VA Expands Full Care Benefits To All Vets With ALS

Main Category: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS
Article Date: 04 Aug 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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The VA posting of the new policy that was expected has yet to be released. As soon as the official announcement is made, it will be posted on this site.

Great news for many of America's military veterans who have ALS.

On July 14, in a press release following a conference call with the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, it was announced that the VA will broaden its compensation for all ALS-affected vets. The press release was issued by both Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Henry Brown.

Prior to this time, only veterans with ALS who had served in the Gulf War (August 1990-February 1991) were accorded "service-connected disability" status by the VA. It's the agency's highest disability rating, and it makes the greatest degree of no- or low-cost VA medical care available.

Now VA secretary Dr. James Peake says all vets with ALS will be accorded the service-connected designation, effective August 1.

MDA Vice President of Advocacy Annie Kennedy said the decision was one the Association has been hoping for. "The VA made its initial decision to fully compensate Gulf War veterans with ALS in 2001," she said. "For seven years the ALS advocacy community has pushed to get all ALS-affected service people included in that package of care. This is wonderful news for the ALS community."

The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) in Cambridge, Mass., an MDA partner in the fight against ALS, took a leading role in advocating for this policy change.

http://www.mda.org