Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #111908

Teresa M. Sacks, MPH (c)¹, Lawrence J. Weiss, PhD¹, Despina M. Hatton, Esq², and Marietta Bobba, MBA³. (1) Sanford Center for Aging, University of Nevada, Reno, MS 146, Reno, NV 89557-0133, 775-784-7557, sackst@unr.nevada.edu, (2) Senior Law Project, Senior Citizens Service Center of Washoe County, 1155 E. Ninth Street, Reno, NV 89512, (3) Washoe County Senior Services, 1155 E. Ninth Street, Reno, NV 89512

There are 241,000 veterans in Nevada. 186,000 of these veterans are served by the Reno Regional Office. The majority (139,000) are wartime veterans having served during World War I, World War II, Korean Conflict, Vietnam or more recently, the Gulf War. A small percentage (1.6%) or 2,235 low-income wartime veterans receive a non-service connected monthly cash payment from the VA called Pension Benefits. In the late eighties, a demonstration project conducted by the CARE Law Project in rural Nevada found, “95% of homebound and institutionalized older persons who were eligible for financial assistance from the VA, including money to assist with out-of-pocket costs for medical care, were not aware of their eligibility for VA assistance.”

Through the use of survey research, a pilot study was conducted to determine: 1) how many low-income wartime veterans or survivors of veterans residing in Washoe County were aware of needs-based Pension Benefits available from the VA, 2) identify those eligible, and then assist participants with applying for benefits including responding to VA letters and filing appeals.

Analysis of the data indicated participants were unaware of the availability of Pension Benefits or that they were eligible to receive them. Efforts must be made on the part of local, state, and federal agencies to educate and outreach to this population of veterans who may be entitled to Pension Benefits.

Learning Objectives: Session participants will understand

• VA Pension Benfits and eligibility criteria,
• the process involved when applying for VA benefits,
• what can be done at the service agency level to facilitate access for older low-income wartime veterans in need of financial assistance.

Keywords: Veterans, Access and Services

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation