FW: VFW Action Corps Weekly, August 15, 2014

Thank You

Robert Serge

VVA 17 Member

Blog Master

To all my fellow veterans friends and family my we all remember 

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Subject: VFW Action Corps Weekly, August 15, 2014
To: rserge1@outlook.com
From: tmorris@vfw.org
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 14:05:18 -0400

August 15, 2014 In This Issue: 1. VA to Hold Town Hall Meetings Nationwide 2. VA Expands Primary Care Access 3. Speak Up for Veterans While Congress on Recess 1. VA to Hold Town Hall Meetings Nationwide: New Secretary of Veterans Affairs Bob McDonald has directed all VA health care facilities and regional offices to hold town hall events before the end of September in order to improve communication with, and hear directly from, the nation's veterans they serve. "Caring for veterans is a calling, and our first commitment is to provide veterans and their families the timely, quality care and benefits they have earned and deserve through their service to our nation," he said. The VFW encourages all members and their families to attend these town hall, the dates and times of which will announced locally by each sponsoring VA facility. As VFW National Commander John Stroud has said, "the VA must fix what's broken, hold employees appropriately accountable, and restore the faith of veterans in their VA." Holding town hall meetings will allow VA leadership to hear directly with their primary customers, which is a positive step toward resolving the VA's nationwide crisis in care and confidence. Read more at http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2600. 2. VA Expands Primary Care Access: Primary care has been added to the services available to veterans through VA's Patient-Centered Community Care (PC3) contracts, a key and evolving part of the non-VA medical care program. Eligible veterans are already able to access inpatient specialty care, outpatient specialty care, mental health care, limited emergency care and limited newborn care for female veterans following childbirth under PC3. The addition of primary care services now allows VA Medical Centers to use PC3 to provide additional types of care in order to reduce appointment waiting times. Read more at http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2607. 3. Speak Up for Veterans While Congress on Recess: Congress remains on recess and will be working in their state and congressional district offices through Labor Day. Now is the time for all VFW members and veterans' advocates to reach out and schedule appointments and attend town hall meetings to discuss critical issues facing the military and veterans' communities. Let your elected members know that you are prepared to hold them accountable on issues important to you and the VFW. Prominent issues that will be debated once they reconvene include military Quality of Life programs within the National Defense Authorization Act, and the Military-Construction and VA Appropriations bill. Other issues the VFW is working to get completed during the remainder of the 113th Congress include expanding caregiver benefits and extending existing programs set to expire at the end of the fiscal year. For a list of current bills and votes, visit our grassroots advocacy website at http://capwiz.com/vfw/issues/bills/. For a list of VFW priority goals, click here: http://www.vfw.org/uploadedFiles/VFW.org/VFW_in_DC/2014%20Priority%20Goals%20brochure%20final%20pdf.pdf. If you plan to advocate over the next three weeks on behalf of our nation's veterans and want to share your story, we can help spread the word through the VFW Capitol Hill blog. To submit stories for the blog, click here: https://www.vfw.org/Pages/Form.aspx?ekfrm=4294969914&LangType=1033 For the Do's and Don'ts of getting involved in political activities as a VFW member, click here: http://www.vfw.org/uploadedFiles/VFW.org/VFW_in_DC/VFW%20Involvement%20in%20Elections%20and%20Political%20Activities%202014.pdf To sign up new veterans' advocates, click here: http://capwiz.com/vfw/mlm/signup.htm. As always, we want to share your advocacy stories on the VFW Capitol Hill blog. To share your stories either fill out our online form by clicking here, http://www.vfw.org/Forms/Capitol-Hill-Blog-Submissions/, or simply email photos and stories directly to vfwac@vfw.org.

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