Veterans and Service Members Health

In this article there is a list of Mental Health Resources available to Veterans and Military Personal. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call 988 for immediate assistance. Thank you to Mason Krebsbach for providing us this comprehensive list of resources. 

Lyle Boss, Ogden, UT, wrote this article on May 15 to look at benefits that are available for veterans over the age of 65.

From these PACT Act-related claims, VA has delivered more than $5.7 billion in earned benefits to these Veterans and survivors

In one of the largest-ever expansions of Veteran health care, all Veterans exposed to toxins and other hazards during military service – at home or abroad – will be eligible for VA health care beginning March 5th.

At the direction of President Biden, VA is expanding health care eligibility to millions of Veterans – including all Veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, or any other combat zone after 9/11 – years earlier than called for by the PACT Act.

WASHINGTON — As part of President Biden’s Unity Agenda commitment to support the nation’s Veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs is adding nine rare respiratory cancers to the list of presumed service-connected disabilities due to military environmental exposures to fine particulate matter.

President Joe Biden says U.S. veterans are the “backbone, the spine, the sinew” of the nation, as he pushes for better help for members of the military who face health problems after exposure to burn pits and other hazards

Changes Coming Soon for Some TRICARE Select Retired Beneficiaries

Starting on Jan. 1, 2021, TRICARE Select Group A retired beneficiaries must pay monthly enrollment fees in order to maintain their TRICARE health coverage. This is a change, and the first time this beneficiary group will pay enrollment fees.

Find the latest information from the Federal VA on COVID-19.

Update on COVID-19 confirmed Veteran inpatients or outpatients can be found at this link https://www.publichealth.va.gov/n-coronavirus/?utm_source=Homepage&utm_campaign=Coronavirus.  Approximately seventy-three percent of Veterans who are positive for COVID-19 are quarantined at home.

BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Doug Burgum today announced that monetary donations and donations of personal protective equipment are being accepted to aid in the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There has been some great strides in access to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) in North Dakota. “Healing with Hyperbarics of North Dakota” located in Fargo provides HBOT treatments and is part of these studies/pilots:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Minot VA Clinic opens at new location Dec. 14

FARGO, N.D. (Dec. 12, 2018) – The new Minot Veterans Affairs (VA) Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) is scheduled to be fully operational and open for appointments on Dec. 14, 2018.

The new Minot VA CBOC is located at Southside Plaza, 3400 South Broadway St., Minot, N.D. 58701.

The North Dakota Brain Injury Network's annual "Mind Matters" conference to be held at the Fargo ND Holiday Inn on April 10-11, 2018. The Holiday Inn located at 3803 13th Ave South in Fargo will be the host of this important conference. 

• Oct. 4 and 11 … 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
• Oct. 17, 24, and Nov. 1 … 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
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Aspen Dental is proud to provide their annual “Day of Service” On June 25th 2016 at 1650 45th Street S, Fargo ND for those who have served! Call 701-526-4652  (option 1) to schedule services.

*Please bring proof of military service. Nothing else required!*

The official Medicare website, www.medicare.gov, now has 2016 Medicare premiums and deductibles information.

Medicare is administered by the Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The CMS press release announcing 2016 Medicare premiums and deductibles also contains this information. Here is part of that press release:

VA-Walgreens Partnership Gives Vets 8,000 More Locations for Flu Shots

FARGO, N.D. – Flu season is here, and for eligible Veterans, getting a flu shot has never been easier as they can receive free flu shots through a VA-Walgreens partnership.

Eligible Veterans may opt to get a free flu shot at their local VA health care facility or they may choose to go to their neighborhood Walgreens. 

2nd Annual All About Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Event

Friday, October 9, 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM at the West Acres Shopping Center in Fargo

20th Annual Edith Sanford Run/Walk for Breast Cancer

Friday, October 9, 5:30 PM to 10:00 PM in Fargo

WASHINGTON – As part of VA’s ongoing commitment to provide care to Veterans and their families, the Department of Veterans Affairs today announced that it will start the  process of amending its regulations to establish presumptions of service connection for certain conditions resulting from exposure to contaminated drinking water at the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

WASHINGTON — Veterans who suffered sexual assault or other sexual abuse while in uniform would get help more easily from the Department of Veterans Affairs under a bill approved Monday by the House.

The bill would allow a statement by a survivor of military sexual trauma to be considered sufficient proof that an assault occurred. The House approved the bill by voice vote Monday night.

Veterans can now track the status of most of their prescriptions online, thanks to an innovative idea by a Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) employee. The new 24/7 service allows online tracking for most prescriptions mailed from the VA Mail Order Pharmacy.

The Prescription Tracker was recommended by VA employee Kenneth Siehr, a winner of the President’s 2013 Securing Americans Value and Efficiency (SAVE) Award. Siehr’s idea focused on the use of technology as a way to save money and improve the services VA provides to its patients.

The other would let Veterans stay in nursing homes in the area.

Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center Staff
January 30, 2014

WASHINGTON – The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center has released new clinical recommendations to help service members who have sustained a mild traumatic brain injury, otherwise known as concussion, to progressively return to their normal activities following their injury.

A fifth of all service members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered concussions, mainly from being close to explosive blasts from roadside bombs. Doctors often refer to sports injuries to seek treatment options for the so-called signature wound of the long wars.

But new research signals that war-zone concussions are much different from concussions than happen playing football or hockey. Most athletes quickly recover brain function. Most soldiers and Marines do not, according to a study released Wednesday in Brain: A Journal of Neurology.

WASHINGTON — President Obama will visit the Arizona veterans' hospital that prompted an overhaul of veterans' health care and led to the resignation of the VA secretary.

The White House says Obama will travel to Phoenix on Friday to discuss veterans' issues. He will be joined by VA Secretary Robert McDonald, who filled the post following the ouster of Eric Shinseki.

The VA came under scrutiny last year following reports that dozens of veterans died awaiting treatment at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Medical Center and that records were manipulated to hide delays.