Local program helps veterans, families get help they didn’t know about

A pilot program designed to assist veterans in a Vancouver nursing home is going to help struggling military families across the country.

Vancouver’s Bill Allman, who initiated the program in 2003, has been contacted by agencies in 15 states for information on the program this year and other states are interested.

Allman, with the state’s Department of Social and Health Services, realized a few years ago that some of the people he was helping should have been receiving federal veterans’ benefits.

“We started this because Veterans Affairs doesn’t do outreach,” Allman said Monday in his Vancouver office.

Many people think the VA health care system “is only for disabled vets, or only for retired military folks,” Allman said.

“With no health insurance, you need two years of honorable service,” said Allman, a Navy veteran who served in Vietnam. “If you are unemployed, (veterans benefits) should be your safety net — not Medicaid or general assistance.”

Other people don’t know they are eligible for long-term care through military service.

Through computer matchups of people who are in both the state and veterans’ data bases, Allman has been able to expand the level of support for veterans and their families. It also cuts down on some duplication.

The Veterans Benefit Enhancement Project received the Governor’s Award for Customer Service in 2004.

Tim Dahlin, who works on the data-processing side at DSHS, also was a pioneer in the fledgling Vancouver program.

The state human-services agency has teamed with the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs in the effort. It’s a great example of two agencies that are looking for a partnership rather than protecting their turf, Allman said.

“The state Veterans Affairs has been fabulous,” said Paige Wall, a DSHS program manager. “That’s a big question we get: How do you partner with the VA folks? It’s nice not to have to deal with those (turf issues).”

Paige said that the project saved Washington more than $3.8 million in the 2008 fiscal year.

While that is a significant number, “The savings is secondary,” Allman said. “Are we taking care of our vets?”

Allman came up with the notion several years ago when was trying to help a Vancouver woman whose husband — a veteran — had suffered a stroke.

The woman had to deal with the aftermath of Medicaid funding. And Medicaid must try to recover its costs from clients’ estates, which may require selling a family home.

“She wasn’t going to lose her home, but their heirs were going to have to deal with the lien,” Allman said.

“She agreed to repay, but she said her husband had some benefits,” Allman said. The man had been a military officer, so Allman was able to get the bill for long-term care shifted to the VA.

Allman wondered how many other families were in a similar situation, and he and Dahlin got together with Alex Deluao in the state VA office.

“They provided basic information on clients in one nursing facility in Vancouver,” Deluao said. “They gave us their names, including the women and their spouses’ names. We matched them with names we have access to through the federal VA system.

“Of the 105 clients, there were 30 veterans who were potentially eligible to file, and 15 widows,” Deluao said. “They added another nursing home, then did a pilot program for Clark County,” and eventually Washington took it statewide.

Since 2003, Allman said, “I think more than 6,000 people — veterans and their family members — have been enrolled” in a range of programs.

And it looks as though business will be increasing after several years of war.

“There will be so many vets coming back,” said Wall, manager of state’s payment review program at DSHS. And if the program means that some vets or their dependents will be getting help they hadn’t expected, well …

“These people earned it,” she said.

A look at the nation’s veterans

23.6 million military veterans.

1.8 million female veterans.

2.4 million black veterans.

1.1 million Hispanic veterans.

278,000 Asian American veterans.

165,000 American Indian or Alaska native veterans.

27,000 Hawaiian/Pacific Islander veterans.

9.3 million veterans 65 and older.

1.9 million veterans 34 and younger.

6 million veterans have disabilities.

2.7 million veterans receive compensation for service-connected disabilities.

$28.2 billion: Compensation paid to veterans for service-connected disabilities.

$72.8 billion: Federal spending on veterans; 47 percent for compensation and pensions, 46 percent for medical care, the rest for programs such as vocational rehab and education.

25 percent of veterans 25 and older have earned at least a bachelor’s degree.

90 percent of veterans 25 and older have earned at least a high school diploma.

5 million veterans served during past 18 years.

7.9 million Vietnam War-era (1964-75) veterans.

3 million Korean War-era (1950-53) veterans.

2.9 million World War II-era (1941-45) veterans.

315,000 veterans served during both the Korean and Vietnam wars.

263,000 veterans served during World War II and the Korean War.

69,000 veterans served during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

10.7 million veterans, ages 18 to 64, are in the labor force.

$32,217: Annual earnings for female veterans, more than the $27,272 earned by women with no military experience.

$42,128: Annual earnings for male veterans, more than the $39,880 earned by men with no military experience.

5.7 percent of veterans live in poverty, compared with 12 percent of nonveterans.

74 percent of veterans voted in the 2004 presidential election, compared with 63 percent for the nonveterans.

61 percent of veterans voted in the 2006 general election, compared with 46 percent for the nonveterans.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Most numbers are for 2007.