By Kaitlyn Rigdon
Staff Writer
Officials with the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs hosted a town hall meeting Saturday to give local veterans and family members an opportunity to ask any questions concerning their benefits. The meeting was held at the American Legion Post 10.
Questions were answered by a panel consisting of Gina Chandler, assistant director of veteran services, Bill Wussick, assistant director of veteran cemeteries, Kathie Gately, assistant director of veteran homes and Andrew Anderson, veteran service officer.
Colonel Nathaniel Todd, director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs, opened the discussion and stated that to date, 51 out of 75 counties in Arkansas have moved to electronic files. Moving to electronic access has made it easier and more efficient for service officers to access veteran files.
Wussick discussed cemeteries and burial benefits for veterans. “We just got back from D.C. to solidify and set ourselves up for priority one consideration for a 7.7 million dollar cemetery expansion at the North Little Rock facility,” Wussick said. “This will take care of our needs in that area for another 10 years.”
To have burial benefits, you must first be preregistered, and Wussick encourages you to do this as soon as possible. “It’s probably the best thing you can ever do for your family. All you have to do is get that DD214 to a veteran officer,” he said.
To qualify, you must have served on active duty, presently for 24 consecutive months. Prior to 1981, you had to have served for at least 24 hours, Wussick said. Burial benefits cover the cost of opening and closing the grave. All body preparation is the responsibility of the family and veteran, Wussick said.
All of these are general benefits and qualifications. Every veteran has individual benefits and should contact their veteran officer for individual details.
Gately spoke about a new nursing home facility that was built in North Little Rock. The facility acts as a small community with eight cottages and a community center. Each cottage houses 12 veterans, who each have their own bedroom and bathroom.
The facility received its operational license in January and took in its first veteran on January 31.
To qualify to live in this facility, there are certain medical and financial qualifications the veteran has to meet, depending on your specific insurance.
Anderson discussed how it is free to file a claim through the veterans affairs department and advises you to use an officer to file these claims. “The VA system is too big. You need someone to navigate the system and that’s what we do,” Anderson said.
“That’s why we are here,” Director Todd said. “We are here because our system is complex. We brought the services to El Dorado so that you could get one-on-one information and have a general discussion.”
Chandler advises all veterans to get their drivers license updated with “veteran” printed on it. All you have to do is take your DD214 to the DMV and they will put “veteran” on your license. This is for emergency purposes so that a responder will take note that you are a veteran when looking at your ID.
Advance Care Planning will be coming to El Dorado on Sept. 15 to speak about helping veterans maintain control of their health care, should they become mentally or medically unable to speak for themselves.
Anyone who would like to learn more about advance care planning for health care is welcome to join. The meeting will take place at the American Legion Post 10, 105 Christian Dr. in El Dorado at 10 a.m.
They will also discuss the VA Advance Directive form and help veterans explore who would be an appropriate health care agent and how to help stay in control, even when physically unable to do so.
To find more about the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs, visit their website at www.veterans.arkansas.gov or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ADVAvets.
Kaitlyn Rigdon can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].