Women Veterans Call Center

On April 23, 2013, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) launched its new Women Veterans hotline—1-855-VA-WOMEN (1-855-829-6636)—an incoming call center that receives and responds to questions from women Veterans, their families, and caregivers across the nation about available VA services and resources.

“The Women Veterans Call Center is aimed at increasing women Veterans’ knowledge of all VA services and benefits that they deserve,” said Krista Stephenson, Army Veteran and Women Veterans Call Center Director.

Since 2000, the number of women using VA health care has more than doubled, from nearly 160,000 to more than 360,000 in 2012. Women now make up 15 percent of active duty and 18 percent of Guard/Reserves service members. Based on the upward trend of women in all branches of service, the number of women Veterans and female VA users is expected to double again in the next decade.

Despite this rapid growth, women constitute only six percent of VA’s total patient population. VA has also found that women Veterans underutilize VA care, largely due to a lack of knowledge about VA benefits and available services. In response, an outbound Call Center was established in 2010 to contact women Veterans and encourage them to try VA care. It has been expanded, and the Call Center’s telephone agents now receive incoming calls and inquiries about VA care and other services for women.

“All our telephone agents have received general education regarding services that the VA provides women Veterans,” said Stephenson.

They are informed about eligibility, benefits, health care and other services, and can route calls within VA when needed. Agents are also trained to respond to crisis situations such as suicidal behavior, homelessness, sexual trauma, and domestic violence.

1-855-VA-WOMEN (1-855-829-6636) provides a single avenue for women Veterans to get the help they need.

They just have the one number to call and our telephone agents will be able to direct them appropriately and to provide them the information that they need,” said Stephenson. “We also have established agreements for warm handoffs to VA programs such as the Veterans Crisis Line and the Caregiver Support Line. We are also working collaboratively with other VA Departments for those Veterans who have questions regarding VA benefits and health eligibility.”

In these cases, Stephenson added, the Call Center follows-up with women Veterans within 30 days to ensure they received the services they needed.

VA aims to meet the unique needs of women Veterans by delivering the highest quality of health care to each woman, while offering privacy, dignity, and sensitivity to gender-specific needs that she deserves. VA covers a full continuum of care, including comprehensive primary care, mental health services, as well as emergency and specialty care. In addition, VA provides gynecology services, maternity care, caregiver support, crisis support and help for homeless Veterans. With one phone call, women Veterans can discover all the VA has to offer.

As telephone agent Tamatha Lee stated, “I think the benefit of having a call center that focuses on women Veterans is that we are letting the women who served our country know we recognize that they are out there, and we are here to serve them now.”

Source: U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs
 

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

Federal Agency Issues Much Anticipated Proposal Governing SCA Exemption for Certain Extended Care Service Providers

On February 13, 2013, a proposed rule was issued providing long-awaited guidance regarding an exemption to the Service Contract Act (“SCA”) for certain providers of extended care programs entering into agreements with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (the “VA”). The SCA imposes prevailing wage rate and fringe benefit standards, as well as various reporting requirements, on certain contractors and subcontractors.

The proposed rule pertains to the Veterans Health Care, Capital Asset and Business Improvement Act (“the Act”), which was passed in 2003 to expand access to care for veterans with mental illness. Although the Act has long been understood to provide an SCA exemption, the VA recommended that providers wait to apply the exemption until the regulations were issued. After a ten year wait, the proposed rules have been issued. Final rules are expected shortly, and the VA is advising eligible providers to prepare accordingly.
We spoke with the Director of the Purchased Long-Term Care Group at the VA about this critically important proposed rule. The core of this rule, largely drawn directly from the statute, is that the reporting and wage payment provisions of the SCA do not apply to certain “providers” of “extended care services” serving veterans, if the providers enter into “agreements” rather than “contracts” with the VA. Highlights from our interview appear below.

• What providers are covered by the exemption? To be exempt from the reporting and wage payment provisions, a “provider” must have an agreement with Medicare or Medicaid or participate in a state plan for home and community based services to veterans. The VA must approve and authorize the services being provided under a provider agreement. Many providers in rural areas do not participate in Medicare or Medicaid and thus must enter into agreements to participate in state plans for home and community-based services to veterans. This may prove difficult for small providers who may not have legal counsel.
• What are “provider agreements”? “Provider agreements” are instruments used by the federal government to purchase long-term care services without making the provider a federal contractor and therefore subject to many additional rules and regulations that do not apply to providers of care under Medicare and Medicaid. In its distilled form, it is a purchasing instrument the VA can use to acquire extended care services.
• What exactly are eligible providers exempt from under the proposed rule? Providers will be exempt from reporting and wage payment requirements under the SCA, effectively removing the ability of the Department of Labor to audit them for SCA compliance. While providers can determine their own wages, they must still comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act for their employees.
• What are “extended care services?” This includes nursing homes, home hostice, home health care, adult care, home respite, home or community based respite and geriatric evaluation services.
• What is the difference between “agreements” and “contracts?” The SCA applies to contracts, but not to agreements. The major difference between them is that the VA sets the amount of medical liability and insurance for contracts, whereas the state insurance commissioner determines this for provider agreements. Also, provider agreements, which are four pages or less, are easier to administer than contracts, which may be 70+ pages long.
• What will be reimbursed? The VA will pay the Medicare and Medicaid rates, whichever is higher.
• What does this mean for potentially exempt providers? The comment period is 30 days and it is expected to be another 90 days until the final rule is issued. In the interim, the VA advises providers to consult legal counsel regarding how to restructure their contracts, and to contact the appropriate individuals (head of geriatrics and extended care, head of social work, or head of community health nurse) at their local VA hospital to discuss moving forward with provider agreements.

Source: Healthcare Employment Counsel
By Elizabeth A. Lalik and Rebecca Signer Roche

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.

Wal-Mart To Hire Veterans

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer and nation's largest private employer, is making a pledge to boost its sourcing from domestic suppliers and hire more than 100,000 veterans.

The plans were to be announced as part of an address by Bill Simon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart's U.S. business, at an annual retail industry convention in New York.

Wal-Mart (WMT) also projects that it will hire more than 100,000 recently discharged veterans in the next five years. Honorably discharged veterans will have a "place to go", says Wal-Mart's Simon, according to prepared text supplied by the discounter. The hiring pledge, which will begin on Memorial Day, covers veterans within 12 months of leaving active duty. Most of the jobs will be in Wal-Mart's stores or its Sam's club locations. Some will be in the company's distribution centers.

"Let's be clear; hiring a veteran can be one of the best decisions any of us can make," Simon plans to say in his address to retailers gathered on the third day of the four-day National Retail Federation convention. "Veterans have a record of performance under pressure. They're quick learners, and they're team players. These are leaders with discipline, training, and a passion for service. There is a seriousness and sense of purpose that the military instills, and we need it today more than ever."

Wal-Mart says it believes it is already the large private employer of veterans in the country. Last year, 225,000 active duty troops became veterans, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The company says that it has spoken to the White House about its commitment, and said the First Lady Michelle Obama's team has already expressed an interest in working with Wal-Mart and with the rest of the business community.

In the next several weeks, the White House will convene the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense and major U.S. employers to encourage businesses to make significant commitments to train and employ American's returning veterans, according to Simon's prepared text.

First lady Michelle Obama, who spearheaded a White House drive to encourage businesses to hire veterans, praised Wal-Mart's announcement, calling it "historic."

"We all believe that no one who serves our country should have to fight for a job once they return home," Mrs. Obama said in the statement. "Wal-Mart is setting a groundbreaking example for the private sector to follow."

Source: Associated Press

This information is intended to be educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.