VA Increases Salaries for Nurses
Would you like to learn more about an increase in salaries for nurses employed by the VA? Faced with a growing workload of claims related to the recently passed “Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics” (PACT) Act, the Veterans Administration is working to recruit and retain healthcare professionals at a higher rate than before. It is offering higher pay, bigger bonuses, and more benefits to current and potential employees.
When Congress was debating the PACT Act, the VA began looking at implementation requirements, according to VA Undersecretary for Human Resources Gina Grosso. “This legislation provides a broad range of recruiting and retention authorities that will allow the VA to recruit and retain the workforce we need to provide the care and benefits to the nation’s veterans, their caregivers, and survivors,” she remarked.
Grosso was primarily referring to the Retention and Income Security Enhancement (RAISE) Act, which President Biden signed into law in March as part of the omnibus funding package. Because of this legislation, the VA has approved pay increases for nearly 10,000 nurses, raising their salaries to a new cap of $203,000 per year. Any nurse at the previous cap, or within 10% of it and working in certain markets, automatically saw a pay increase. Jessica Bonjorni, the chief of human capital management at the Veterans Health Administration, said the PACT Act has allowed the department to offer bigger bonuses and awards to employees, as well as recruitment, retention, and relocation incentives of up to 50% of employees’ salaries.
Salaries For Nurses And PACT Act Claims
Successful VA disability claims require a connection between an in-service event and the veteran’s current disabling condition. Many things can cause serious breathing problems, cancer, and other severe illnesses. Legislation like the PACT Act makes this connection more straightforward. These laws include presumptive service-related connections for victims who were exposed to Agent Orange chemicals, burn pit smoke, and other toxins. Certain cancers and respiratory conditions are medically linked to such exposure. Even though they may show up long after the veteran leaves service, so the connection is difficult to identify.
Difficult, but not impossible. Attorneys often partner with doctors who thoroughly review medical records and other pertinent information and draw expert conclusions as to what caused the veteran’s illness. However, for illnesses that have been definitively linked to burn pit exposure, presumptive service connection eliminates the need for multiple doctor visits to establish a link.
Veterans And Presumptive Service-Related Conditions
Many veterans do not have a presumptive condition but may have a substantially similar condition. Sometimes, a substantially similar condition is enough to invoke the presumptive service-related conditions. In other cases, a VA disability attorney must start at square one.
There is an increasing number of veterans seeking medical care who served overseas in the Global War on Terror. They may have been exposed to burn pits. The PACT Act has established a policy. Every veteran seeing a primary care physician at a VA facility starting in November 2022 will undergo a five-minute screening. To determine whether they have had adequate burn pit exposure to qualify for the registry.
This will take some of the responsibility off of veterans and their attorneys. However, veterans are usually responsible for providing evidence about the extent of their disability. Usually, a Compensation and Pension (C&P) doctor only uses medical evidence to assign a preliminary disability rating between 0% and 100%. This is not always as straightforward as it sounds because disabilities have different effects on different people.
The VA issues disability compensation, meant to make up for the loss of income.. Or other standards of living disabled veterans experience. As a result of their service-connected conditions. If a disability has no impact on a veteran’s life. For instance, if a condition is totally treated by medication – the veteran’s disability rating might be 0%. And they would receive no monthly compensation.
VA Medical Care
Many veterans focus on monthly cash disability payments. This focus usually makes sense. For families barely making ends meet, even a thousand dollars a month could be life-changing.
However, in long-term serious disease claims, the medical benefits may be more important than the monthly cash. Usually, disabled veterans are eligible for free care at any VA medical facility in the country.
Many VA facilities focus exclusively on long-term serious diseases. This, given to the rise of toxic exposure illnesses after the Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, and Global War on Terror. Additionally, VA facilities are under a microscope. Any hint of inadequate care immediately makes headlines and usually forces lawmakers to act. No one wants to be the person who ignores a disabled veteran’s needs.
Work With Tough-Minded Attorneys
An attorney is a valuable partner in all phases of a disability claim. For a free consultation with an experienced veterans disability lawyer, contact the Cameron Firm, P.C. at 800-861-7262 or fill out the contact box on our website. We are here to represent veterans nationwide.
This article is for educational and marketing purposes only. Consequently, it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
