FILE SCAM: An imposter, claiming to be from a government agency, attempts to get a veteran’s personal information to “update their File” so they can maintain benefits.
3. SECRET VETERAN BENEFIT SCAM: Veterans are told they qualify for “secret” government programs or benefits that offer thousands of dollars—but first they attempt to collect personal information for a fee.
4. PENSION POACHING SCAM: Scammers often offer veterans lump sum payments up front, in exchange for signing over all of their future monthly benefit checks.
5. AID AND ATTENDANCE SCAM: Veterans (or their family members) receive an offer to move their assets into a living trust so that they can qualify for financial assisted-living benefits

VETERANS MAY ALSO ENCOUNTER GENERAL SCAMS

In addition to scams that specifically target veterans’, there are an abundance of scams aimed at the general public to which veterans are more susceptible. These include: Phishing(attempt to gain access to financial accounts),fake tech-support calls, fraudulent credit card/loan schemes, attempts to “collect” fictitious tax bills, fraudulent charities, investment scams, pyramid schemes, and more.

If you or a loved one has encountered a financial scam in the past 12 months, please help us keep fighting for our veterans by calling 877-908-3360

The information you provide is anonymous and will be used by AARP to prepare research on fraudulent activity affecting veterans. This is not a method of reporting crimes to law enforcement authorities. If you want to report mail related crimes please contact the USPIS at postalinspectors.usps.gov

If you would like to take a survey being conducted by AARP concerning fraudulent activity effecting Veterans, please stop buy the Salem County Veterans Office, to pick up a form to fill out, so they can continue to track fraud trends and warn our veterans.

If you’ve ever filed a claim with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for compensation or pension benefits, The VA may require you to go to an examination as part of the process. This is known as a VA claim exam or a Compensation & Pension (C&P) exam.

SCHEDULING OF THE EXAM

After you submit your claim, you may receive a phone call or a letter from the VA or a VA partner asking you to come to one or exams. Not every application for benefits will require an exam; it depends on what medical evidence has been submitted with you claim application. I you receive a letter for an exam contact the VA immediately at the number provided to reschedule your exam, if you have a conflict with your exam time and date. Try not to reschedule on the day before or day of the exam.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO ATTEND YOUR VA CLAIM EXAM.  Missing your exam could cause the VA to delay its decision on your claim, base their decision on the information they have in your file, or just flat out deny your claim. Make sure you call the VA if you cannot make the appointment.

The VA exam is different from a regular medical appointment because the examiner won’t prescribe any medicine or treat you for your disability; this exam occurs only if you file a compensation or pension claim. It is part of the claim review process and helps the VA determine if your disability is service connected, the level of your disability, or if your condition should receive a increased rating due to worsening.

The amount of time the examiner spends with you during your exam depends on what conditions you claimed and if the VA needs more information to make a decision. The length of   your visit could be very short, or last for one hour or more.

THE EXAMINER MAY:

• Ask you questions
• Observe your behavior
• Perform a limited physical exam
• Simply review your file with you

Each exam is different, remember, your in-person visit is only one part of the claim review process. Typically, examiners’ spend time before and /after your appointment reviewing your medical records. Even if your visit is short, he or she is still carefully reviewing your claim.

• If you have additional medical records, take them with you to your exam
• Travel expenses, can be requested based on calculated mileage form your door to the exam facility.

Remember: the examiner is only involved in performing the claim exam. They do not make the rating decision.

This information is taken from VA informational Bulletins

SFC Robert H. Yancy Sr. Stand Down 2019

SERVING HOMELESS VETERANS

Date: Friday, September 27, 2019
Time: From 8:30am – 1:00pm
Location: Cherry Hill National Guard Armory:
Grove St. & Park Blvd, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002
Website: www.standdownsouthjersey.org

The following services and assistance are available:

• VA Benefit Counseling
• PTSD Counseling
• Mental Health
• Welfare
• Social Security
• Food Stamps
• Legal Services
• Addiction Services
• Housing
• Medical
• Employment
• Unemployment
• Haircuts
• Clothing and Provisions

Pre-registration and transportation arrangements call:
1-888-8NJ-VETS (1-888-865-8387), then press #1