State VFW helps sick veterans facing VA backlog
Liz Salvador, an assistant service officer for the state Veterans of Foreign Wars, talks to Bill May of Greensboro about his Veterans Affairs health benefits during one of her visits to the VFW in Carmichaels.
CARMICHAELS – Liz Salvador showed up at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Carmichaels on a Thursday in May expecting to find some Vietnam War veterans there eager to talk to her about their health benefits claims.
One of them, Bill May of Greensboro, stepped forward to ask for privacy and help with his claim before the Veterans Affairs from Salvador, an assistant service officer with the VFW’s Pennsylvania Department.
“The VA backlog is outrageous,” said Salvador, whose office in the U.S. Federal Building in Pittsburgh sends a representative here once a month to help local veterans get the benefits they are due.
Military veterans often make the mistake of filling out their own applications for health benefits from the VA, only to have them denied or returned for more information, she said.
Others don’t realize that they need to file a third-party release for the health files if they’re receiving health care outside of the VA, she said.
Salvador’s office represents Washington, Greene, Westmoreland and Allegheny counties, and she’s been known to even drive to a coffee shop to help a veteran with a case, she said.
“If a veteran calls me, I’ll meet them anywhere,” Salvador said.
The Carmichaels VFW post set up this program two years ago because its members believe the veterans in this area are underserved, said Bruce Black, the organization’s adjutant.
“Without her being here, these guys would not be recognized,” Black said.
It’s not uncommon for Salvador to see as many as 10 veterans who show up here for help from the state VFW when one of its representatives visits from 10 a.m. to noon on the first Thursday of each month.
VFWs have recovered $6.9 billion in VA benefits for veterans across the United States in the past three years, the organization states on its website.
Most of the veterans who visit with Salvador served in the Vietnam War and deal with medical problems associated with exposure to Agent Orange, the defoliant U.S. troops used to clear the enemy’s jungle hiding places.
Many of the younger veterans the VFW helps complain about health problems they attribute to exposure to burn pits in the Middle East.
“They burned everything,” Salvador said.
Congress has approved a list of illnesses that the VA has to presume were related to Agent Orange exposure, with diabetes being the biggest problem, Salvador said.
She’s familiar with the benefits process and doesn’t have far to go to file claims, as her office is one floor below the VA’s staff in the Federal Building in Pittsburgh.
She can be reached at 412-395-6260 or Elizabeth.salvador@va.gov.