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Veterans / Veterans Corner


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  • NSC Pension Benefit

    Ken Cruickshank, Veterans Services Officer for Tulare County|Updated Mar 2, 2024

    The Non-Service-Connected Disability Pension (NSC) is the Veterans Administration (VA) benefits program for wartime veterans with limited income. The amount payable depends on other income sources the veteran and their family members currently receive. The amount of household income to calculate eligibility may be reduced by some unreimbursed medical expenses. The current amount for a single veteran is $1,379 per month. This can change depending on family size and disability...

  • Gulf War Presumptive Disability Period Extended

    Ken Cruickshank, Veterans Service Officer Tulare County|Updated Sep 3, 2023

    Recently, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) made a decision regarding Gulf War Veterans and has extended the presumptive disability period to December 31, 2026, for qualifying chronic disabilities rated 10% or more, resulting from undiagnosed illnesses in Persian Gulf War Veterans to ensure benefits established by Congress are fairly administered. If an extension of the current presumptive period were not implemented, service members whose conditions arose after...

  • Dependency and Indemnity Compensation

    Ken Cruickshank, Veterans Services Officer for Tulare County|Updated Mar 2, 2023

    In this column, we will be discussing a benefit available to a survivor of a veteran. We will talk about Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). DIC is a benefit that is paid on a monthly basis to eligible survivors of a: military service member who died while on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty for training; or a veteran whose death resulted from a service-related injury or disease; or a veteran whose death resulted from a non-service-related...

  • The PACT Act (Part 2)

    Ken Cruickshank, Veterans Services Officer for Tulare County|Updated Jan 3, 2023

    This is the second column covering the PACT Act. To recap, the full name of the law is the Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. Here we will address the conditions that are related to a veteran who served in either the Gulf War or post-9/11. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has added the following cancers to the presumptive list for burn pit and other toxic exposures: brain cancer, gastrointestinal...

  • The PACT Act

    Ken Cruickshank, Veterans Services Officer, Tulare County|Updated Nov 7, 2022

    This column is the first to cover the PACT Act; I will have at least one follow-up column covering another area of the changes. The full name of the law is "The Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act." I will cover the changes that Vietnam Veterans will see under the Act in this column. The new law expands Veterans Administration (VA) health care and benefits for veterans exposed to Agent Orange. First, an...

  • Women Veterans Health Care

    Ken Cruickshank, Tulare County Veterans Services Officer|Updated Sep 8, 2022

    In a quick update to our last column, the Veterans Crisis Line has a new number: Dial 988 then Press 1. This option was added effective July 16, however, even after July 16, you may still call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat or text 838255. Women Veterans Health Care addresses the health care needs of women veterans, ensuring those needs are met in a timely, equitable, high-quality, comprehensive manner, while also ensuring that these services...

  • Suicide by Veterans

    Ken Cruickshank, Tulare County Veterans Service Officer|Updated Jul 24, 2022

    The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) seeks to continue efforts to reduce the issue of suicide by veterans. To assist veterans who need someone to talk to, the VA developed the Veterans Crisis Line. You can find more information at http://www.veteranscrisisline.net/ The Veterans Crisis Line operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to provide free, confidential support to veterans, whether they are currently registered with the VA or enrolled in VA health...

  • SAH Housing Grants

    Ken Cruickshank, Veterans Services Officer|Updated Mar 5, 2022

    This issue we will look at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefit called the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) Grant. This program provides a grant to servicemembers and veterans with certain permanent and total service-connected disabilities, to either help purchase or construct an adapted home or to modify an existing home to accommodate a disability. The SAH Grant helps veterans with a qualifying service-connected disability to live independently in a barrier-free...

  • Two Important Letters

    Ken Cruickshank, Tulare County Veterans Services Officer|Updated Nov 9, 2021

    When the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) decides on your claim, they will provide you with two important letters amongst all the paperwork they will send you. The first letter is called the award letter, and the second one is the rating letter. Both provide information that you will need to pay attention to. The award letter is broken down into sections; the first section will tell you your benefit information. In this section, the VA will list each disability that you fil...

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