Editor's Note: Following are typical questions answered daily by VA counselors. Full information is available at any VA office.
Q. Recently, I heard that VA was paying more than $500 million in insurance dividends. I thought stories about these dividends were a hoax?
A. During 2004, VA plans to distribute $517 million in insurance dividends to 1.5 million veterans who served between 1917 and 1956. Recipients paid premiums for many years.
A long-standing hoax alleges that Congress has passed a law giving dividends to veterans who did not keep up their premium after leaving the military or who first served after 1956. Sometimes veterans are asked to pay fees to see if they qualify for a dividend. No fees are required by VA.
Full information about dividends can be obtained on the Internet at www.insurance.va.gov or by calling 1-800-669-8477.
Q. My family is trying to arrange our father's funeral. Who do we contact to get a military honor guard?
A. Funeral home directors should know exactly whom to contact in their communities. Obtaining honor guards – from the active-duty military, from a reserve component unit or from a veterans organization – is a regular service provided by funeral homes.
Most veterans are eligible to receive military funeral honors, including the folding and presentation of the flag and the playing of Taps. Having a military honor guard is subject to the availability of personnel in each community, and some VA national cemeteries have their own honor guards.
Q. Is it true that VA buys drugs from Canada, just like some commercial businesses that have been stopped by the government?
A. No. VA only purchases pharmaceuticals that (1) are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), (2) are manufactured in FDA-approved plants, and (3) have plants located in a nation that is an approved U.S. trading partner.
It is possible for VA to purchase drugs from other countries if all three conditions above are met. Commercial businesses have been in the news recently for purchasing drugs from non-FDA approved sources overseas.
For further information about VA financial payments, call 1-800-827-1000. For information about VA health care, call 1-877-222-8387. Or visit VA’s web-page at www.va.gov.
