Campaign Would Connect Vets To Millions In Unused Benefits

September 6, 2012

Only a fraction of Florida’s 1.6 million military veterans get the benefits they’ve earned by serving, leading the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to launch a campaign to find those who should be getting millions of dollars left on the table.

Many of the state’s veterans are paying high premiums or out-of-pocket for health care and other services they should be getting for free from the government, retired Army Col. Mike Prendergast, director of department, said Wednesday. And many vets and their family members get services via other programs that cost Florida taxpayers needlessly.

“Any type of health care, counseling, education or other services that are out there (that veterans are getting through other government programs), that could get paid for by the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs, in effect means that potentially, our taxpayers are paying for that service twice,” Prendergast said.

Florida has the third –largest population of veterans, but only 260,000 of the 1.6 million are drawing the benefits to which they’re entitled the agency says.

The campaign will have a special focus on Florida’s 449,000 Vietnam-era vets, who make up more than a quarter of all veterans statewide.

One of them, Commander Mark Alvarez of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Tallahassee, said Vietnam vets are often wary due to how they were treated when they returned from an unpopular war.

“We weren’t that well received,” he said. “But times have changed.”

Alvarez also said that veterans’ services, both federal and state, are much improved since that time.

“The Department of Veterans’ Affairs is reaching out more than ever to veterans, to let them know what’s out there and how they can help,” Alvarez said. “And I think we’re getting better educated and not being so reluctant.”

Homelessness is another problem for veterans, especially those of the Vietnam era. But according to Prendergast, the numbers have dropped in Florida thanks to an aggressive campaign by the federal government, dovetailed with state and local veterans’ programs.

“Just in the past year, our numbers have dwindled by about 2,000 who have reintegrated into their communities,” he said.

The state campaign is also reaching out to 140,000 women vets and to 231,000 veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

“Our needs are very different, depending on our stages of life,” said former Army Capt. Courtney Heidelberg, who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

For instance, James Brian Fox, a returning Air Force vet enrolled at Florida State University, said he’s now able to get a higher education thanks to paid tuition and five years of free health care.

“To all the veterans out there who are thinking of maybe separating and going to school,” he said, “there are people here waiting to help you.”

Fox also noted that the veterans agency’s outreach campaign includes new media, which he praised for its effectiveness in connecting with his contemporaries.

“The mobile app is great,” he said. “Young people use the Internet for absolutely everything nowadays.”

Prendergast urged the loved ones of Florida vets to help them qualify for services – especially Vietnam-era vets. They might not be ill now, he said, but in ten years they might be suffering from a disability related to their time in Southeast Asia, where they could have been exposed to herbicides like Agent Orange.

“Whatever branch of service we earned our stripes in,” he said, “we never leave a man behind – or a woman.”

By The News Service of Florida

Comments

One Response to “Campaign Would Connect Vets To Millions In Unused Benefits”

  1. Thanks on September 6th, 2012 2:14 pm

    I thank you and the other vets thank you. Maybe all vets will get more care.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News