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By Al Linden, Executive Director

As of March 31, 2017 our membership was 62,734 needed 761 to make goal are life members. .

March,`2017

Disabled American Veterans Department of Florida

Newsletter

Also be reminded that Chapter Annual Financial Reports are due by September 30 each year.

Chapter Officers Reports are due within 10 days after installation each year or when changes are made. ALL chapters make $50,000 and less and do not file any other IRS form must file a N990 by November 15 each year. Last year 4 chapters failed to do so and their tax exempt was removed and it cost them over $400 to get it

State Commander Jack Johnson Message Membership eligibility is as follows. Any man or women, who was wounded, gassed, injured

or disabled in line of duty during time of war, while in the service of either the

military or naval forces of the United States of America, and who has not been

dishonorably discharged or separated from such service, or who may still be active in the

armed forces of the United States of America is eligible for membership in the disabled

American veterans. Others, who are disabled while serving with any of the armed forces of

any nations associated with the United States of America as allies during any of its war

periods, who are American citizens and who are honorably discharged, are also eligible.

Note: you do not have to have a service connected disability. Install the Dav

Membership app on your devices and start recruiting. You can sign up a new member for as

little as $10.00 per month with a reoccurring payment on a credit card. Questions call

me, Jack Johnson, 352-250-4743.

DAV Department Convention

The Annual State Convention to be held June 14-18, 2017 at the Lake Mary Marriott in Lake Mary, Fl. Individual attendees must make their own reservations. Room rate is $87.00 per night. Please call 1-800-380-7724 to make your reservations before June 2, 2017. A schedule of events will be published later. Delegate slips must be sent to Department headquarters by June 2, 2017. Group code is “DIS”. The Trump administration picked John Ullyot to serve as assistant secretary of Veterans' Affairs.

Ullyot served on President Trump's campaign and transition teams while he worked as a managing partner at Brighton Strategy Group.

Ullyot, a former U.S. Marine, has held senior communication positions on Senate committees including the Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs committees. He also served in top communication jobs for major corporations like AOL Europe and Intel Corp.

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BALANCE SHEET

As Of March 31, 2017

TOTAL ASSETS $1,243,282

TOTAL LIABILITIES $248,383 ------------

TOTAL LIABILITIES&FUND BALANCES $1,243,282

========= FUND BALANCES

Bay Pines VAVS $2304 Gainesville VAVS $1000.00 Tampa VAVS $1950

Lake City VAVS $2225 WPB VAVS $1000 MiamiVAVS $2200 Orlando VAVS $7550 Eglin CBOC $0

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What's in the VA secretary's 10-point plan to reform his department?

By: Leo Shane III, February 28, 2017 (Photo Credit: Carolyn Kaster/AP) WASHINGTON — In appearances before veterans groups this week, Veterans Affairs Secretary

Dr. David Shulkin is outlining his 10-point plan for reforming department operations and offerings, with a heavy emphasis on VA medical improvements.

The plan is separate from the 10-point VA plan President Trump unveiled on the campaign trail last summer, but includes some of the same themes of accountability and a more customer-service focus

for department employees. It also includes several provisions championed by Shulkin’s predecessor, former VA Secretary Bob McDonald, who was criticized by Trump and other conservatives for not acting quickly enough on

reforms. During an appearance before the American Legion’s winter conference on Tuesday, Shulkin said his new 10-point plan will “take the best of VA and the best of the private sector, and make that work for veterans.” He also promised to work quickly on the reforms, saying many are facing

deadlines or long overdue. The list includes:

New accountability legislation “When people lose their values, and deviate from the ethics and values we hold dearly, they no

longer have the right to work in VA,” Shulkin said. “We’re going to make sure they don’t work in VA.”

But McDonald struggled with Congress on finding appropriate accountability legislation, sparring over measures he saw as crudely crafted or ineffective in solving department discipline issues. House and Senate leaders could not agree on new firing policies for VA last year because of

congressional infighting over the scope of the rules. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe, R-Tenn., has promised to mark up a new accountability bill in early March, and said he has worked with Shulkin already on refining those

updated rules. Extend the Choice deadline past August

The controversial VA Choice Card program -- put in place in the wake of the 2014 wait times scandal -- is set to expire later this year. Lawmakers have complained the program has not helped as

many veterans as it should, but Shulkin said he sees it as a key program for future VA reforms. “We need to see that legislation extended beyond August, because we need those resources to

provide care for veterans that they deserve,” he said. Renewing the program will require congressional appropriators to set aside several billion dollars in coming years to fund the outside medical care appointments, a demand that may be difficult to get

past fiscal conservatives in the House. Choice 2.0 Legislation

But Shulkin is also promising that if he gets more money for the Choice Card program, he won’t be simply dumping the funding into a broken system.

“We want to come back and redesign the choice program so it actually works for veterans,” he told the Legion conference. “We know this program was way too complex, there were too many steps to

go out and get the care that veterans need.” Continued on page 9

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INCOME / EXPENSES VS BUDGET

Mar 31, 2017

Actual Budget Difference

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MEMBERSHIP

FOR

March 31, 2017

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Chapter Last yr trial part life full life total Goal % goal needed hapter name 2/23/17

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Legislation

FOR

March 31, 2017

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t MESSAGE FROM THE ACTING VA UNDER SECRETARY FOR HEALTH

March 3, 2017

I am pleased to welcome Dr. Miguel H. LaPuz, M.D., MBA, as Acting VA Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health (PDUSH), effective March 13, 2017. Dr. LaPuz has served in various leadership roles within VA, and the experience he brings will be a valuable asset as we continue on our path of transforming VA. Dr. LaPuz was appointed as Director of the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network, VISN 8, effective February 21, 2016, and prior to that served as the Medical Center Director of the Salem VA Medical Center (VAMC), Salem, Va., from 2011 to 2015. As Director of VISN 8, he oversees healthcare delivery through a system of eight hospitals (two of which are integrated) and 60 primary care and specialty outpatient clinics; eight nursing homes; and five domiciliaries. VISN 8 serves a 1.5 million Veteran population and in 2016, the network treated nearly 583,000 patients. Dr. LaPuz’s previous VA experience includes serving as Chief of Staff at the Salisbury VAMC, in Salisbury, N.C from 2009 to 2011; in 2010, he also served there as the VAMC’s interim Director. From 2005 to 2009, he was the Chief of Staff at the Chalmers P. Wylie VA Ambulatory Care Center, Columbus, Ohio, and from 2000 to 2005, he served as Chief of Medicine Service at the Dayton VAMC in Dayton, Ohio. A native of the Philippines, Dr. LaPuz received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology (Pre-Med focus) in 1978 from the University of the Philippines, Quezon City, R.P., and his medical degree in 1982 from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in Manila. In 2000, he also earned a Masters of Business Administration from Wright State University in Dayton. Dr. LaPuz specializes in Nephrology (conditions of the kidney) and served his residency in Internal Medicine at The Brooklyn Hospital Center. He also completed a Fellowship in Nephrology at Long Island College Hospital and a Fellowship in Molecular Biology Research at the University of Kentucky. Named Teacher of the Year at Wright State University’s School of Medicine in 1998, Dr. LaPuz holds professional certifications by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Poonam Alaigh, M.D. Acting VA Under Secretary for Health

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The Office of the Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management would like to welcome Mr. Timothy W. Liezert, to the role of Acting Network Director, VISN 8, effective March 12, 2017. Timothy W. Liezert was appointed Director of the VA Medical Center in Orlando, Florida in 2006. The Orlando VA Medical Center (VAMC) serves more than 110,000 Veteran patients in Central and East Central Florida, and is one of seven medical centers under the VISN 8 Healthcare System. Prior to his appointment on Aug. 6, 2006, Mr. Liezert served as Acting Director and Associate Director at the VA Western New York Healthcare System. He served as Acting Director at the Lebanon, Pennsylvania, VA Medical Center prior to his positon in Western New York. His tenure also includes positions as Associate Director at the Lebanon VA Medical Center, and the Battle Creek, Michigan, VA Medical Center. Mr. Liezert began his VA career as an Engineering cooperative student at the Cleveland, Ohio, VA Medical Center, and worked in Engineering and Facilities Management positions at the Indianapolis, Indiana; Castle Point, New York; and Battle Creek, Michigan, VA Medical Centers. He received his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Akron, and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Western Michigan University. Mr. Liezert is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). Please join us in welcoming Mr. Liezert to our mission of serving Veterans in this important role.

VA fixes Veterans Crisis Line WASHINGTON — In response to the recently released VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) report that reviewed processes from June 6 through Dec. 15, 2016, of the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released the following statement: "The Department of Veterans Affairs is proud to announce that the challenges with the Veterans Crisis Line have been resolved. Prior to the opening of our new Atlanta call center, our call rollover rate often exceeded 30 percent. Our current call rollover rate is less than 1 percent, with over 99 percent of all calls being answered by the VCL."

“Suicide prevention is one of our highest priorities,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs David J. Shulkin. “Fixing the Veterans Crisis Line was a critical step in keeping our commitment to Veterans.”

To reach a VA professional, who is specially trained to attend to emotional crises for Veterans and service members:

• Dial the National Suicide Prevention Hotline number, 800-273-TALK (8255). Veterans should choose option 1 to reach a VCL responder;

• Text 838255 — A VCL responder will text back. • Chat online at https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

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Continued from page 3

Infrastructure improvements and consolidations McDonald had pushed for more money for new VA construction projects but also closing of some outdated or underused VA facilities. Shulkin is putting those ideas among his top priorities as well. “We’re going to be looking towards investments, but we’re also going to have to make some choices,” he said. “There are some parts of the country where facilities are sitting empty, and there is no sense in keeping them empty.” Both are potentially difficult proposals that will require help from Congress. Lawmakers are often loathe to close facilities in their own districts, and have been critical of the skyrocketing cost of recent new VA hospital constructions. Enhance foundational services in VA while Shulkin is open to shifting more routine medical care out of the VA system, he is pledging not to have that move pull away funds from department specialties like prosthetics work, post-traumatic stress disorder care and other veteran-related research. “There are certain services that VA does better than anybody,” he said. “I want to make sure that we continue to be on the cutting edge, and continue to invest in those.” VA/DOD federal coordination Like McDonald, Shulkin is promising better coordination of VA and Pentagon records systems, transition programs and a host of other services overlapping military service and veterans status. “The Department of Defense needs us, and we need the DoD,” he said. “We’re going to be working closely to make sure we maximize our ability to work together.” But seamless cooperation between the two bureaucracies has remained elusive in recent years, even with White House pressure for better coordination. And whether both departments can stay focused on joint collaborations may depend on other priorities and distractions in Trump’s military plans. Electronic medical record modernization Lawmakers have been frustrated in recent years with the slow pace of modernization efforts for veterans’ electronic medical records. Former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki pushed to move the department from mostly paper records to completely digital files, but Shulkin -- a former medical system director -- sees other areas for improvement. “These systems desperately need modernization,” he said. “We have to take those steps this year.” It’s unclear whether that effort will require new funding from Congress, or if existing information technology funds can cover those changes. Breakthrough in suicide prevention Shulkin called suicide prevention “our top clinical priority right now” and said he is hopeful for major improvements in treatment in coming years. Those advances have been disappointingly slow, even with extra funding and focus in recent years. Roughly 20 veterans a day nationwide take their own lives, according to estimates from VA researchers. The issue is part of a broader push to get more mental health research and experts into the Veterans Affairs system, something that Trump promised on the campaign trail. Appeals modernization McDonald had offered a comprehensive appeals modernization plan to lawmakers a year ago that he insisted would have cut benefits appeals wait times from years to months, but the legislation stalled. Shulkin is picking up that same initiative, calling it an urgent improvement which would save time and stress for thousands of veterans and their families. “We need to get that system fixed,” he said. “Veterans should not be waiting anywhere near the amount of time they are to get their appeals heard and decisions made. But until we get a legislative fix, we’re not going to see any progress made.”

Continued on page 10

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‘Miracles on a Mountainside’ Veterans to participate in annual rehabilitative and adaptive sports clinic

WHAT: The National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic is the world leader in promoting rehabilitation by instructing Veterans with disabilities in adaptive Alpine and Nordic skiing, and introducing them to a number of other adaptive physical activities and sports. The Winter Sports Clinic, known as Miracles on a Mountainside, is sponsored by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and DAV (Disabled American Veterans), with financial assistance from corporate sponsors and individual donors. The Grand Junction Veterans Healthcare System and VA’s Rocky Mountain Network host the event each year. The five-day clinic consists of downhill and cross-country ski lessons; a challenge race; adaptive sports workshops and educational classes; plus sponsored and self-directed alternate activities, such as scuba diving, sled hockey, a climbing wall and other activities.

WHEN and WHERE: Sunday, March 26 to Friday, March 31, 2017, in beautiful Snowmass Village, Colorado

WHO: Participation is open to U.S. military Veterans with qualifying disabilities, such as traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, orthopedic amputations, visual impairments, and certain neurological conditions and other disabilities. Veterans with an inpatient or outpatient status with the VA and active-duty military service members are also eligible. Nearly 350 Veterans participated at the event in 2016.

WHY: The Winter Sports Clinic gives Veterans with disabilities the opportunity and access to test their newfound abilities and develop new lifestyle skills. By participating in the clinic’s extreme outdoor adventures, Veterans will learn to overcome perceived limitations and experience life to the fullest. At the clinic, Veterans develop winter sports skills and take part in a variety of workshops and educational sessions that will positively impact their rehabilitative journey and readjustment in their communities.

MEDIA CONTACTS: RSVP Jill Atwood at VA by calling 801-330-1198 or emailing Jill.Atwood@va.gov. For Steven Wilson at DAV, call 859-240-1956, email swilson@dav.org

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Continued from page 9

Accelerating performance on benefits claims VA officials brought down the veterans benefits claims backlog by more than 500,000 cases in recent years, but a substantial number of filings still take more than four months to fully process. About 99,000 cases were still backlogged as of Feb. 25. “Although we have made tremendous progress, we still have more we can do to make faster decisions,” Shulkin said. The backlog numbers have seen an increase in recent months, raising questions of whether improvements made in the past were temporary fixes instead of systemic changes.

Trump meets with veteran leaders, promises VA reforms WASHINGTON — President Trump held his first face-to-face meeting with representatives from prominent veterans groups on Friday, a step that community advocates called a productive and critical step in advancing the White House’s promises to veterans. The hour-long meeting with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and senior White House staff covered issues including medical care access for veterans, accountability for VA employees, veterans caregiver programs and the president’s campaign pledges to make veterans services more efficient. It included top officials from 10 veterans groups and was billed as a listening session for the president, with no policy or legislative proposals presented to the community leaders. But individuals at the event said Trump was involved in the conversation throughout the meeting, questioning the groups on their priorities and ways the White House can help. “We’ve been asking for this meeting for a long time, and I think it was a great way to start a working relationship with this White House,” said Joe Chenelly, national executive director of AMVETS. “Both the president and vice president were very engaged on the issues and wanted to hear from us.” Since his election last fall and inauguration in January, Trump has held several meetings with health care officials to talk about ways to solve problems with VA health care offerings. Earlier this month, veterans groups were invited to talk to senior staff about their priorities, but Trump did not attend. That worried veterans advocates and Capitol Hill lawmakers, who warned that the White House needed to include the groups in any reform conversations. After Friday’s meeting, those concerns largely disappeared. “Coming out of the meeting, we believe that the president and his administration are committed to improving the VA system of care and expanding choices for veterans seeking healthcare outside of the VA system,” Sherman Gillums Jr., executive director of Paralyzed Veterans of America, said after the meeting. “What’s more, we are optimistic that with further collaboration between his administration and Secretary Shulkin, there is a new day dawning for the future of all healthcare for veterans that includes convenience, quality and adequate protections.” Trump spoke briefly to press at the start of the meeting, saying that “as commander in chief, I will not accept substandard service for our great veterans,” and repeating his assertion that veterans have been treated poorly by VA in recent years. “I outlined a detailed plan to reforming veterans’ care throughout the country, and we’re working to put that plan into effect,” he said. “And it’s moving, I think I can say, honestly, ahead of schedule.”

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VA’s modernization of the claims process continues Early this year, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) began extracting hundreds of thousands of inactive-claim records from regional offices east of the Mississippi for digital conversion. Inactive-claim records are claim files that have been settled and have remained inactive for a number of years. The initiative will help reduce processing time for thousands of new claims associated with inactive records.

In the past, VBA only digitized inactive-claim records when Veterans or their family members filed new disability or Dependency Indemnity Compensation claims. The business process added days to the claims’ adjudication process as files still needed to be boxed, shipped and digitized before review of the new claim could even begin.

“The initiative will essentially eliminate adjudication delays caused by shipping and digital conversion,” said Bradley Houston, director of the Office of Business Process Integration, which oversees the initiative. It will allow claims processors and accredited representatives, nationwide, the ability to instantly review millions of inactive-claim records like never before.

Thus far, VBA successfully extracted more than 310,000 inactive compensation, pension, notice of death, and vocational rehabilitation and employment files from the Philadelphia, Detroit, Indianapolis and Roanoke regional offices.

Though much progress has already been made into digitizing inactive-claim records, more work still needs to be done. VBA currently houses an estimated 2 million claims-related documents in 34 locations across the country and is currently extracting over 170,000 claim records for digital conversion from the St. Petersburg regional office.

“The agency plans to extract the remaining claim records from regional offices across the country by the end of 2017,” Houston said. Once the records have been digitized, VBA will archive and store them for safe keeping.

Over the past five years, VBA has made concerted efforts into modernizing the way it processes compensation and pension claims. Since 2012, 387 million documents (consisting of 2.5 billion images) have been scanned, indexed and uploaded into Veterans Benefits Management System – the agency’s electronic claims processing system. Gone are the images of VA cubicles stacked with paper claims, infamously shared by the press and late-night talk show hosts back in 2013.

Digital conversion of inactive records is just one of the many ways VA is striving to put the needs, expectations and interests of Veterans and their families first.

VA and GAO Agree: Appeals Reform Needed WASHINGTON — In response to a report released by the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO), “VA Disability Benefits: Additional Planning Would Enhance Efforts to Improve the Timeliness of Appeals Decisions,” the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released the following statement.The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) appreciates the work of the Government Accountability Office (GAO). This report confirms that the current law and process for adjudicating appeals is not consistent with the commitment we have made to our nation’s Veterans. “Veterans are waiting far too long for decisions in our current appeals process,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. David J. Shulkin. “We have made bold changes to remove the bureaucratic red tape that has caused Veterans to wait an average of three years before they get a decision.”VA has developed sound and aggressive plans regarding hiring, training and mitigation strategies that are already being aggressively implemented. In addition, VA recognizes the importance of effective management practices for the development of information systems to help integrate and streamline the appeals process. Our new Caseflow system will help us anticipate new information requirements, allowing us to quickly address challenges and provide our employees the support they need.There is broad consensus that the current VA appeals system is broken and in urgent need of reform. Our proposal for a new appeals process was designed in conjunction with Veterans Service Organizations and other key stakeholders. VA strongly disagrees with GAO about the need for any type of piloting, which would only unnecessarily delay the

implementation of the bold changes Veterans expect us to make. “We have a number of reports and studies,

including this one from GAO, which have helped us clearly identify the problems in the current system,” said Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Tom Murphy.

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Bills to Increase Payment for Adult Day Health Care in State Homes

Senator Orrin Hatch (UT) and Representative Lee Zeldin [NY-1] introduced legislation (S. 324 and H.R.

1005) designed to increase the availability of adult day health care services for severely disabled

veterans. If enacted, the legislation would increase the current reimbursement to state veterans

homes for the provision of adult day health care services to severely disabled veterans who are eligible

for, but do not receive, full-time skilled nursing home care paid for by the Department of Veterans

Affairs (VA), with no cost to the veteran.

Under current law, veterans who require nursing home care due to a service-connected disability or

who have a VA disability rating of 70% or more can receive full-time nursing home care inside a state

veterans home at no cost; however, the law does not allow those same severely disabled veterans to

benefit from adult day health care, which is a less costly non-institutional alternative many prefer. S.

324 and H.R. 1005 would amend existing law to authorize VA to pay state veterans homes a per diem

rate that is 65% of the per diem otherwise payable for full-time skilled nursing home care for these

same severely disabled veterans.

Adult day health care, which is currently offered by only three state homes, provides comprehensive

medical, nursing and personal care services combined with social activities for physically or cognitively

impaired adults. Under this program, veterans are brought to the state home for 6-8 hours where they

can receive any necessary medical care -- including physical, occupational or speech therapy -- as well

as nutritional and social services. Adult day health care allows severely disabled veterans who might

otherwise need skilled nursing services to receive these services several times a week while continuing

to live at home.

If enacted, these bills would enable more state veterans homes across the country to offer adult day

health care programs for these deserving veterans. The legislation would also provide important relief

and support for their family caregivers. DAV Resolution 127 calls for legislation to provide state

homes with greater flexibility in providing eligible veterans medically necessary long-term supports

and services.

Please contact your elected officials and urge them to support passage of the State Veterans Home

Adult Day Health Care Improvement Act of 2017 (S. 324 and H.R. 1005) during the 115th Congress.

Click the link below to log in and send your message:

https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/Wc56PN5cccEcnsYMXYu11Q

COLA Bill HR 1329 Introduced On March 2, 2017, the Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Disability and Memorial Affairs

Subcommittee, Congressman Mike Bost (IL) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Esty (CT) introduced H.R.

1329, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2017.

This bill, if enacted, would provide an increase, effective December 1, 2017, in the rates of

compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and

indemnity compensation (DIC) for the survivors of certain disabled veterans.

Disabled veterans' disability compensation has not kept pace with the rest of the economy; even in

years when there were COLA payments, disability benefits lagged. Many disabled veterans and their

survivors are on fixed incomes and rely on COLAs to keep pace with their current living expenses. In

accordance with DAV Resolution No. 013, DAV strongly supports H.R. 1329.

Please use the prepared electronic letter or draft your own to urge your member in the House to

cosponsor H.R. 1329.

Thank you for all you do for America's veterans and their families.