Blinded Veterans Association
Chartered by the United States Congress
Florida Regional Group
3801 Coco Grove Avenue
Miami, Florida 33133
Newsletter - July 2009
Many
Blinded Veterans (BV's), whether their blindness is service connected or non-service
connected are unaware of the history behind most of the services and benefits they receive
from the VA. In this Newsletter we will try to give you a historical perspective as to how
these benefits and services were obtained. Over
the years, most of the benefits and services available to veterans in general were
obtained through the cooperative effort of many organizations and individuals. However, in almost all cases, the benefits and
services specifically for Blinded Veterans resulted directly through the efforts of the
Blinded Veterans Association (BVA). In 1945,
when a small group of idealistic Blinded Veterans founded the BVA, there were few, if any,
benefits and services available specifically for Blinded Veterans. They accepted the responsibility of being the
advocate for Blinded Veterans with the Executive and Legislative Branches of the
government. As a result, the BVA was
Chartered by the United States Congress as the sole organization to specifically represent
Blinded Veterans before all branches of the United States Government. Initially, the BVA established 3 major
goals. 1. Blinded Veterans helping Blinded
Veterans The BVA established an office in
Washington, D.C. to coordinate the dissemination of information to Blinded Veterans. It promoted the establishment of Regional Groups
to expand the contacts with all Blinded Veterans in their home areas. Although the BVA had a small staff who did an
excellent job in coordinating these
activities, much of the work was done by volunteer Blinded Veterans helping one another. 2. To
get the VA to accept its responsibilities to Blinded Veterans the BVA contacted the
Executive and Legislative branches of government. Members
of the Veterans Affairs Committees in the Senate and House of Representatives were urged
to pressure the VA to establish appropriate services for Blinded Veterans. Finally, the BVA got President Truman to sign an
Executive Order requiring the VA to establish a Blind Rehabilitation Center (BRC). This resulted in the VA opening the first BRC at
Hines in July 1948. 3. To obtain appropriate compensation for seriously
disabled veterans, the BVA primarily with the cooperation of the Paralyzed Veterans of
America (PVA) worked with Congress to establish Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) for
veterans with very severe disabilities. The
100% rate was not sufficient to adequately compensate these severely disabled veterans. As a result, Congress passed statutory awards, SMC
above the 100% rate. For example: at present,
100% provides $2673 monthly to a single veteran. BV's
with vision of 5/200 or a 5 degree field are rated at paragraph L - $3327 monthly, a BV's
with light perception only receives paragraph M - $3671 monthly and a totally blind BV
receives paragraph N - $4176. Over the years,
the BVA has worked with Congress to improve the SMC with mid level ratings and combination
rating; for example, a Blinded Veteran with deafness or the loss of an extremity may
receive the maximum compensation paragraph O - $4664 monthly. Some veterans rated at paragraph O, who are in
need of consistent aid and attendance, may receive paragraph AR-1 $6669 monthly. In addition, dependent allowances may be added to
the amounts listed above for a spouse and dependent children. Other Benefits: In addition to improvements in compensation, the
BVA has secured other benefits for Blinded Veterans.
There are two Adaptive Housing Grants which were increased in late 2008, Section
2101 a, $60,000 is primarily for wheelchair bound veterans.
However, the large grant is also available to BV's with service connected blindness
and the loss of a leg. The smaller Grant,
Section 2101 B, $12,000 is available to service connected BV's. Initially, the Adaptive Housing grants were one
time grants. In 2006, the 109 Congress passed
legislation permitting eligible veterans who had not used all of their Section 2101 A or B
grant to use the remainder again, up to 3 times. A
BV who used the 2101 B grant but less than the present $12,000 may be eligible to use the
difference. For information call Dennis
Thompson at the VARO Adaptive Housing Unit at(727) 319-7602 for information. Compensation and the above mentioned grants are
available through the VA Regional Office in St. Petersburg.
The Home Improvement and Structural Alteration (HISA) Grant is available through
your local VAMC. The HISA Grant provides
$4100 to sc BV's and $1200 to NSC BV's. This
grant may be used for minor alterations to your home in relation to your disability. Your VIST coordinator can help you with HISA.
Dependency
and Indemnity Compensation (DIC): In 1959,
Congress passed legislation establishing the DIC Program.
Initially DIC was paid to the survivors of military personnel killed on active duty
or who died as a direct result of a SC disability. During
the next 19 years, the BVA worked with Congress to expand DIC eligibility. In 1978, Congress did amend the DIC Program. The survivors of 100% sc veterans became eligible
if the veteran had been rated at 100% for ten years, five years if continuously since
discharge. Initially, DIC was paid according
to the rank the veteran held on active duty. The BVA and PVA felt that rank was no longer
reflective of the veterans income ten or more years after discharge. In 1991, the DIC Reform Act was passed by
Congress. Now there are two DIC rates. The basic rate for the spouse is $1154 monthly. The spouse who was married to a 100% SC veteran
for 8 years or more prior to the veterans death would receive DIC of $1400 monthly. Each minor child would receive $284 monthly in
DIC.
Initially,
the BVA's primary emphasis was to secure services and benefits for sc veterans.
However, within a short time, it accepted the responsibility to represent all BV's. For example, when Hines Blind Center was open its
training was restricted to SC BV's. The BVA
felt that the training should be available to all BV's.
The BVA worked with the VA and since the early 1950's, all BV's have been able to
receive training at the VA Blind Centers. Over
the years, the BVA has obtained most of the benefits for SC BV's which were sought. For many years, the BVA has attempted to insure
that all BV's received the services they needed.
NSC
Pension: World War I veterans pressured
Congress to establish a Pension for all WW I veterans.
Congress never provided a general Pension. However,
in later years, it established the NSC Pension for totally disabled veterans in financial
need. Initially this was a small monthly
amount with severe income limitations. After
WW II, the BVA, with the cooperation of the PVA, and DAV, worked with Congress to provide
an improved NSC Pension Program. Again the
BVA worked to provide an increase in NSC Pension for the more severely disabled veterans.
As a result, 3 NSC Pension levels were established:
Basic Pension, House Bound Benefits, and Aid and Attendance Allowance. Presently, the Basic Pension provides $985 monthly
to a single veteran, House Bound - $1207 monthly, and Aid and Attendance Allowance - $1644
monthly. These amounts may be increased for
each dependent. There is still a significant
income limitation. The above listed amounts
are reduced dollar for dollar by any incomes, what-so-ever, the veteran or his/her
household receives. However, there is an annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). BV's earnings can be reduced by the amount of
medical expenses which the BV pays.
As
indicated earlier, the BVA got the VA to open the first BRC at Hines in 1948. Since then, the BVA has continued to work with the
VA and Congress to fund the opening of nine more BRC's around the US. As the age of the veteran population has
increased, the incidence of blindness in that population has significantly increased. The BVA has worked with the VA Blind Rehab Service
(BRS) to alter the training at the BRC's to meet this challenge. In the early days, the BRC training lasted about
16 weeks and was geared primarily to the totally Blinded Veteran. Now, about 85% of the BV's attending a BRC have
some limited residual vision. The BVA has
worked with the BRS to update the training to meet the needs of this population. Now, the training is designed to maximize the BV's
remaining vision and to provide the skills to help the BV remain independent.
Most
BV's in Florida have had some contact with a Visual Impairment Service Team (VIST)
Coordinator. This was not always the case. In the early 1960's, the BVA became concerned that
due to the isolating effects of blindness, many BV's were not getting the services and
benefits they needed and deserved. In 1963,
the BVA entered into a research project with
the VA, to evaluate that situation. The
project, conducted at 10 VA stations, an completed an evaluation, similar to what is now
the Annual VIST Review. The BVA took the
results of that project to the VA Central Office. In
1967, the VIST Program was started at 60 VA stations (2 in Florida - Bay Pines and Miami). Initially the VIST Coordinator was a part time
Social Worker. It quickly became apparent to
the BVA, that in most cases, the VIST Coordinator needed to be full time and there needed
to be VIST Programs at more than 60 VA stations. The
BVA went to the VA and, in 1978, six full time VA Central Office funded VIST Coordinator
positions were established, one in Florida. The
BVA has continued to work to expand the VIST Program.
Now, there are VIST Programs at 158 VA stations.
Including the 11 added this year, there are now 105 full time VIST Coordinators and
53 part time VIST Coordinators in the US. the
BVA has obtained 57 through the VA Central Office, 45 directly funded by Congress, and 3
(West Palm Beach, Lake City, and Augusta, GA) were obtained through the local VAMC. Florida has 12 full time VIST Coordinators and one
part time VIST. This is more than any other
state.
Many years ago, the BVA requested that the VA provide outpatient blind rehab
training in the local community. This request
went unanswered until 1995. At that time, the
BVA obtained $5 million from Congress to establish a 15 bed BRC at Augusta, GA, to add 22
VIST positions, and to establish 16 Blind Rehabilitation Outpatient Specialist (BROS)
positions. Two of those 16 BROS were
allocated to Florida - Gainesville and Bay Pines. When
the BRC was opened in West Palm Beach in 2000, 2 BROS positions were included in the
staffing. Later, two additional BROS
positions were added in Orlando and Tampa. In 2007, the BVA secured funding for 35 more
BROS positions. In 2008, Ft. Myers added a
BROS and recently the Broward Outpatient
Clinic and Miami VAMC have added BROS positions. Jacksonville
VAOPC is recruiting for a BROS. This will
bring to 10 the number of BROS providing service to Florida Blinded Veterans. No other state has that many BROS.
Since
its inception, the BVA has promoted residential training at the VA Blind Rehab Centers
(BRC). It is the best training of its nature,
any place in the world. Consequently, when
possible, the BVA urges all BV's to attend a BRC, at least once in his or her life. Initially, many prosthetics and sensory aids were
not available to NSC BV's. The BVA worked
with Congress and made it possible for NSC BV's to get some prosthetic and sensory aids
through a BRC. Due to the long waiting list
at the BRC's and since some BV's cannot go to a BRC, the BVA went to Congress to permit
mechanical and electronic equipment to be provided on an outpatient basis. The law has been amended and this is now possible. The BVA is working with the Blind Rehab Service to
identify local facilities that can provide quality training on certain complex devices
(computers, etc.).
Florida
Homestead Tax Exemption Two Florida
Statutes provide total Homestead Tax Exemption to Florida BV's. FS 196.081 provides Total Homestead Tax Exemption
to 100% SC veterans without income restriction. FS
196.101 provides Total Homestead Tax Exemption to individuals restricted to a wheelchair
or who are legally blind. For 2009, FS
196.101 has a total household income limitation of $25,221 annually. For information contact your County Tax Appraiser
and cite the indicated statutes.
Why
Join the BVA? The information above includes only a small part of the benefits and
services obtained by a small group of dedicated BVA staff and a large number of volunteer
BV's dedicated to helping all Blinded Veterans The
BVA was formed 64 years ago by BV's who
realized that by joining together they had strength in numbers. The problems of the visually disabled veteran is
unique and requires individual attention to solve. In
1945 when those original BV'S joined together, the political climate was very different
from the present. A grateful country was
anxious to provide any assistance to individuals who had made such great sacrifices in
service to their country. Today, the Blinded
Veteran is older and our needs have changed. Congress
has a majority of members who have never served in the military. A grateful country is no longer aware of the
sacrifices and problems faced by an aging population.
It is only by joining together that we can make our voices heard by the Nation and
Congress. The strength of your voice is
needed by The BVA to make Congress and VA listen to the special needs of Blinded Veterans. We need your membership to stay strong. By joining your voice with the BVA, you increase
your chance of being heard on the national, state, and local levels of government. The BVA is for any veteran who has a serious
visual impairment brought on by aging, illness, or military service. You become a part of a very special brotherhood to
support you in your time of need with advice, encouragement, and information. Together we can make a grateful country listen. Use the application enclosed in the print copy of
this Newsletter and JOIN THE BVA TODAY.
Annual dues are only $8. Better yet,
consider becoming a Life or Associate Life Member, then, you won't have to pay dues ever
again. Your life dues go into the Life
Membership Fund, the principal of which is never touched.
The dividends and interest from that fund are apportioned to the Regional Groups
according to the number of Life Members (LM) and Associate Life members (ALM) in the
Group. LM and ALM dues run from $40 to $80
depending on your age. You may start a LM or
ALM with a down payment of $10 with the balance payable over the next 2 years. The enclosed application form indicates that Life and Associate Life
Memberships run from $80 for BV's age 44 and under, $70 for BV's 45 to 54, $60 - 55 to 60,
$50 - 61-65, and $40 age 66 and over. PLEASE
USE THE APPLICATION AND JOIN THE BVA TODAY!