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VA Mid-Atlantic Chapter News and
Information
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Medical Alert
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Catastrophic
Disabilities About Copay Exemption Under New Law
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New Consumer Guide to Equip People
with Spinal Cord Injury
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Catastrophically
Disabled Fact Sheet |
McGuire VA Medical Center:
Quiet Healing |
PVA Education Foundation Funds Smoking Awareness Video |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2010
CONTACT
Lani Poblete at (202) 416-7667
Paralyzed
Veterans of America Reminds Veterans with Catastrophic
Disabilities About Copay Exemption Under New Law
Washington, DC—Thanks to a new law passed in May,
the Caregiver and Veterans
Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010,
veterans who are determined by the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to be
“catastrophically disabled” qualify for an exemption
from inpatient, outpatient and prescription copays.
However, they may still be subject to copayments for
extended care (long-term care) services.
“Paralyzed Veterans of America applauds this new law
that exempts our veterans with severe disabilities from
copays for doctor visits and prescription medications.
These folks have already paid through their service,”
said Gene A. Crayton, national president of Paralyzed
Veterans of America. “Many veterans who suffer from
catastrophically disabling injuries are already
struggling to carry out the activities of daily living,
so anything that can be done to help make their lives,
and their caregivers’ lives, more manageable should be
done.”
A catastrophically disabled determination may be
authorized when a VA clinician determines that there is
sufficient medical documentation without the need for
further evaluation. Veterans may also request a
catastrophically disabled evaluation by contacting the
enrollment coordinator at their local VA health-care
facility. It is VA policy to provide veterans with
catastrophic disabilities an evaluation within 30 days
of the request. There is no charge for this examination.
Veterans who believe they may qualify for catastrophic
disability status are encouraged to apply for enrollment
or, if already enrolled, to request an evaluation
through their primary care team or their local
enrollment coordinator.
VA is also currently reviewing copayments made by
veterans with catastrophic disabilities for inpatient
care, outpatient care, and prescriptions received on or
after May 5, 2010, when the law was signed into effect.
VA has indicated that copayment charges will be
cancelled, or if veterans have previously paid, refunds
will be issued. For more information, veterans should
contact the enrollment coordinator at their VA Medical
Center: call 1-877-222-VETS (8387); or visit
www.va.gov/healtheligibility.
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PUBLISH
July 20, 2010
CONTACT
Lani Poblete at (202) 416-7667
New Consumer
Guide to Equip People with Spinal Cord Injury and their
Caregivers with Vital Information on Bladder Management
Washington, DC—People with a spinal cord injury and
their caregivers have a new resource to help cope with
improving the quality of their lives, Bladder Management
Following Spinal Cord Injury: What You Should Know, new
from the Consortium of Spinal Cord Medicine.
“This new consumer guide is designed as an essential
tool to help empower people with spinal cord injury, and
their caregivers, to better manage the activities
related to bladder management,” said Fred Cowell, acting
director of Research and Education for Paralyzed
Veterans of America, the organization that administers
and provides financial support for the Consortium.
The new publication contains state-of-the-art guidance
directed by the protocols developed by the Consortium of
Spinal Cord Medicine. The Consortium is anchored by 22
professional organizations. Both the consumer guide and
its companion evidence-based clinical practice guideline
—
Bladder Management for Adults
with Spinal Cord Injury: A Clinical Practice Guideline
for Health-Care Professionals — can be
downloaded free of charge at
www.pva.org/publications.
Over the past 15 years, the Consortium and Paralyzed
Veterans have produced clinical practice guidelines and
companion consumer guides on the many health care issues
common to individuals with spinal cord injury, such as
upper limb preservation and treatment of pressure
ulcers. The publications are independently reviewed,
science-based compendia of the latest and best knowledge
from which to draw and apply in the care of people with
spinal cord injury/dysfunction. Consumer guides are
written in an accessible style with limited technical
and medical language.
-ENDS-
Notes to editor:
Sixty-four years ago, Paralyzed Veterans of America was
founded by a band of
spinal cord injured
service members who returned home from World War II to a
grateful nation, but also to a world with few solutions
to the challenges they faced. These veterans from the
“Greatest Generation” made a decision not just to live,
but to live with dignity as contributors to society.
They created an organization dedicated to veterans
service, medical research and civil rights for people
with disabilities. And for more than six decades,
Paralyzed Veterans of America and its
34 chapters have
been working to create an America where all veterans,
and people with disabilities, and their families, have
everything they need to thrive. (www.pva.org)
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Catastrophically
Disabled Fact Sheet on July 22, 2010
Attached is VA Fact Sheet 16-15 (July 2010) regarding
Public Law 111-163, the Caregiver and Veterans Omnibus
Health Services Act of 2011, signed into law on May 5,
2010.
The law provides Veterans determined by VA to be
Catastrophically Disabled an exemption from inpatient,
outpatient and prescription co-pays. However, these
Veterans may still be subject to co-payments for
extended care (long-term care) services.
Please use the information in this Fact Sheet, which now
addresses the exemption for prescription co-payments and
pending refunds, for advising your clients on the recent
legislative change and its affect on their benefits.
Read the Facts
Thank you...
Jeffrey A. Dolezal
Associate Executive Director
Veterans Benefits Department
Paralyzed Veterans of America
801 18th St., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 416-7721
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McGuire VA Medical Center:
Quiet Healing on July 4, 2010
By Bob Rayner | TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST
Published: July 04, 2010
Richmond, Va. -- If you're a veteran, it's the place
where everyone seems to know your name -- doctors,
nurses, administrators. And that's no small
accomplishment, considering that on many days up to
5,000 people pass through the doors.
The Hunter Holmes McGuire Veteran Af fairs Medical
Center has a long name -- and a long history of service
in Richmond. Built as an Army hospital in 1943 on what
had been a horse farm, today the VA medical center
offers an astonishing array of cures, therapies, and
care to men and women who have served their country in
America's armed forces.
"They served us, now we serve them," said Darlene
Edwards, the medical center's public affairs officer.
Veterans come from around the country to Richmond's VA
hospital, which is a national leader in areas such as
cardiac surgery -- including heart transplants -- and
spinal cord injury services and research. It operates
one of the four polytrauma rehabilitation centers in the
VA system, helping wounded warriors recover and return
to the world. While VA medical centers focus on serving
those who have left the military, McGuire's polytrauma
unit is so advanced that active-duty military patients
-- including some who were wounded in Iraq or
Afghanistan -- are frequently sent there.
"On any given day, we might have 25 active-duty
inpatients," said Chuck Sepich, director of the McGuire
medical center. "They're here because of our expertise
in rehabilitation and brain injuries."
In addition to the acute care hospital and
state-of-the-art rehabilitation centers, McGuire also
offers dental care, a pharmacy, outpatient medical
services, substance abuse programs. There's a community
living center (in the old days that was called a skilled
nursing home), which is constantly being renovated and
improved, as well as a sophisticated palliative care
unit for those nearing the end of life or coping with
high levels of pain or discomfort.
The Richmond VA's main service area is home to more than
200,000 veterans from 52 cities and counties covering
22,515 square miles of central and southern Virginia and
parts of northern North Carolina. McGuire oversees
outpatient clinics in Charlottesville and Fredericksburg
and will soon open a third in Emporia.
. . .
The current medical center -- a giant, sprawling complex
on 120 acres in South Richmond -- was built in 1983.
Though they show their age in a few spots, the buildings
present a bright, clean, bustling atmosphere for the
thousands of veterans who depend on the center for both
complicated medical services and basic health care
needs.
Valet parking is available for some patients who might
have trouble navigating what seems like endless acres of
parking lots. Visitors enter through a busy lobby and
wander into a sun-drenched mall that includes a café and
a Starbucks -- of course -- and a retail market that
could give Target a run for its money.
The store, which sells everything from candy bars to
clothing to shampoo, offers convenient shopping for
patients and their families. But like so much of the
hospital, it also plays a subtle therapeutic role.
Patients recovering from brain trauma, Edwards notes,
can use the retail market as a place to practice simple
skills such as counting change and making purchasing
decisions.
While the medical center has played an important role in
Central Virginia since World War II, its impact isn't
always recognized in the wider community. Its location
in a fading part of South Richmond may explain, at least
in part, McGuire's relatively low profile. But this
underappreciated local gem might also suffer from an
unusual degree of institutional modesty. In an age of
hype, the Richmond VA hospital spends its energy and
resources helping veterans, leaving the self-promotion
to others.
The McGuire medical center has an enor mous -- if quiet
-- influence on this region. In addition to the health
care services it provides and the dollars it injects
into the local economy -- McGuire employs about 2,440
people -- it plays an important role in Central
Virginia's medical community. Its heart surgeons, for
instance, tend to practice at the VA hospital and at VCU.
McGuire provides spots every year for about 150
residents from VCU, making it an invaluable asset in
educating physicians in the Richmond area.
"We have a strong affiliation with VCU," Sepich said.
Of course, there are quite a few folks who need no
lessons about the importance of the VA hospital in
Richmond. It, after all, gave them their lives back.
. . .
Gundars Katlaps is a tall, lean heart surgeon,
soft-spoken and supremely self-assured. He's the chief
of cardiothoracic surgery at the VA hospital -- he
practices at VCU, too -- and he's a very popular doctor
when he wanders into a small room of men wearing
hospital gowns and odd little electronic controllers
attached to their waists.
One man isn't wearing the controller, but does have a
mask over his face, to protect against infection. That's
because Katlaps gave him a new heart a few weeks before,
eliminating the need for the little waist-bound
controller, which had been connected to a surprisingly
simple-looking piece of equipment in the man's chest
called a left ventricular assist device -- an LVAD in
the vernacular of these guys, all veterans of both the
U.S. military and lifesaving cardiac surgery.
The LVAD is attached to failing hearts -- and brings
them back to life. Katlaps describes it as "a pump that
helps the function of the left ventricle of the heart."
It has become a common procedure at McGuire, with a high
success rate, and one that usually brings sharp and
almost immediate improvements in the patient's quality
of life.
In most cases, the LVAD is implanted as a bridge to an
eventual heart transplant. "We don't use this procedure
unless the patient is dying," Katlaps said.
Richmond boasts the only VA hospital in the country that
performs heart transplants inside its walls, although
several others have transplant programs in conjunction
with nearby hospitals.
McGuire has performed 18 heart transplants in the past
four years, with a 93 percent one-year survival rate,
Katlaps said. "We get patients from everywhere:
Michigan, Florida, Texas, the Virgin Islands, Puerto
Rico."
. . .
Ramon Stanley, the man with the mask and the new heart,
lives in western Maryland and is an Army vet. He recalls
his condition before he was treated: "I could barely
walk around the block."
He had an LVAD in his chest for 16 months before his
heart transplant on May 4. Now he's planning to take his
wife on a Caribbean cruise in October. "It's a blessing,
this place."
Paul Stebbins, a Navy vet from Pennsylvania, received a
heart transplant on May 26. But his life turned around
in March last year, when an LVAD was implanted. "Before,
I had to stop eight times climbing the 13 steps at home.
Afterward, I built a fish pond, I was riding
motorcycles."
Wayne Singletary, an Army vet who volunteers at the VA
hospital in Boston, his hometown, and Stan Arnold, a
31-year-old from Florida who served in the Air Force,
have both had LVAD surgery. They're living at home now
and come to Richmond for periodic checkups.
"This is my home away from home. This is my family,"
Singletary says, nodding toward the surgeon and Lisa
Martin, the nurse coordinator for cardiothoracic
surgery. "It's amazing what they do here. Before the
LVAD, I was swollen as big as the Michelin Man. I wasn't
on my last leg, I was on my last toe."
Now he's speeding past his daughters in 16-mile bike
races back in New England.
Arnold was unconscious when he was medevaced from
Florida. He received an LVAD in August 2009. "Back in
Florida, in the grocery stores now I'm walking almost as
fast as the retirees," he says, grinning. He doesn't
mind the medical devices that have powered his
improvement. "Compared to being bed-ridden, you get used
to a few wires."
Katlaps seems almost embarrassed by the rave reviews.
"This is not a setup," he says.
It's obvious that the testimonials are heartfelt,
delivered by men whose hearts not long ago were certain
to fail them.
The hospital keeps careful tabs on its LVAD patients,
whose lives depend on the device.
"There's a lot of education before they leave," says
Martin, the nurse coordinator. "We stay in close contact
with their home VA hospitals and with their primary care
physicians. Several of our patients are thousands of
miles away."
"She's always there for us," Stanley says.
"Do you ever go on vacation?" Singletary asks his nurse,
breaking into a wide, healthy smile.
. . .
Heart surgery brings people back to life. Not all of the
medical center's services are so dramatic -- but the
wide range of specialties ensures that virtually all of
a veteran's health care needs can be met at McGuire.
The community living center, for example, is clean,
quiet, comfortable. The physician who runs it, Dr. Julie
Beales, seems to know all the residents by name -- and
they seem glad to see her.
"This is what was formerly known as a nursing home," she
says as she walks the halls, pointing out improvements,
new designs, and public rooms where the residents had
most of the say in decorating decisions. One room
features a large mural of a hunting scene painted on a
wall, a theme chosen by the people who live here.
"We want this to be a place that is people's home,"
Beales says. "The whole goal is to make it a community."
In another part of the building, Dr. David Gater Jr.
oversees the spinal cord injury and disorders service.
The unit offers inpatient treatment for spinal cord
injury patients as well as extensive rehabilitation
services. Its 80 acute-care beds and 20 lodger beds make
it the largest spinal cord injury program in the VA
health system.
In one room, a woman who has lost the use of her legs
pedals a stationary bicycle -- her legs powered by
electrodes attached to her muscles. The exercise helps
improve muscle tone and the patient's overall fitness.
Paralysis, quite obviously, presents challenges for
people who want to stay fit.
McGuire's spinal cord injury unit is conducting
cutting-edge research into methods to improve the
overall health of patients by, for instance, assessing
body fat levels and testing exercise routines to reduce
obesity.
"We are one of the leaders in the nation," Gater says.
The doctor, like a surprising number of his colleagues,
is openly emotional about his work and his patients.
"I am so blessed because of the people we get to work
with, particularly the veterans."
. . .
The medical center continues to reach quietly beyond its
campus.
On June 21, McGuire learned that Richmond will be the
site of the 2012 National Veterans Wheelchair Games,
which will bring more than 500 athletes to town for
what's billed as the largest annual wheelchair sports
competition in the world.
The Richmond VA hospital worked hard to help bring the
games to its hometown. It's just another chance for the
medical center to contribute to the community.
Sepich, McGuire's director, believes the medical
center's greatest strength comes from the military
legacy that touches almost every aspect of its
operations.
"There's a camaraderie, with the foundation being the
military," he said. "And we have special people working
here. They're committed to helping people."
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Contact Bob Rayner at (804) 649-6073 or brayner@timesdispatch.com.
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PVA Education Foundation Funds Smoking Awareness Video
Hello All:
The PVA Education Foundation recently funded “Smoker’s Effects on
Secondary Complications of SCI”, a unique video lead by Phil Klebine, MA
with the UAB Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation that
discusses the added risk factors that smoking and “secondhand” smoke has
on many of the secondary medical complications associated with spinal
cord injury or disease (SCI/D). Individuals with SCI/D are often
susceptible to many secondary medical complications; as adverse health
consequences commonly are associated with smoking and “secondhand”
smoke. However, the relationship between tobacco use and secondary
complications is not widely known.
As a part of this campaign, each PVA Chapter will be receiving a copy of
the video along with additional fliers (copy attached) for future
dissemination. Please pass these fliers along to our members that could
benefit from this video.
With the educational video, members can:
* Learn how smokers with SCI/D increase their risk for secondary medical
complications when compared to non-smokers with SCI/D
* Find links to educational information and research abstracts related
to smoking and SCI/D
* Learn whether or not you are ready to quit smoking, the benefits of
quitting and how to quit
The video is also available to watch online free of charge at
www.spinalcord.uab.edu/smoking. The
website contains relevant links to resources for people with SCI seeking
additional information concerning the health consequences of tobacco
use, benefits of quitting and steps to successfully quit. Copies of the
video are available for a purchase of $5.00.
The hope of this video is to offer an educational tool to ultimately
motivate smokers to quit smoking, so please pass the word along.
Quitting is possible! The health benefits of quitting start almost
immediately.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.
Smoking Flyer
click here
Thanks!
Rachel
Rachel Hoeft
Associate Director, Education
Paralyzed Veterans of America
801 Eighteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
(p) 202-416-7651
(f) 202-416-7641
rachelh@pva.org
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