ROA’s members Peggy Wilmoth, Alicia Rossiter, Catherine Ling and Margaret Cope wrote and published "The Reserve Component-Connected Family in Your School: Still Invisible" in On the Move, the official magazine of MCEC (Military Child Education Coalition). 

You can click here to read the complete article on pp 18-19.

MCEC mission supports all military-connected children by educating, advocating, and collaborating to resolve education challenges associated with military lifestyle.

>>> Go back to October RV

On August 19, the Retired United States Army Reserves hosted an All Services Military Ball in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Southwest Department President, retired Col. Larry Lamb, USAR (above photo) attended the event and had a table representing ROA on full display.

Larry was very engaging, taking the time to speak with active drilling and retired service members about ROA benefits and ongoing legislative activities.   

The Southwest Department has traditionally donated to support unit reunions and military celebrations.

>>> Go back to September RV

Between now and September 30, 2023, Veterans who deployed to a combat zone, never enrolled in VA health care, and left active duty between September 11, 2001 and October 1, 2013 are eligible to enroll directly in VA health care –without first applying for VA benefits. Veterans can apply online or in person at their local VA facility until 11:59 p.m. local time on September 30, 2023.

Why should a Veteran apply for VA care?

• VA is the best and most affordable health care in America for Veterans – and this is your chance to sign up. 

• Veterans who are enrolled in VA health care are proven to have better health outcomes than those who get their care elsewhere. And this year alone, VA has beaten non-VA hospitals in quality ratings and patient satisfaction ratings.

• That’s because our clinicians know Veterans – they often are Veterans – and they know exactly how to help.

• And VA health care isn’t only the best option for Veterans – it’s often the most affordable – with copays as low as $0 for prescriptions, urgent care, outpatient care, and more for some Veterans at VA.

• So don’t wait – get the world-class care you’ve earned before its too late. Apply today at VA.gov/PACT.

Are these the only Veterans who can apply for VA care without first filing a claim for disability compensation benefits?

• Many Veterans are able to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits – including many Vietnam Veterans, Gulf War Veterans, Veterans who deployed to a combat zone and transitioned out of the service less than 10 years ago, and more.

• Veterans who do not meet any of these eligibility criteria may still be able to access VA health care based on their income.

• Veterans who apply for and are granted service connection for any health condition can also become eligible for VA care.

What happens if a Veteran misses the deadline?

• If a Veteran misses this deadline, there are still many ways for them to access VA care.

• For example, if they apply for benefits and are granted service connection for any health condition, they can become eligible for VA care.

• Veterans can also become eligible to enroll in VA health care based on their income.

• For more information, visit https://www.va.gov/health-care/eligibility/.

Why doesn’t VA just extend this deadline?

• This deadline is written into law for this specific group for Veterans. But if a Veteran misses this deadline, there are still many ways for them to access VA health care.

• For example, if you apply for benefits and are granted service connection for any health condition, you can become eligible for VA care.

• Veterans can also become eligible to enroll in VA health care based on their income.

• For more information, visit https://www.va.gov/health-care/eligibility/.

How many people have enrolled to date? How many people are eligible to enroll? 

• We don’t yet have numbers for this specific group of Veterans, but since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law, more than 344,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA health care and more than 4.2 million Veterans have been screened for toxic exposures.

What do I get when I enroll in VA health care?

• VA offers world-class, comprehensive health care – including yearly physicals, health assessments, free screenings, specialized care for issues related to military service, and more. This is true regardless of whether or not you have a service-connected condition.

• VA health care can serve as your sole source of healthcare, or as a complement to other plans, and the care is portable, so the coverage follows you if they travel or relocate.

What happens to my current health care if I sign up for VA?

• Many Veterans who get their care from VA also have other forms of health insurance, and signing up for VA will not impact your ability to continue seeing your current providers using your current insurance if you'd like. 

• Enrolling in VA health care could impact your Medicare, Medicaid, orAffordable Care Act stipend eligibility. To learn more, visit https://www.va.gov/health-care/about-va-health-benefits/va-health-care-and-other-insurance/. 

For the purposes of this deadline, what does it mean to have “deployed to a combat zone”?

• This special enrollment period applies to Veterans who served on active duty in a theater of combat operations after the Persian Gulf War or in combat against a hostile force after November 11, 1998.

• If you fit that description, never signed up for VA health care, and left active duty between 9/11/01 and 10/1/13, you should sign up today. 

Can Veterans still apply for benefits under the PACT Act?

• The PACT Act is the largest expansion of VA benefits in generations, and Veterans and survivors can apply anytime for the PACT Act benefits they deserve.

• Since the PACT Act was signed into law, VA has delivered more than $1.85 billion in PACT Act benefits to Veterans and their survivors nationwide – and that’s just the beginning.

• Visit VA.gov/PACT to learn more and apply today. 

>>> Go back to September RV

WASHINGTON – The Department of the Navy (DON) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced the finalization and publication of a voluntary process, called the “Elective Option,” to help veterans and others more quickly resolve qualifying claims under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 (CLJA). This option supplements other processes currently available under the CLJA, which remain in place. 

The CLJA is a provision of Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, which was signed into law on Aug. 10, 2022. The CLJA allows those who file claims and lawsuits to potentially recover for injuries caused by exposure to contaminated water at the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune from mid-1953 through 1987.

Established jointly by DON and DOJ, the new Elective Option provides a framework for the DON to resolve certain CLJA claims quickly, equitably, and transparently. In order to be eligible for the Elective Option, a claimant must first submit an administrative claim to the DON. To date, more than 93,000 CLJA claims have been filed with the DON. 

The Elective Option allows the DON to focus its review on a few key aspects of a CLJA claim, such as the type of injury alleged and the amount of time a claimant worked or resided at Camp Lejeune. Narrowing the scope of the review enables faster validation and, ultimately, extension of settlement offers. The Elective Option provides similar settlement offers to claimants with similar exposures and injuries with similar evidence of causation. 

“The Elective Option is a critical step in bringing relief to qualifying claimants impacted by the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, who will now have an avenue for receiving quick and early resolution of claims under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “We are grateful for the continued partnership of the Department of the Navy and federal agencies in developing and administering this framework.” 

“The Elective Option presented today should be of great interest to eligible Americans who seek a streamlined process to resolve their claims,” said Under Secretary of the Navy Erik Raven. “We recognize this takes a whole-of-government response, and along with DOD and DOJ, we are linked with Veterans Affairs and other federal agencies to support a fair and streamlined process. We are committed to ensuring that every valid Camp Lejeune claim is resolved fairly and as expeditiously as possible.” 

Within the framework, the DON can make settlement offers to qualifying claimants with diseases that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has determined are linked to the chemicals found in the water at Camp Lejeune. Award amounts are tiered, largely based on the ATSDR’s classification of the strength of the evidence linking the contamination with a particular disease and the amount of time the individual spent at Camp Lejeune. 

Tier 1 Diagnoses: Claimants with diseases for which the ATSDR has substantiated evidence of causation – kidney cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia, and bladder cancer – would receive settlement offers of $450,000, $300,000, or $150,000, depending on whether the claimant was exposed to Camp Lejeune water for over five years, between one and five years, or between 30 and 364 days, respectively. 

Tier 2 Diagnoses: Claimants with diseases to which the ATSDR has linked possible evidence of causation – multiple myeloma, Parkinson’s disease, kidney disease (end stage renal disease), systemic sclerosis/systemic scleroderma – would receive settlement offers of $400,000, $250,000, or $100,000, depending on whether the claimant was exposed to Camp Lejeune water for over five years, between one and five years, or between 30 and 364 days, respectively. 

Claims involving death would receive an additional $100,000. 

The Elective Option supplements other mechanisms for resolving claims currently available through the normal administrative claims or litigation processes. Claimants not eligible for the Elective Option may await finalization of their administrative claim or pursue litigation and engage in any broader settlement discussions occurring through court proceedings in the Eastern District of North Carolina. DOJ will screen already-filed lawsuits and will extend settlement offers in qualifying cases that are similar to awards under the Elective Option. 

Those interested in learning more about the Elective Option should visit www.navy.mil/clja. 

Individuals who think they qualify for relief under the CLJA can follow the instructions available on that site to submit a claim and provide requisite supporting documentation. There is no requirement to retain a lawyer to file a claim or subsequently pursue an expedited resolution. Claims that have already been filed with DON do not need to be refiled. 

Payments under the Elective Option are not offset by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability benefits or VA medical care, and they do not impact ongoing treatment and support provided by the VA. 

More information is available at www.navy.mil/clja. 

>>> Go back to September RV

VA extends deadline Through Monday for Veterans and survivors to apply for PACT Act benefits backdated to August 10, 2022

Extension will ensure that no Veteran or survivor will miss out on a single day of backdated PACT Act benefits

Today, VA announced that Veterans and survivors who apply (or submit their intent to file) for PACT Act benefits by 11:59PM ET on Monday, August 14, 2023 will be eligible to have their benefits backdated to August 10, 2022 – the day that President Biden signed the PACT Act into law. This is an extension from the original deadline of August 9, 2023. We encourage all Veterans and their survivors to apply – or submit their intent to file – for PACT Act benefits now by visiting VA.gov/PACT.

VA has made this decision out of an abundance of caution after experiencing technical difficulties with VA.gov/PACT in recent days. Specifically, due to extremely high demand, some Veterans who have sought to submit their intent to file for PACT Act benefits have received error messages while doing so. Despite these messages, VA has successfully logged every one of these intents to file – meaning that every Veteran or survivor who has received an error message while applying for PACT Act benefits can consider their intent to file complete. We are working to contact these individuals to confirm directly to them that their intent to file will be honored and their effective date protected. Most importantly, no Veteran or survivor will miss out on a single day of benefits due to this issue.

VA has also resolved nearly all of the technical issues with VA.gov/PACT. As of 5 p.m., less than one tenth of one percent of attempts to submit an “intent to file” today (August 9) had resulted in an error message. This percentage is down from about 18% on August 8. Additionally, we have had a high volume of calls to VA call centers throughout this week, and we are working to decrease abnormally long call center wait times. We continue to work on these issues and will not rest until they are fully resolved.

Throughout the past day, VA has sent out communications from all channels to reassure Veterans and survivors that they would not miss out on their earned benefits due to this issue. We put an emergency banner on the VA website to tell Veterans and survivors that their intents to file will be honored.

We changed the intent to file error message to confirm that, despite the error message, the intent to file has been saved. Finally, we communicated with Veterans directly on social media, via email, and through coordination with Congressional leaders and Veterans Service Organizations. All of this messaging will be updated tonight (details below) to reflect the extended deadline for Veterans and survivors to apply for benefits backdated to August 10, 2022.

We at VA will continue to encourage Veterans and their survivors to immediately file their PACT Act claims — or submit their intents to file — at VA.gov/PACT. With the extended deadline, Veterans and survivors who do so by 11:59PM ET on Monday, August 14, 2023 may receive benefits backdated to August 10, 2022.

You'll notice an updated website banner:

PACT Act backdated benefits deadline extended!

You now have until 11:59PM ET on Monday, August 14, 2023 to file your PACT Act claim—or submit your intent to file—and be eligible for benefits backdated to August 10, 2022. Take advantage of this extension and file now!

Due to high volume, some Veterans have received error messages when submitting their intent to file PACT Act claims. If you received one of these messages, don’t worry! We have logged your intent to file and saved your effective date for benefits.

File a disability claim online

Submit your intent to file

Here is the updated Error Message

Due to the high volume of submissions we are receiving, you can’t continue with this claim form at this time – but we have received your intent to file and saved your effective date for benefits.  

Here’s what this means for you:
• You have 1 year from today to complete your claim.
• If we determine that you’re eligible for disability compensation, we’ll use today to determine the effective date of your benefits.
• If you’re filing a claim based on the PACT Act, you may still be eligible to receive benefits backdated to August 10, 2022.

Note: If you come back to this form in the next few days and continue to get this message, don’t worry. Your intent to file date is set for today.

Legal background for this extension:

Under the authority in 38 C.F.R. 3.1(r), the Under Secretary for Benefits may extend a deadline such as this “when he or she determines that a natural or man-made interference with the normal channels through which the Veterans Benefits Administration ordinarily receives correspondence has resulted in one or more Veterans Benefits Administration offices experiencing extended delays in receipt of claims, information, or evidence from claimants served by the affected office or offices to an extent that, if not addressed, would adversely affect such claimants through no fault of their own.” In the coming days, VA will submit a federal register notice to codify this extension. 

 Go Back to August RV >>>