| Compton: VA raises income limits for benefits By George Compton Q. Earlier this year I applied for medical benefits and was denied based on income. In a recent column you said the income limits had been raised. Do you recommend I reapply now? A. The income limit did rise by 10 percent. Any veteran who applied since the beginning of the year and was denied does not have to reapply. The VA is reviewing those applications, and if you are within the limit you will be notified. Q. My father has been receiving a pension from the VA and he is now going into long-term care with Medi-Cal. Should I notify the VA of his change in status? A. We need to change his pension status with the VA. The VA will not continue to provide his current pension to Medi-Cal, but there is another pension that will provide him $90 per month that is exempt from share-of-cost under Medi-Cal. Your Medi-Cal intake worker will provide this office with a form (CW-5) to get the process started. Also, advise him to use the money each month or he will have it counted as assets. Q. How can I find out about the National Cemetery in Oklahoma? A. There are two National Cemeteries in Oklahoma. There is one at Fort Gibson (near Tulsa), and one at Fort Sill (near Oklahoma City). To find out more about those locations go to http://www.va.gov. Using the menu tab on the left side, go to Benefits. From the Benefits menu, select Burial Benefits. On that page you will find a list of cemeteries. All National Cemeteries are listed. You can also go directly to the listing at http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/listcem. Q. With the Montgomery GI Education Bill, service members had to pay into the program. Is that the same with the Post 9/11 Bill? A. There are no enrollment fees for benefits under the Post 9/11 Bill. — George Compton, a retired Army colonel, is the veterans service officer for the county Human Services Agency. Send questions to Veterans Service Office, 1701 Pacific Ave., Suite 110, Oxnard, CA 93033, phone 385-6366, fax 385-6371, or e-mail george.compton@ventura.org. —— MilitaryConnection.com is a portal of all things military. We have thousands of pages and hundreds of databases of valuable information and resources. There is something for everyone. All of this is provided free to users. Additionally, we feature all types of Columns like this one to keep you informed. We will post your press releases, special events, newsletters, professional conferences and seminars, reunions, job fairs, and videos to help organizations get out the word. One of the areas of our focus is connecting candidates from the military community with outstanding government and civilian employers. We are well aware that candidates from the military community across the board have a work ethic second to none. They make highly valued employees. MilitaryConnection.com has a multitude of employment resources including a Directory of over 30,000 employers, Job Tips, Columns, our Job Board, Virtual Job Fair and much more. We understand the importance of education. Please check out our new Scholarship Directory featuring thousands of scholarships. When the next tour is back home, it’s on MilitaryConnection.com. |