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A newly released American Legion report, “The State of Credentialing of Service Members and Veterans,” sponsored by Military.com, lays out key recommendations to improve the transition to specialized civilian careers for members of the U.S. Armed Forces and military veterans. The report, prepared by SOLID, LLC, focuses on the complex issue of converting military experience into credits toward licenses and credentials necessary for employment in multiple civilian industries that require specialized training and education. It aims to help guide the administration, Congress, state credentialing agencies and industries. “The military invests extensively in formal training for its enlisted personnel, complemented by extensive on-the-job training and hands-on experience,” The American Legion report states in its executive summary. “Military training is state-of-the-art and, early in their careers, service members gain opportunities for direct experience that are unprecedented in the civilian sector. However, the eligibility requirements for civilian credentials seldom offer direct recognition of military training and experience as a means of qualification.” The American Legion conducted the first systematic review of military credentialing for specialized civilian careers in 1996 and has worked continuously to improve acceptance of experience in the U.S. Armed Forces in training programs for such careers as emergency medicine, hazardous material handling, commercial truck driving, mechanical technology and other careers requiring federal, state or industry certification or licensure for employment. The Legion has conducted numerous roundtable discussions involving industry leaders, government employers and other stakeholders over the years, including highly acclaimed national credentialing summits in 2012 and 2015. Two more roundtable discussions and another national American Legion summit are planned within the next year. Among the areas of progress include improved military programs to document hours of training and experience for active-duty personnel that can be submitted for acceptance by government or industry licensing and credentialing agencies. Legislative efforts have also provided improvements at the federal level and on a state-by-state basis. However, the conversion from military experience to credits toward civilian licenses and credentials remains inconsistent, and GI Bill benefits do not always adequately cover the widely varying costs of final examinations. “America spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year to train service members to do highly skilled jobs,” U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said at a Senate subcommittee hearing earlier this year. “They should be ready to move into civilian life with (the help of) certifications.” She emphasized that the Senate “wants to work on making it easier for our service members when they leave the service to have that credential in hand and recognized in all 54 jurisdictions of the United States.” Among the recommendations identified in The American Legion report are: • Improve the Post 9/11 GI Bill Licensing and Certification Benefit to more accurately cover the cost of final certification examinations • Ensure the quality of certification programs and non-traditional credential preparation programs • Better track labor-market demand for employment in fields requiring licenses and credentials • Reduce state licensure barriers for already-trained veterans and military personnel • Develop best practices for credentialing service members and veterans • Ensure that military and veteran interests are represented in civilian workforce credentialing initiative Read the full report here.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- One of the nation's oldest veterans has been celebrated by his Texas hometown on his 111th birthday. Austin Mayor Steve Adler declared Thursday Richard Overton Day in the city and also gave the street he has lived on for the past 45 years the honorary name of Richard Overton Avenue. While Overton concedes that 111 is "pretty old," he tells KVUE-TV he still feels good. Overton mentioned that the secret to a long life is smoking cigars and drinking whiskey, two things he continues to indulge in today. Overton was already in his 30s when he volunteered and served in the Army. He was at Pearl Harbor just after the Japanese attack. In 2013, he was honored by President Barack Obama at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

DENVER (AP) -- Two civilian initiatives are coming to Colorado to help veterans and their families deal with traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress and other problems, the University of Colorado said Friday. A five-year, $38 million gift from the Marcus Foundation will create the Marcus Institute for Brain Health at the university's Anschutz Medical Campus in the Denver suburb of Aurora, helping veterans manage the lingering effects of service-related concussions. The foundation, based in Atlanta, was established by Bernard Marcus, co-founder of the Home Depot. The university also announced it will work with the Cohen Veterans Network to establish a mental health clinic for Denver-area veterans and their families. The Cohen Network committed $9.8 million over three years for the clinic. The network was started by hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen. Both programs are separate from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which is building a $1.7 billion medical center less than a mile from the Anschutz Medical Campus in the Denver suburb of Aurora. A PTSD treatment center was part of the original plan for the VA hospital but it was cut from the first phase because the overall project ran far over budget. Officials of the new civilian programs said they will complement VA services and fill some gaps. Both will offer care to veterans who ineligible for VA services because they received other-than-honorable discharges. The Marcus Institute will treat up to 400 veterans a year using traditional and alternative medicine, said Dr. James Kelly, executive director of the institute. "The idea would be to blend very advanced, very high-tech medical care with complementary and alternative medical methods such as acupuncture and breathing techniques and relaxation and therapeutic massage, a whole variety of things that we've found useful," he said. Kelly, a neurologist, led the Defense Department's National Intrepid Center of Excellence at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for seven years. The center treats active-duty servicemen and women with traumatic brain injuries and psychological health conditions. Veterans will not be charged anything for participating, even if they do not have insurance, Kelly said. The institute will have about 30 doctors, psychologists and physical therapists when it reaches full strength next year. It will use existing facilities at the Anschutz campus. The Marcus Foundation hopes the institute will be a model for similar programs elsewhere. The Cohen Military Family Clinic will be one of 25 around the nation. It will provide free or low-cost mental health care to veterans and their families and will be located about 2 ½ miles (4 kilometers) from the Anschutz campus. It will offer treatment for post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, marital problems, children's behavioral health and related issues, said Anthony Hassan, president and CEO of the Cohen Veterans Network. It will focus on post-9/11 veterans but others will be considered if services are available. Hassan said treating all veterans regardless of their discharge status is part of the Cohen Network's mission. "Many men and women are being discharged for behavior problems or drug abuse problems," Hassan said. "Any veteran who served one day on active duty, regardless of discharge, is worthy of care in our clinics." --- BY DAN ELLIOTTASSOCIATED PRESS

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Australian ex-servicemen who were exposed to radiation during British atomic bomb tests in Australia and during the cleanup of Japan after World War II have won a decades-old campaign for free medical treatment. The Australian government announced on Tuesday it has allocated 133 million Australian dollars ($98 million) in the budget for the next fiscal year to provide these former troops with veterans' gold cards. The cards entitle certain veterans to an extensive range of free health care at the government's expense. Thousands of Australian servicemen were sent to Hiroshima after the nuclear blast as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force and to British nuclear test sites in the Maralinga region of the Australian Outback and the Montebello islands off the northwest coast from the 1940s to the 1960s. Outback Aborigines and farmers affected by fallout in the arid and sparsely populated Maralinga region will also be eligible for free medical help, officials said. Frank Walker, author of a history of the British tests called "Maralinga," said the gold cards for a dwindling number of survivors were too little, too late. "It's long overdue and it's totally inadequate," Walker told Australian Broadcasting Corp., adding that the servicemen's children were also affected. The U.S., British and French governments offered compensation to victims of their own nuclear testing, but the Australian government had long denied liability, Walker said. "Statistically, so many higher rates of cancers and health problems have come from families of nuclear veterans than any other group in society and we've done nothing for them and it's an absolute disgrace," Walker said. Many servicemen reported wearing only shorts and short-sleeved shirts for protection when bombs were detonated.   --------- By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press

FORT DIX, N.J. (AP) -- A young comic book aficionado is sharing his passion with the military. Ten-year-old Carl Scheckel organized a campaign that gathered roughly 3,000 comic books that he donated last month to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. He collected them mostly through donations at comic book shows but also gave up many titles from his vast collection. The comics were shipped around the globe. Recipients are being urged to send pictures back to the Montclair boy to help recognize his hard work. "These comic books are a piece of home for our warfighters downrange," Master Sgt. Dominick Griego said. "It's an amazing thing that Carl has done." Carl has a website dedicated to comic book reviews and interviews and says he just wanted to do something for the troops. He said the donation campaign started when one of his subscribers asked him what he thought about donating comic books to veterans in hospitals and soldiers overseas. Carl soon ran with the idea - "because I want people to enjoy comics like I do" - and started it with about 300 of his own comics. He then made arrangements through the Department of Veterans Affairs to deliver the comic books. "I wanted to give (military personnel) something to remind them of home," Carl said. "It's really sad when you have to go away and miss your friends and family a lot. I wanted to give them something they would enjoy." In response to Carl's efforts, he was surprised with a VIP tour at the joint base led by several high-ranking base officials. In a post on his website, he described it as "the best day of my life!" Carl noted that he and his father were able to see and sit in some military planes. They also visited several sites on the base and even got to try on some military gear. Carl said he became a comic book fan while in pre-school. He heard some friends there talking about superheroes and became intrigued when they told him about Spiderman. When he got home that day, he told his father about what he learned and soon was reading comic after comic. When asked whether he could see himself working in the comic book industry when he grows up, Carl said he would like to create a television show about a superhero in the 1930s.  

Newswise — SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Lieutenant General (Retired) Eric B. Schoomaker, MD, PhD will be the 2017 AMSSM Presidential Keynote Speaker, lecturing on the topic of chronic pain and addiction at the 26th Annual Meeting of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine this week in San Diego, Calif. Prior to his retirement after 32 years of active service, Dr. Schoomaker served as the 42nd U.S. Army Surgeon General & Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command. His speech is titled “Chronic Pain and Addiction — What the DOD and the VA Are Doing to Step Up to the Challenge” and will address aspects of military medicine on Tuesday, May 9. “This topic is a vitally important in today’s society, and Dr. Schoomaker has long been a champion for combating the opioid epidemic,” said AMSSM Past President Dr. Francis O’Connor, MD, MPH. Dr. Schoomaker committed his career to meeting the health needs of soldiers, their families and veterans throughout the U.S., Europe and the Pacific, focusing on soldier medical readiness, enhancing battlefield care, establishing comprehensive behavioral healthcare, fostering a culture of trust, advancing comprehensive pain management and promoting health by preventing combat wounds, injury and illness. His principal interests are in both Complementary and Integrative Health & Medicine (CIHM) in the shift from a disease management-focused healthcare system to one more centered on the improvement and sustainment of health and well-being leading to optimal human performance. “The truth is that all people will have pain at some point in their lives,” said AMSSM member Anthony Beutler, MD. “Our job as physicians is to discover and treat the cause of the pain if it is in our realm to treat. And if it's not, to help the patient explore other ways of managing and treating the cause of that pain. Dr. Schoomaker is a leading expert in alternative medicine and is leading a revolution in how we teach military medical students about their patients' pain and how to help them manage it.” Dr. Schoomaker is a Professor and Vice-Chair for Leadership, Centers and Programs in the Department of Military and Emergency Medicine, F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at the nation’s only Federal health university, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) in Bethesda, Maryland. He promotes CIHM education and training for physicians and other health professionals, especially as they contribute to the management of acute and chronic pain. He is also exploring the central importance of leadership education and training for health professionals, so as to realize Uniformed Services University’s vision as the nation’s “health leadership academy”. With more than 1,800 sports medicine physicians attending from throughout the United States and around the world, the Annual Meeting explores current decisions, controversies as well as best practices related to Medicine in Motion that defines the clinical practice of sports medicine. About the AMSSM Annual Meeting: The conference features lectures and research addressing the most challenging topics in sports medicine today including overhead athlete care, military medicine, sports performance training, youth sports, professional athlete care, leg pain, mental health in athletes, current sports medicine topics and much more. About the AMSSM: AMSSM is a multi-disciplinary organization of more than 3,300 sports medicine physicians dedicated to education, research, advocacy and the care of athletes of all ages. The majority of AMSSM members are primary care physicians with fellowship training and added qualification in sports medicine who then combine their practice of sports medicine with their primary specialty. AMSSM includes members who specialize solely in non-surgical sports medicine and serve as team physicians at the youth level, NCAA, NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, MLS and NHL, as well as with Olympic teams. By nature of their training and experience, sports medicine physicians are ideally suited to provide comprehensive medical care for athletes, sports teams or active individuals who are simply looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle. www.amssm.org

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliary will be out in force on Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 20, 2017, to show their support and appreciation for BURGER KING® franchisees as part of #ThankBK Appreciation Day. Since 2007, BURGER KING® franchisees and their customers have contributed over $4.3 million to the VFW Unmet Needs program. This program provides grants of up to $5,000 to qualified applicants who’ve fallen on hard times as a result of deployment, injury, or other military-related activities. To date, BURGER KING®’s generosity has directly assisted more than 4,100 veterans and military families. The VFW is encouraging its members, their families and friends to stop in, purchase a meal and say “thank you” to the franchise owners, managers and BURGER KING® team members for their continued support of the veteran community. It’s also asking all members to post to social media about their visit using #ThankBK.  It’s through the efforts of supporters like BURGER KING® that the VFW is able to provide service members, veterans and their families a hand up when they need it most.  Find a BURGER KING® location near you, or learn more about the Unmet Needs program.

Newswise — Bethesda, Md. — A new study finds that long periods of physiological stress can change the composition of microorganisms residing in the intestines (intestinal microbiota), which could increase health risks in endurance athletes and military personnel. The study, published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, is the first to study the response of the intestinal microbiota during military training. The manuscript was chosen as an APSselect article for May. Healthy intestines are semi-permeable and act as a defense both to let nutrients into the bloodstream and keep bacteria and other potentially harmful substances out. Physical stress can increase intestinal permeability (IP), which allows more materials out of the intestines and raises the risk of inflammation, illness and symptoms such as diarrhea. A group of 73 Norwegian Army soldiers participated in a military-style cross country skiing training exercise. Over four days, the group skied approximately 31 miles (51 km) while carrying 99-pound (45 kg) packs. The researchers collected blood and stool samples before and after the training exercise. The soldiers took 24-hour urine tests before the exercise and on the third day of the trek, before which they drank a solution of water mixed with the artificial sweetener sucralose and mannitol, a sugar alcohol. The human body does not break down sucralose during digestion, but gets rid of the sweetener through urination. Levels of excreted sucralose are commonly used as a marker for IP. The microbiota and the composition of substances produced during metabolism (metabolites) in the soldiers' blood and stool changed significantly by the end of the aggressive training period. Sucralose excretion rose considerably, indicating an increase in IP.  Concentrations of several compounds that are products of bacterial metabolism of amino acids and fat decreased in the stool, and levels of more than half of the different compounds found in the volunteers’ blood changed during the military training session. Changes in IP were associated with changes in inflammation, the composition of the intestinal microbiota before training and changes in several metabolites possibly derived from the microbiota. “[Previous] human studies have demonstrated that drastic changes in diet impact intestinal microbiota composition by altering the availability of metabolic substrates for intestinal microbes. Our findings contrast with those reports in demonstrating alterations in microbiota composition that most likely were not solely attributable to diet, and which were more pronounced than is commonly reported in human diet studies,” the researchers wrote. Intestinal microbiota appear to be one influencing factor in the gut’s response to physical stress. “Our findings suggest that the intestinal microbiota may be one mediator of IP responses to severe physiologic stress, and that targeting the microbiota before stress exposure may be one strategy for maintaining IP,” the researchers wrote. The article, “Changes in intestinal microbiota composition and metabolism coincide with increased intestinal permeability in young adults under prolonged physiologic stress,” is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology. It is highlighted as one of this month’s “best of the best” as part of the American Physiological Society’s APSselect program. Read all of this month’s selected research articles on the APSselect website. NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: To schedule an interview with a member of the research team, please contact the APS Communications Office or 301-634-7209. Find more research highlights in the APS Press Room. Physiology is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function in health and disease. Established in 1887, the American Physiological Society (APS) was the first U.S. society in the biomedical sciences field. The Society represents more than 10,500 members and publishes 15 peer-reviewed journals with a worldwide readership.

Newswise — MANHATTAN, Kan. —   Military spouses may not wear uniforms or enter combat, but they deserve appreciation for their sacrifices, according to a Kansas State University expert on military families.Briana Nelson Goff, professor of family studies and human services and director of the Institute for the Health and Security of Military Families in the College of Human Ecology, said most military spouses experience a lifestyle of constant adjustment."It's important to realize that the military service member may be deployed, but everyone in the family is serving," Goff said. "The spouse and kids may not be deployed, but they are serving their country as well, so we need to honor that."After finding out their partner is deploying, Goff said military spouses can go through several phases:• The preparation phase, when they learn more about where their spouse is going and for how long.• The deployment, which may include months of single parenting.• Their spouse's return, which may not include much notice.• Leave after deployment, which may include family vacations or just time together at home.• Their spouse returning to his or her regular work schedule, when the family attempts to return to normal or find a "new normal," Goff said.For some spouses, the start of a deployment is the most stressful portion of the cycle, especially when they have short notice about it. Others find the preparation phase more intense than the deployment itself."Each family is a little different, but it's not easy for anyone," Goff said.Along with time-related adjustments in the phases of military life, spouses experience geographical adjustments, with many military families moving every two to three years."They may come to one place that has a really good network with a supportive community, and then move to another place that doesn't have those features," Goff said. "It's understandable to expect the next place to be the same, and when it isn't, the transition can be difficult."In addition to the rollercoaster of emotions many spouses face through their various adjustments, some spouses must adapt to their partner coming home with post-traumatic stress disorder, which affects the entire family. Many people assume if a military member has PTSD, the disorder will show up immediately upon return, but Goff said PTSD can sometimes be triggered by other changes, such as a transition out of the military or a cross-country move."It's hard to predict who will experience PTSD, why they might get it and when it might hit," Goff said. "Regardless, it's often difficult for spouses to understand."Goff said about 15-20 percent of military spouses are diagnosed with general anxiety disorder or major depression. People can help military spouses relieve stress and find joy in many ways, such as offering to babysit while their partner is deployed; inviting them over for dinner or taking dinner to their family; becoming their workout buddy; and sitting down for coffee to listen to their stories."The more we can help bring a sense of consistency and support to military spouses, the more they can provide stability and a sense of normalcy for the whole family," Goff said. "It's difficult because everyone is busy, but when we spend a bit of time to support a military spouse, we can help their family thrive."Friday, May 12, is Military Appreciation Day in the U.S. The event is observed each year on the Friday before Mother's Day.

WASHINGTON, D.C. Chairman Roe, Ranking Member Walz, and distinguished members of the Committee, on behalf of the men and women of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) and its Auxiliary, thank you for the opportunity to present the VFW’s thoughts on the pending Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017. The VFW is the nation’s largest war veterans organizations, with more than 1,900 accredited representatives around the world, representing nearly 500,000 veterans in prosecuting their benefit claims before the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). As such, this proposed legislation will have a tremendous impact not only on the members of the VFW, but on all the men and women we serve every day out of VA Regional Offices, military installations, as well as state and county offices.  First, I must clarify that the VFW supports the Committee’s effort to reform and modernize the VA claims and appeals process to better serve the needs of the veterans’ community. Over the years, the VA claims and appeals process has morphed into a bureaucratic leviathan that the average veteran cannot possibly understand. Moreover, for veterans who disagree with their assigned rating decision, they currently have no way to determine whether choosing to appeal is a reasonable course of action without seeking assistance from an accredited representative or legal counsel. Then, should a veteran choose to appeal their decision, exercising their due process rights can take up to five years. To the VFW, this does not seem like a veteran-centric, non-adversarial process. To the VFW, the goal of the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 is to once again build a veteran-centric process that is easy to navigate and protects a veteran’s rights every step of the way. Last year, the VFW was one of more than a dozen veterans’ community stakeholders convened to discuss the way forward in modernizing the VA claims and appeals processes. At the time, the acknowledgement was that the system was cumbersome and no longer satisfied the needs of veterans who rightfully expect timely and accurate rating decisions on the benefits they earned. The resultant product of these discussions is the framework included in this draft legislation, and the VFW is proud to support it. However, we have several questions and recommendations for this Committee to consider before advancing this legislation to ensure that any new claims and appeals framework satisfies the intent of Congress to build a veteran-centric system. In our testimony today, we will discuss the VFW’s perspective on the new claims and appeals framework –– preserving clear and unmistakable error protections; options to adjudicate legacy appeals; and VA reporting requirements.  New Claims and Appeals Framework Through this legislation, Congress will modify the options for veterans to pursue accurate rating decisions prior to filing a formal appeal, while simultaneously preserving their earliest possible effective date. This legislation also directs VA to improve its award notifications for veterans, outlining seven specific pieces of information each decision notice to a veteran shall include. Improved notification letters have been a top priority of the VFW and our partner organizations for years, and we are happy to see the Committee pursue this aggressively. To the VFW, inadequate notification letters have been a fundamental failure in the VA claims process for decades. In their current format, veterans have no reasonable way to understand how VA arrived at their benefit decision, meaning veterans have no way to reasonably conclude whether or not the decision is accurate and whether or not they need to pursue another avenue of recourse.  As accredited representatives, one of our top responsibilities is explaining rating decisions to veterans and deciphering which evidence was used to render a decision and how VA evaluated that evidence. Improved decision notices will put some of this power back into the veteran’s hands, ensuring they are well informed of their rating and how VA arrived at its conclusion. This sets the veteran up for success in navigating the process and has the potential to cut down on appeals where veterans simply may have misunderstood their rating decision.  Coupled with improved notifications, this legislation codifies three specific paths through which veterans can arrive at a fair and understandable rating decision, while preserving the earliest possible effective date. Two of these paths –– higher level review and supplemental claims readjudication –– offer recourse for the veteran without filing a formal appeal, offering the veteran and VA the opportunity to rectify discrepancies before the veteran formalizes an appeal.  Currently, when a veteran receives a rating decision, they must choose whether or not to formally file a notice of disagreement, kicking off a potentially years-long process to arrive at a new decision, sometimes when only small matters of evidence or interpretation of the law need to be addressed. By redesigning appeal options, the process remains non-adversarial as long as possible, and also encourages VA to produce quality rating decisions at the local level, instead of punting more complicated cases for the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) to review.  Critics have called these two new paths at the regional office an “erosion” of veterans’ due process rights. This is an inaccurate assessment that fails to acknowledge that the VA claims process is supposed to be veteran friendly and easily navigable by any veteran who seeks to access his or her earned benefits. Moreover, the new framework actually expands veterans’ due process rights by offering additional recourse at the local level, preserving routes to the BVA and the courts, and preserving a veteran’s right to seek legal counsel after an initial rating decision.  Though the VFW always encourages veterans to seek professional assistance from an accredited representative whenever possible, a perfect system would be one where veterans do not need professional assistance, and certainly do not need to retain a lawyer, simply to claim an earned benefit. The VFW believes this proposed framework –– if properly implemented –– moves veterans more closely to such a system.  To the VFW, the most critical new protection for veterans is the lane in which veterans can continually submit new and relevant evidence to VA within one year of a rating decision and receive a new rating decision on the evidence of record, preserving their original effective date. Coupled with improved notification letters, this option could be a game changer for veterans, resulting in more favorable decisions at the local level.  First, lowering the evidentiary threshold to receive a new rating decision to only new and relevant is an improvement for veterans. The old standard was new and material. While the VFW would prefer that VA only be required to consider new evidence, we support this change which would ease the evidentiary burden for veteran claimants, potentially resulting in more favorable decisions.  Key to the success of this lane is communication among VA, the veteran, and the veteran’s advocate where applicable. If a veteran receives a clear and understandable rating decision, but notices that certain evidence was not contained in the record, they now have an opportunity to formally submit this and receive a new, timely rating decision, instead of pursuing years of a formal, contentious appeal. Moreover, accredited veterans’ advocates now have a new tool to help resolve claims at the earliest possible time, ensuring that their clients receive every benefit they have earned.  To the VFW, this is the best possible outcome. According to VA’s own data, more veterans are seeking out our assistance every year to access their earned benefits. Last year, the VFW took on four new claimants for every claimant we lost.  While we like to tout that this is a testament to the professionalism of our staff, we also know that this kind of growth means that we need to help VA get it right the first time. Prolonging a veteran’s claim is bad all around. It puts unnecessary stress on the veteran and it makes VA look like an irresponsible steward of benefits. At a time when more veterans need access to benefits, the VFW supports offering more non-adversarial recourse at the local level to arrive at quality rating decisions. This is what our veteran clients expect, and this is why we support this new framework.  The VFW also supports the maintenance of two separate dockets at BVA to adjudicate new appeals, though we have persistent concerns about the timeliness of decisions in each docket and the potential disincentive for veterans to pursue an appeal with a hearing. That being said, the VFW supports docket flexibility so that BVA can properly manage its workload and provide veterans with timely decisions. However, in testimony earlier this year, VFW Commander-in-Chief Brian Duffy called for the simultaneous maintenance of five separate dockets at BVA to best reflect the legacy workload as well as the new system workload, including one docket for appeals with no new evidence and no hearing; one for appeals with new evidence but no hearing; and one for appeals with both new evidence and a hearing.  Next, in past discussions, some were concerned that a new framework would erode veterans’ due process rights and have a chilling effect on the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The VFW is happy to see that the Committee worked to address this concern in this legislation, articulating that effective dates of supplemental claims resulting from court decisions will be offered the same protections within one year of the court’s decision. The VFW believes that this is sufficient to retain oversight of BVA decisions and assuage concerns that veterans would be penalized for pursuing their claims through the court system only to lose their effective date.   When the Committee first started discussing the concept of appeals reform for the 115th Congress, the VFW and several of our partner Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) saw this as an opportunity to once again discuss potential conflicts that arose in the initial discussions in 2016. One significant conflict was the ability of veterans with appeals languishing in the legacy system to be able to opt into the new framework. In this legislation, we are pleased to see that the Committee addressed these concerns by articulating formal “off ramps” for legacy appeals to opt into the new system at critical decision points.  To the VFW, this is a benefit to affected veterans and to VA. First, veterans whose appeals have been mired in the old appeals system will have several opportunities to take advantage of new processes, such as submitting new and relevant evidence when their claims are remanded back to the Regional Office. This will allow veterans an opportunity to avoid another lengthy appeal process and allow VA to address the issues at the Regional Office in a timely manner. For VA, the VFW believes this will be a critical tool in helping to adjudicate the backlog of legacy appeals, resulting in more timely, favorable decisions for veterans.  The VFW understands that VA had some concerns about these off ramps and the strain on resources at the local level. The VFW does not share these concerns as VA has the responsibility to adjudicate its workload regardless of where the claim happens to be in the process. Moreover, this reinforces the VFW’s calls on Congress to properly resource Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and BVA to manage their workload. Without proper resources, any claims and appeals framework will fall prey to dangerous backlogs, resulting in unacceptable benefit delays for veterans.  Preserving Clear and Unmistakable Error Protections As with any systemic change, the VFW seeks to avoid unintended consequences. One of the most critical protections offered to veterans in the current claims and appeals framework is the ability to revise rating decisions in which VA has made a clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in its rating decision. While many times veterans must take a remedial claim action within a year of their rating decision to preserve an original effective date, decisions based on CUE can be revised back to the original effective date at any time.  In revisions to the discussion draft, section 5104(c) was added to allow veterans with decisions issued in the one year period prior to the effective date of the modernized appeal system to opt in to the system. This revision adds a section that creates a conflict of law, and we would like to address this now in the statutory language so there is no need for litigation. After the one year period to submit additional evidence or appeal a decision has passed, the decision becomes final and can only be revised in two ways: by submitting new and material evidence (new and relevant under the modernized appeals system); or by submitting a motion to revise a previous decision based on clear and unmistakable error. A motion to revise a previous decision based on clear and unmistakable error (CUE) is not a claim. It has its own authority under section 5109A of title 38 United States Code (USC) for motions filed with respect to a final decision by the agency of original jurisdiction and under section 7111 of title 38 USC for motions filed with respect to a final decision by the Board of Veterans Appeals.   The authority to revise a decision based on CUE is an important vehicle for redressing wrongs in the event that a veteran failed to prosecute his or her claim and the underlying decision was incorrect based on the law at the time of the decision. If a claimant is ill or unable to file a notice of disagreement within a year, the effective date of the claim is lost. In the event that the decision was so off base as to constitute clear and unmistakable error, it is against the interest of justice to disallow a revision of that decision, back to the date that it should have been granted.  Because section 5104(c) of title 38 USC states that the only way to revise a final decision is to file a supplemental claim under section 5108 of title 38 USC or regulations pursuant to this section, it vitiates the authority of section 5109A of title 38 USC and section 7111 of title 38 USC.   The VFW must have assurance from the Committee that nothing in these sections precludes a veteran from filing a request to revise a final rating decision containing a CUE, or filing a notice of disagreement or request for higher level review on such a request. Without this critical due process protection for veterans, the VFW believes that the entire framework for appeals reform fails.  Legacy Appeals Since the first discussions on appeals reform with VA, the VFW has been very clear that any changes to the system must be coupled with aggressive initiatives to adjudicate legacy appeals in a timely manner through both legislative authority and proper resourcing. The VFW had asked for off ramps to allow veterans with legacy appeals to opt into the new process, and we thank the Committee for including these off-ramps in this legislation.  In the 114th Congress, the VFW also supported an initiative to create a fully developed appeals process for veterans in the legacy system. Through fully developed appeals, veterans and their accredited advocates would have an opportunity to submit all relevant evidence and a statement of the argument at the time in which they file a notice of disagreement. The Committee included this in the legislation as a potential option for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to exercise in helping to more quickly adjudicate legacy appeals.  The VFW supports the intent of this position, but we question its value as written pertaining to legacy appeals already included in the appeals backlog. In its current form, it seems that a potential fully developed appeals process would only appeal to new appellants after enactment. This would likely only serve as a stop-gap for any appellants who file within the first six months of enactment of the legislation. The VFW would recommend amending the election criteria to allow for veterans with legacy appeals to elect into a proposed fully developed appeals process at any point after enactment.  Finally, the VFW must stress the importance of properly resourcing BVA and VBA to adjudicate the legacy appeals backlog and the potential influx of supplemental claims and higher level review requests at the VA Regional Office. My predecessor in VFW National Veterans Service, Jerry Manar, used to say that VA liked to play Whack-a-Mole with its pending workload. When initial claims were backlogged, they concentrated resources on initial claims. This has since set off a chain reaction that has resulted in a backlog of appeals and other claim actions at the Regional Office level. Every time there is a crisis, VA has the habit of reallocating its resources to address the latest crisis. This only leads to other crises. VA must be properly resourced to manage its workload if we expect this new framework to succeed.  Planning and Reporting Requirements The VFW supports the inclusion of a 90-day report to Congress on VA’s plans to address legacy appeals, implement its new system, and process claims in the new system in a timely manner. While this planning report may seem extensive, the VFW is very interested in the feedback that VA can provide on its plans to ensure that the new framework is designed to succeed.  One of the most critical points that the VFW supports in the planning proposal is the requirement for VA to report on required resourcing and staffing levels to accomplish its new mission. The VFW is also interested in VA’s estimates on total work load, processing times, and its communication plan to properly inform veterans of changes and criteria to take advantage of new options. The VFW also supports semiannual reports on implementation.  The VFW understands the need for extensive reporting requirements and we agree with the Committee on many of the data points included in the legislation. However, we question the practicality of insisting that VA report on all 22 data points on a monthly basis. The VFW instead recommends that the Committee articulate the timeline on which VA would need to periodically report each data point. For example, the VFW believes that the data points included in Section 5, A through G are standard data points that VA should already be tracking and should be able to report out on a monthly basis.  Next, data points H through K and U deal with supplemental actions on remanded decisions. Understanding the VA workflow, this may not be practical to report on a monthly basis, but instead on a quarterly basis to better analyze data and identify trends.  Finally, data points L through V (omitting U) seem to be long term metrics that would be impractical to track on a monthly basis and would likely only be useful in identifying annual or semi-annual trends. For example, data point M is likely only to yield data once a significant number of veterans have submitted new and relevant evidence in supplemental claims to preserve their effective date over a span of several years.  The VFW was also happy to see that the Committee is asking for extensive reporting from VA on legacy appeals. The VFW supports many of these data points, and has had similar questions about the appeals process over the years –– particularly the disaggregated time that VA waits for a claimant to take action and the time a claimant waits for VA to take action. We believe that this report will help to better understand the pitfalls that led to the appeals backlog and help avoid them in the new framework.  A modernized appeals system must be responsive to future needs of veterans. Veterans benefits date from the beginning of the United States, and our citizens and government have stepped up to care for veterans as the nature of war and society has changed. Judicial review of veterans benefits decisions has been in place for almost thirty years, and a decision this past week by the Federal Circuit in Monk v. Shulkin recognized that veterans have a right to aggregate their appeals into class actions. While this decision does not directly affect the modernized appeals framework, it will also help to eliminate the "hamster wheel" appeals process, and will affect regulations handling new procedural directives from the courts. Congress must maintain close oversight over the timely handling of appeals for veterans who have been waiting the longest. At the same time, the modernized appeals system also needs the oversight of Congress to continually improve the process. We believe the changes proposed in the legislation being considered today would go a long way in forming a more veteran-centric process. But appeals do not exist in a vacuum, and the feedback we receive must drive improvements to the processes used by VA and stakeholders to obtain fair, accurate decisions at the earliest point possible, and improve the quality of life for veterans and their families. The VFW is encouraged by the legislation you are considering today and strongly supports effforts to reform the claims and appeals system to build a more veteran-centric appeals process. For years, we have been stuck in the same place, afraid to take action out of fear we will make the wrong decision. The problem is that if we stay put, the situation will never improve. That is unacceptable for the veterans who deserve timely access to their earned benefits. The VFW believes it is time to improve this process. We encourage the Committee to include the VFW’s recommendations when marking up this legislation, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Committee to advance these critical reforms.  Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony. I will be happy to answer any questions you or the Committee members may have.