Vets Benefits paid during shutdown

Not sure how positive this is - as per most comments from any 'Spin Source", it includes a lot of "Should", which means very little when you analyze the actual content. But, it "Seems" like good news if true. This came to me thru the US Navy Retirement Office, so it is an official statement, not a newspaper report.

DoD 2014 Budget Update 04 ► Vets Protected Against Shutdown


While veterans will not be immune to a government shutdown, the pain will be significantly mitigated by a new law passed in 2009 that is intended to protect veterans’ hard-earned benefits in the event that Congress came to another standstill over the budget. In 2009, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law a bill to begin funding Department of Veterans Affairs medical accounts one year in advance. This "advanced appropriation" ensures timely and predictable funding for VA hospitals and clinics, which serve 9 million veterans across the country. But it also guards the nation’s veterans from the effects of congressional gridlock.

The latest political fight and the possibility of a government shutdown illustrates why advanced appropriations was a major public policy priority for the veterans community which made it the focal point of IAVA’s 2009 “Storm the Hill” advocacy campaign. The health care and benefits that service-members earned fighting for our country never should be jeopardized by political fighting. IAVA has heard from many veterans rightfully concerned about how a shutdown would affect the community. Fortunately, because of the advanced appropriations and the requirement to provide mandatory benefit payments, many VA services are protected.

In addition to VA medical facilities and clinics remaining operational, veterans can also continue to receive counseling services and continue to have access to the 24 hour Veterans Crisis Line.
VA benefits should continue to go out to those who have been awarded benefits. Benefit payments are considered to be mandatory financial obligations of the government, and therefore payment is considered to be automatically pre-authorized and should continue during a shutdown. Also, employees whose work is necessary to ensure continued payment of these benefits are expected to continue working. So that means that if, for instance, a veteran has a 50% disability benefit, he or she should continue to get disability benefits during a shutdown. If he or she has a VA pension, these benefits should continue to be paid. Existing benefit payments for the Post
- 9/11 GI Bill should also be distributed as scheduled, though new claims would be paused.

thats good news, it does contradict the va website
www.va.gov/opa/docs/Field_Guide_20130927.pdf

Where do you see the contradiction?

QUOTE from your source: 1
1.
Introduction
VA is committed to supporting Veterans and their families even during limited operations in
absence of appropriations, commonly known as a government shutdown


The Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) is revising its shutdown plan, in accordance with Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) Circular A
–
11, Section 124 (dated July 21, 2010), and OMB memorandum M-
13-22 (dated September 17, 2013)
.
Based on the instructions contained in Circular A-11, the
Anti-Deficiency Act, and on guidance offered by VA’s Office of General Counsel, the attached
document details VA’s analysis for a potential government shutdown.
This contingencydocument is provided for a short-term shutdown. A long-term event will require further
analysis and development.
This document outlines the activities being undertaken by VA in anticipation of a potential
government shutdown due to a lapse in appropriations. This document is intended to ensure
that VA can perform an orderly suspension of its programs and operations in the unlikely event
of a shutdown.
This document outlines programs
and resources necessary to ensure the shutdown of VA’s functions if normal operations are suspended. It also applies to all personnel and contractors assigned to or performing services for VA.
2.
Shutdown Contingency Overview
The Department is pursuing a comprehensive approach for a potential shutdown, which
includes identifying functions and programs for which there is a legal basis for exception,
including those required by “necessary implication” and protection of life and property. VA
Administrations and Staff Offices were asked to review their organizations and identify these
specific functions and programs (and the employees required to support them). Their decisions
were based on long-standing OMB and Justice Department guidance, and the legal opinions of
VA’s Office of General Counsel (OGC).
VA’s OGC has reviewed this document to ensure compliance with the criteria.

In its shutdown contingency deliberations, VA has consistently worked to establish which of its functions are legally excepted for carrying out services the Department is obligated to provide
to the nation’s Veterans and their families. These include the provision of high-quality medical
care, compensation and pension benefits, housing, and burial services.

AND QUOTE: Ongoing processing and payment of compensation, pension, education,
and vocational rehabilitation benefits

This comes on the pages you cite - a contradiction from the first section quote - but it state 'some' services will shutdown. But the VA comp, pension and medical is considered a mandatory obligation.

I know, I know, it might go against this law - and of course find a reason to justify it ... one that will never hold water under appeal, but of course again, we obviously have no control immediately about what congress does. BUT, we can control it later, with our vote. Far as I'm concerned, not one person in office today will get my vote next time.

Maybe some are right in how they feel, but they've had a year to do this, all of them know it - and it is totally irresponsible for this action to have taken place.

Spouse and I live on VA, Military Retired Pay and Social Security. We are taking nothing for granted. I was not aware of the Obama signed change requiring VA Comp., a Pension, Medical, and Burial to be funded a year in advance. I thank you for posting it. I plan on researching it myself as well. One thing that bothers me about this is that I know people, with children still needing to be raised who are suffering already from this shutdown. All the years my spouse was "in" we were enlisted. We were so darned poor that sometimes I was hungry..but never my kids. To think that I would not be hungry due to this madness yet children (living next door) would be is not acceptable.
I never knew until 1991 at a huge potluck on NADKW at the rv park that most a military retirees were Republicans. The vicious comments that caused me to check into this were enough to keep me from opening my mouth again around base rv parks. I am a liberal. We need to be kinder to one another. We also need to payback and take care of our fellow citizens..all of them. No one should go without during a shut down in this country. What else did my spouse do his 20 years for? What else did I go hungry for when he was first in? I don't mean to get political here of all places. But we need to treat each other with kindness. I totally respect a decision to react at the voting booths. And thanks again for the info.

I suspect this is a congressional EGO problem, not Republicans or Democrat.

The major issue as I see it, Obama wants his legacy to read "Healthcare" because he's done nothing else during his dual term. Otherwise, he goes down in history as a wasted president, and his EGO can't accept that.

The main problem with ACA is the cost - we cannot afford private health care at all the way it's structured, and subsidizing it will not solve the problem - if we subsidize it, we might as well socialize it and use the profits as additional services revenue. We need to regulate Health Care like we do public utilities - and get control of the radical profiteering and gouging in that area of service. AND we need to eliminate that mountain of paperwork that fills doctor office visit ... while we talking laws, we can look at HIPAA and see it's the most worthless piece of health care legislation Congress ever passed.

Congress passed a ridiculous ACA law, and the Supreme Court approved it (with conditions) ... unfortunately, it does not consider the costs. So, we have an unfunded law that will break the bank because there in no price control of the HC industry.

But the entire congress has had a year to do this budget, spent half that year doing the budget that was supposed to be done the year before, and piece-mealing it. Now, they had no time this year to do the job correctly for 2014. Too much time talking in front of an audience, spinning, and not enough time in the offices actually working.

Well I know that Monkey 44 you and I will need to simply agree to disagree on this subject.

I would like to point out that you mention a Congressional EGO problem and then you hop to it being Obama's EGO problem. The first Black American President has been able to get the Affordable Care Act through and SOME Republicans in the past also wanted that done. It was his main accomplishment but he would have gotten other things, important things, done except for the right wing obstructionist craziness.

He has maintained a calm course. And you may well ridicule it, but I will freely admit, that if I had the awful things said about me during the time I held a job I might not remain as calm and poised. I have had people who did not like me and were ugly so I do know this.

Other countries with less power and money than the USA are giving all their people healthcare. We can, and will, do it and it will get better each year just as Tricare and Medicare did.

If you are sent to war and you lose, do you keep fighting that war or do you put your weapons away for another day? It has been nonstop fighting since this man took on the job.

I don't know how you would have handled lower ranking members of the military treating you but when I supervised Airmen and NCO's as a federal civilian I would have removed them with expediency so that I could accomplish the mission. Obama has been stuck with the Tea Party and unsatisfied Republicans since he was elected. I have celebrated his fete of becoming president and enjoyed his handling of things. Time will prove Obamacare was the smart thing, and the right thing, to do.