[July 29, 2011] Local Veterans give NM Cabinet Sec. Hale plenty to think about Tweet Jul 29, 2011 (The Deming Headlight - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Members of the Cabinet Secretary of New Mexico's Department of Veterans' Service office have heard pretty much the same thing as they meet with veterans and veterans' families in Southern New Mexico this week. Cabinet Secretary Timothy Hale, Field Operations Director Tom Wagner and Veterans' Services Officer Reggie Price met Thursday with Deming-area veterans at American Legion Bataan Post 4, 619 W. Spruce St. Later Thursday afternoon, the trio was to be in Silver City. Price, who lives in Deming, works daily from Silver City. He is available in Deming from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., the first Thursday of each month. Contact him at (575) 538-2377. "The same thing," Hale said of the most-heard comments and questions. "Rural health care Issues, access." There is no Veterans' Affairs clinic here, so veterans have to travel to Las Cruces, Silver City, El Paso or Albuquerque. But Disabled American Veterans provides transportation four days a week and the V.A. does reimburse the those who make the drive themselves. It sometimes takes a while for reimbursement, some veterans said, even through Hale said veterans have the right to ask for and receive cash reimbursement. Some said they eventually receive money, but absent indication for the claim it covers. Hale, a U.S. Air Force veteran, said it is unlikely for at least the next 5 years there will be much money rolling from Washington, D.C., to expand veteran's programs, regardless of who is elected. Even if oil and tax revenues rise, he said, it would be several years before money rose. World War II veterans are dying at 1,000 a day and Vietnam, Korean War and Cold War veterans at a higher rate. "We need an effort to try to take care of al," Hale said. "We try to fill some of the gaps, including depending on other community groups." Hale is big on Rural Health vans used to serve outlying areas with a nurse practitioner aboard communicating with doctors, saving time and cost of travel for veterans and V.A. personnel, as well as cost of construction. "I don't see when we're going to build new brick-and mortar hospitals around the country," he said, but he does see a future for Tele-a-Health delivery of health-related services and information via telecommunications. Wagner said the V.A. now has about the same number of clients as it had after Vietnam 350,000 to 400,000 and told veterans, "Have somebody in your family know where your military records are," should V.A. contact be needed for someone who previously had not dealt with the V.A. "If you re-open a claim," Wagner said, "do it on the basis that a disability is getting worse or you have a new development." Refiling a claim just because you have seen no action, veterans were told, slows the process, as the law requires each claim be checked against a prior claim to see what is different, if anything. The V.A. is online, at www.va.gov, where you may scroll through a menu to find the appropriate category your need. There's a link for an on-line application, another to enroll and/or update medical Benefits. Kevin Buey can be reached at [email protected] To see more of The Deming Headlight, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.demingheadlight.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Deming Headlight, N.M. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]