Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
JOHN FRELLO, local Veterans Service Officer, provides a welcome and introductions to the visiting teams from out of town at a Thursday town hall meeting in Ironwood. Local veterans were informed about new benefits available and criteria necessary for enrollment.
By IAN MINIELLY
Ironwood - Local Veteran Service Officer John Frello, in conjunction with Brad Nelson, Public Affairs Officer of the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain, hosted a town hall meeting in the basement of the Ironwood Memorial Building Thursday morning.
While the primary focus was on the Choice Program, included in the presentation was a team from the Escanaba Veterans Center whose mission is to "serve veterans and their families by providing a continuum of quality care that adds value to veterans, families and communities."
The VA Choice Program is "a new, temporary benefit that allows eligible veterans to receive health care in their communities, rather than waiting for a VA appointment or traveling to a VA facility."
Clint and Jackie Weber traveled to Ironwood from Ewen for the town hall to find out about the new health benefits associated with the Choice Program. The Webers, "Want to find out how to use Choice because their Blue Cross/Blue Shield premiums are increasing 100 percent in January."
Charles Lotzer, from Ironwood, attended because he lives within the 40-mile driving radius and is under the impression he does not qualify for the benefit. Lotzer pointed out how he recently had a medical need on a Sunday and the local VA Clinic was not open and he hoped the Choice Program would address the difficulty for area veterans.
To answer the unasked questions and provide information regarding the Choice Program, Maryann Johnson, VA Community Care Services Director, gave a presentation on the Choice Program and Non-VA covered care.
The criteria for VA Choice is confusing not only to veterans, but also to the people ond staff assigned to work on the issues because it is a new program and has special circumstances and exemptions built in for access to the benefits.
One of the primary discriminators of access to Choice is based on whether the veteran lives within a 40-mile driving radius of a medical doctor staffed VA Clinic. If you live within the radius you do not qualify, although there are exceptions to the rule. Due to the exceptions, being within the 40-mile radius does not mean a veteran is automatically excluded from Choice.
For example, if you live within 40 miles of a qualifying VA Clinic and are unable to get an appointment within 30 days, the veteran would qualify for the Choice Program based on the exception.
An additional exception of specific value in the Upper Peninsula is based on the level of hardship required to make the trip to a VA clinic. In the U.P., weather conditions can impede travel and make the trip to Ironwood's VA Outpatient clinic prohibitive, especially if there are closer medical options that remediate the wintery travel. Additional exceptions are available and veterans are encouraged to call the VA and discuss their own circumstances and whether they qualify for the Choice Program. To discuss exceptions, call 1-800-606-8198.
Unfortunately for area veterans, Aspirus Grand View Hospital, after three months of consultations with the VA, left the HealthNet network of providing access for the Choice Program on Aug. 31. This does not mean veterans cannot use Grand View for medical care under the Choice Program, but it does mean the care will fall under established Provider Agreements between the hospital and VA for out of network provision of care, requiring veterans to follow procedures based on the VA Hierarchy of Non-VA care protocols before receiving treatment.
The second benefit of major concern discussed at the town hall was treatment available through the Escanaba Veterans Center. Readjustment counseling therapist and army veteran Michelle Kovachich discussed how the Veterans Center is not attached to the VA Medical Center officially, but instead focuses on the mental health of veterans and their families. The Veterans Center started in 1979 because Vietnam veterans were avoiding the VA, but still required mental health care.
Kovachich said she and the other readjustment counselors focus on trauma, PTSD, and sexual assault and harassment victims by providing an outlet and person that cares and listens who can assist the veterans and their families readjust to civilian life after experiencing difficulties during their military service.
Kovachich travels to Bessemer one day per week and maintains an office on the ground floor of the Bessemer Veterans Memorial Building. Solely based on the needs of the veterans, Kovachich provides individual and group counseling and stressed to the veterans in attendance she also sees the spouses and children of veterans as needed, because the spouses and children often see the effects of the trauma first-hand and may not understand why their veteran parent or spouse behaves, reacts, or lashes out in the manners they do.
After hosting the town hall in Ironwood, the entire group headed to Watersmeet to deliver the same presentation to a different group of veterans. Thursday's town hall in Watersmeet was the first time staff from the Oscar G Johnson VA Medical Center had visited that town and it was a further effort by the local VA leadership to meet the veterans where they live.
