Press Release - Tuesday, February 13, 2007
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LaSalle County Veteran Service Office moves to new location
CHICAGO - Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs (IDVA) Acting Director L. Tammy Duckworth today announced the LaSalle County Veteran Service Office has moved to a new location. The Veteran Service Office is now located at 700 Centennial Drive in Ottawa and will assist the more than 12,000 veterans who live in LaSalle County in applying for benefits from both the state and federal governments.
"The Veteran Service Offices are great resources for our veterans to learn about what state and federal benefits are available to them. We want to make sure our service men and women know about the benefits that they are entitled to when they return home to Illinois," Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs Acting Director L. Tammy Duckworth explained.
The LaSalle County Veteran Service Office houses one of the state's 73 Veteran Service Offices (VSOs). The VSOs help veterans cut through the red tape and bureaucracy associated with applying for and receiving compensation and other benefits from the federal Veterans' Administration. Their primary job responsibility is assisting in applying for nearly $400 million in federal money that goes unclaimed each year by the 26.4 million veterans across the country, and serve as a liaison between the state and the federal VA.
Veterans can receive assistance at the LaSalle County office Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or call (815) 434-0113. A full list of veteran service offices can be found on IDVA's website, www.state.il.us/agency/dva.
VSOs also serve as sign-up locations for Governor Blagojevich's health insurance program, Veterans Care. Under the first phase of Veterans Care, jointly designed by Gov. Blagojevich and Lt. Governor Pat Quinn, veterans who don't have access to health insurance would be covered. Participants who take part in the pilot program would be charged a $40 monthly premium. Prescription drugs and doctors office visits would require a minimal co-payment, ranging from $6 to $15.
In all, there are thousands of uninsured veterans in Illinois. The federal VHA covers those veterans who have service-related disabilities or who have recently returned from active duty, and then, space permitting, covers other veterans who do not have health insurance and have an income below a threshold that changes each year. Veterans who have no access to care and regularly fall through the cracks are those earning above the VHA threshold, which varies by county based on the local standard of living.
To be eligible for Veterans Care, a veteran must meet the following criteria:
- Be between the ages of 19 and 64;
- Be ineligible for VHA and other healthcare programs like FamilyCare;
- Have a household income based on the VHA threshold plus 25% of the Federal Poverty Level at the beginning of the program, and if funds permit after 6 months of operation based on the VHA threshold plus 50% of the federal poverty level;
- Not have been dishonorably discharged from service;
- Be willing to pay a monthly premium of $40, plus co-payments for doctor visits and prescriptions;
- Have been uninsured for the past six months. This requirement does NOT apply to Veterans who have:
o post active-duty coverage under TriCare
o lost insurance coverage because of the loss of their employment or their spouse's employment
o exhausted their coverage's life-time benefit
o purchased coverage under COBRA
o been unable to access a spouse's health insurance plan
o lost coverage under the state's medical programs - FamilyCare, AABD, rebate, etc.
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