Upcoming activities at the Kaua‘i Veterans Center Kaua‘i Veterans Museum is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cardio Kickboxing classes will be coming soon in January. Call Aida Cruz at 246-1135 for more
Upcoming activities at the Kaua‘i Veterans Center
Kaua‘i Veterans Museum is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cardio Kickboxing classes will be coming soon in January. Call Aida Cruz at 246-1135 for more information.
Senate votes ‘no’ on SBP-DIC
Once again this year, the Senate has ended any hope of repealing the deduction of VA survivor benefits from military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities. The problem is that the proposal would cost almost $7 billion over 10 years, which violated the budget control act passed last year. About 54,000 widows and widowers are affected by this inequity in benefits and will have to wait yet another year for a chance at passage, according to a Nov. 30 legislative update from MOAA.
Veterans Supportive Housing Program on Kaua‘i
The Department of Housing and Urban Development — VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program is a joint effort between HUD and VA to move Veterans and their families out of homelessness and into permanent housing. HUD provides housing assistance through its Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8), which allows eligible homeless veterans to rent privately-owned housing. Since its inception in 2008, HUD has allocated funding to local public housing authorities to provide more than 37,000 Housing Choice Vouchers for homeless veterans. This program offers eligible homeless Veterans clinical and supportive services through its health care system and enrollment in VA’s Medical Care Program is required. VA’s trained case manager’s compliment a comprehensive set of resources to assist in addressing the multifaceted needs of homeless veterans with a goal of helping veterans secure and maintain permanent housing. For more detailed eligibility criteria, visit http://www.va.gov/homeless/hud-vash_eligibility.asp
On Kaua‘i, our Homeless HUD VASH social worker/case manager is Barbara Johnson. She can be reached at the main number 246-0497, and press 0 to have the call transferred.
Substance abuse treatment available on Kaua‘i
The Kaua‘i VA Medical Clinic (CBOC) offers substance abuse counseling and treatment to veterans enrolled in the VA Medical Care Program. All services are confidential and group and individual sessions are available. Smoking cessation is also offered. Call Paul Ochoa, addictions therapist, at 246-0497 for details.
What is My HealtheVet?
My HealtheVet is a website that gives veterans information and tools to improve their health. Enhanced program features are added as they become available. To register and set-up your own personal access account, visit the Kaua‘i CBOC (Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
Lihu‘e Social Security Office has new hours
The following slight change in hours is intended to reduce employee overtime costs while ensuring optimum customer services to the public:
• Walk-in business hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Appointments only times are Monday through Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• The office will close to the public at 11:30 a.m. every Wednesday beginning Jan 2, 2013.
Most Social Security services do not require a visit to a local office. Many services, including applying for retirement, disability or Medicare benefits, signing up for direct deposit, replacing a Medicare card, obtaining a proof of income letter or informing the office of a change of address or telephone number are available at www.socialsecurity.gov or by dialing 1 (800) 772-1213. People who are deaf or hard of hearing should call the TTY number, 1 (800) 325-0778.
Kaua‘i Tele-Benefits pilot program
Veterans can now speak directly via video conference with a VA Benefits Advisor in Honolulu to ask questions and discuss concerns involving their benefit claim(s).
Until now, veterans with concerns about their claim were required to call a VA Regional Call Center (1 (800) 827-1000) where they were placed on hold while waiting to speak with a counselor. If successful, this program tested only on Kaua‘i will be implemented statewide.
To participate, a veteran must first schedule an appointment by e-mailing a request to pctc.vbahon@va.gov. Veterans may use their own email account to correspond directly with VA.
For additional assistance, the Veteran may visit the VA’s Vet Center located on Kuhio Highway near Fish Express or stop by the Kaua‘i Office of Veterans Services (KOVS) collocated within the Kaua‘i Veterans Center on Kapule Highway near the airport.
Once the request is received, VA will contact the veteran with an appointment date/time. Appointments must be made five days in advance and slots are limited to one hour to accommodate as many veterans as possible. Appointments will be scheduled Monday through Friday (except holidays) at 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. or 2:30 p.m. only.
On the day of the appointment, the veteran simply shows up at the CBOC with any pertinent documents and a VA staff member will guide him/her to the designated room for the video-conference. Assistance will also be provided with faxing any additional documents to VA Honolulu prior to the veteran’s departure.
Call the Vet Center at 246-1163 or KOVS at 241-3348 for more information.
VA Pacific Islands Health Care System call center
VA Honolulu Health Care System announces a new Call Center Service that allows veterans statewide to call a toll-free number to speak with a trained professional nurse to obtain medical advice, refill medications, ask general VA questions and/or to reach a veterans benefits representative. Call 1 (800) 214-1306 for details.
• SgtMaj Tony Elliott USMC (Ret) is a member of the Hawai‘i Office of Veterans Services on Kaua‘i.
