Ban Law Office PC – Utah Veterans Disability, Utah Environmental Law

Special Social Security Benefit for Veterans

Please share this with anyone who’s had active duty service between January 1957 to December 31, 2001 and planning for retirement. In a nutshell it boils down to this:

You qualify for a higher social security payment because of your Military service, for active duty any time from 1957 through 2001 (the program was done away with 1 January 2002). Up to $1200 per year of earnings credit credited at time of application – which can make a substantial difference in social security monthly payments upon your retirement. You must bring your DD-214 to the Social Security Office and you must ask for this benefit to receive it! Soc Sec website:

This is something to put in your files for when you apply for Social Security down the road. It is NOT just for retirees, BUT anyone who has served on active duty between January 1957 to December 31, 2001.

FYI – this benefit is not automatic, you must ask for it! We’ve all been on active duty between 1957 and 2001 or know someone who has. Passing on good information for all your military folks when you apply for social security. I know this may be too early for some of you to think about social security but, keep living and you will get there…

Special Extra Earnings for Military Service

Since 1957, if you had military service earnings for active duty (including active duty for training), you paid Social Security taxes on those earnings. Since 1988, inactive duty service in the Armed Forces reserves (such as weekend drills) has also been covered by Social Security.

Under certain circumstances, special extra earnings for your military service from 1957 through 2001 can be credited to your record for Social Security purposes. These extra earnings credits may help you qualify for Social Security or increase the amount of your Social Security benefit.

Special extra earnings credits are granted for periods of active duty or active duty for training. Special extra earnings credits are not granted for inactive duty training.

If your active military service occurred:
From 1957 through 1967, we will add the extra credits to your record when you apply for Social Security benefits.
From 1968 through 2001, you do not need to do anything to receive these extra credits. The credits were automatically added to your record.
After 2001, there are no special extra earnings credits for military service.

How You Get Credit For Special Extra Earnings
The information that follows applies only to active duty military service earnings from 1957 through 2001. Here’s how the special extra earnings are credited on your record:
Service in 1957 Through 1977
You are credited with $300 in additional earnings for each calendar quarter in which you received active duty basic pay.
Service in 1978 through 2001
For every $300 in active duty basic pay, you are credited with an additional $100 in earnings up to a maximum of $1,200 a year. If you enlisted after September 7, 1980, and didn’t complete at least 24 months of active duty or your full tour, you may not be able to receive the additional earnings. Check with Social Security for details.

Feel your VA Rating is too Low?

Basically all you need is a good faith belief that a service related disability has gotten worse which typically entitles the Vet to a compensation exam to substantiate this claim. You don’t need to file a formal application instead you can just send a letter stating that you think your disability has become more severe. VA is expected to carefully review all documents “in a liberal manner to identify and adjudicate all reasonably raised claims”. Norris v. West, 12 Vet. App. 413. Claims for disability rating increases are new claims and are not subject to the requirement that a Veteran must submit new and material evidence to a previously denied claim. Theoretically the VA’s duty to assist is triggered by such claims where the VA is to fully develop the claim for increase. The VA must make “reasonable efforts” to assist the vet in locating the evidence. This help includes a medical examination so that the current level of disability can be evaluated.

Usually they rely on the most recent medical information as opposed to older evidence, however the more recent evidence must be adequate for rating purposes. The Vet will also want to support these claims with doctor reports that substantiate the claim including private doctors. If the private dr. report is sufficient for rating purposes then the VA does not need to do its own exam. 38 CFR 3.326(c). Benefits are effective from the date the VA received the claim or the date that entitlement arose, whichever is later. May date back one year prior to the date of a claim for increase if it is “ascertainable that an increase in disability had occurred” within this time frame. 38 USC 5110(b)(2).

Brain Imaging Could be Used to Diagnose PTSD

Rarely are there objective and medically acceptable testing methods that can scientifically verify the presence of a mental illness. That may have changed based on new research out of the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota VA Medical Center. Hundreds of thousands of new cases of PTSD are being diagnosed as a result of current military conflicts in the middle east, but now, magnetoencephalography (MEG), a brain imaging method, could be used to verify PTSD. They scanned the brains of 74 U.S. veterans with PTSD, and 250 civilians without the disorder, and say that by spotting specific brain biomarkers, they managed to accurately diagnose PTSD sufferers with 90 percent accuracy. The MEG can accurately measure electrical activity in the brain and at least preliminarily there seems to be reason to believe that it could be relied upon to accurately diagnose PTSD. MEGs can record brain signals very quickly compared to a CT scan or MRI. The VA has been desperate to get a handle on the number of new PTSD cases since the disease has quickly inundated the disability system with appeals, and in certain cases significant compensation to Veterans.

Post script: Based on further review it would seem that these recent studies may not be the best tool for PTSD diagnosis, but rather could be useful for finding differences between people with PTSD and those that don’t. A blog post describes the difference and chalks up the media reports to inaccuracies in reporting on mental illnesses which is quite common. Check it out on mindhacks.

Take Action Water Grab

As explained below Gov. Herbert has been at the cusp of signing the deeply flawed agreement with Nevada but for whichever reason has been hesitant. He needs to be convinced through letters that this agreement should never be signed. Below are talking points from Brian Moench MD, from UPHE, and Terry Marasco. Also comments from this office were formally submitted below during the public comment period they are still relevant in terms of comments of protest to the governor. Herbert’s e-mail is: gherbert@utah.gov

The DAQ stonewalled a later and more convenient public hearing. So far the only public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010. At the Magna Chamber of Commerce, 9145 W 2700 South, Magna, Ut. 7:00 pm.

Water Grab Opinion Piece

Poised to hold the coat of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) while they pushed Utah off a cliff, Gov. Herbert has now taken one step back from the brink. To suggest that Utah continue tinkering with the fine print of the Snake Valley Water Agreement is like arguing over what tunes should the band play while the Titanic sinks. We offer ten reality checks.

1. The purpose of any agreement is to drain enormous volumes of water from Snake Valley to support real estate speculators and casino operators in Sin City. Over 70 years the water Utah would surrender to Nevada would fill a skyscraper 1 acre square, 471 miles high.

2. “Possession is 90% of the law.” Once Nevada has spent billions to make hundreds of thousands of people dependent on that water, no judge or court will turn off the tap regardless of the fine print in the Agreement, regardless of whether Snake Valley has become a ghost town or how much dust covers Temple Square. The saga of the notorious William Mulholland stealing Owens Valley water for Los Angeles is exactly what Utah can expect to be repeated.

3. Why does Herbert want an agreement and why have our entire Congressional delegation deserted us? Investigative journalists from the Las Vegas Sun, Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News reveal that Sen. Harry Reid, financial benefactor of the project, has mixed a stew of blackmail, quid pro quo and, old fashioned influence peddling, by threatening to prevent the equally ill-advised Lake Powell pipeline if Utah doesn’t surrender the water in Snake Valley. Why settle for just one disaster when you can have two?

4. The Utah team has promoted the Agreement stating it “prohibits groundwater mining.” Yet Snake Valley ranchers, expert geologists, former SNWA hydrologists and biologists know there is no excess renewable water in the West Desert. This project is the very definition of groundwater mining.

5. The Agreement’s environmental safeguards are anything but. For an area the size of Vermont, the aquifers now provide the only lifeline for plants like the greasewood, the primary reason why the West Desert is not another Sahara Desert. Air quality monitoring will reveal nothing about the impending death of the greasewood plants, until it is irreversible. The routine dust storms in Owens Valley, Australia, Uzbekistan and the Middle East are evidence that in a desert, compensatory vegetation cannot be counted on to fill the void.

6. There are urban and rural economic threats. Ask any urban Utahn whether air pollution already impairs our quality of life. Quality of life issues become economic issues affecting real estate values, hurting existing businesses and suppressing new ones. Rural agricultural, tourism, and hunting and fishing economies will be depreciated and possibly destroyed. Additionally, development of alternative energy projects such as solar thermal will be prohibited.

7. Dust storms threaten not just our quality of life but life itself. The science is unequivocal. The particles inhaled cause the same kind of disease as those from tail pipes, smoke stacks and cigarettes. Within minutes blood pressure rises, vascular inflammation and clot formation begins, followed by increased numbers of heart attacks, strokes and deep vein thrombosis. Even if dust storms are short lived, their impact can last long after they are gone. Community mortality rates increase from even short term elevations in particle pollution and stay elevated for up to 30 days after the air has cleared.

New dust storms will harm all of us a little bit, thousands of us much more, and will certainly cause premature deaths. The additional threat that this dust is contaminated with mercury, radioactivity, fungi, and asbestos-like minerals continues to be ignored.

8. Utah’s negotiating team misrepresented Utah’s legal options. Our deputy attorney general stated publicly that if Utah brought a dispute to the Supreme Court we would have to prove current damages, not potential future damages. Not true, according to at least two U.S. Supreme Court cases and our legal counsel. Enough science already exists, and more is being done, that would solidify Utah’s case. The best chance to prevent this disaster is to stop it before it starts.

9. The only winners in any agreement are a handful of real estate speculators in Nevada and Southern Utah. Everyone else loses. Utah gets no money for the water surrendered. When Snake Valley runs dry even Nevada home owners will be at risk as SNWA searches for more rural communities to exploit.

10. Utahns must stop this. Call and write the governor to tell Harry Reid and the SNWA that Utah intends to win the “War on Water Terrorists.”

Brian Moench
President, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment

Terry Marasco
Snake Valley business owner

Water Grab Update

Although things looked real bad last fall when Governor Herbert and DNR Director Styler gave the public the impression that the agreement would be signed very quickly after public comment this didn’t end up happening. Then at the end of 2009 it looked like the Governor would sign it and now there is some indication that there could be another delay, albeit a short one. One gets the impression that the Governor wants to sign it but is attempting to appease some County officials. The SL Tribune is reporting that based on letters from Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and the Millard County County Commission that there could be a short delay. The most interesting part of the report is that Las Vegas officials don’t even believe that Snake Valley water would be pumped until 2050. Concerns coming from the Counties include the same general concerns about Wasatch Front Air Quality and some proof that there wouldn’t be irreversible aquifer mining as a result of the diversion.

Currently the BLM is finalizing its draft EIS on the project and reportedly will include estimations about what the aquifer would look like 200 years after the diversion occurs. The models used to predict such estimations of drawdown don’t seem to have much promise in terms of accuracy. The sentiment from scientists is quite direct: “Any forecast 200 years into the future is bulls—,” said Tim Barnett, a physicist and researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. “You just can’t do that.” The bottom line is that there is simply no point in being in such a hurry to sign an agreement that is not based on any facts, and that even once the EIS is released it still won’t be much more clear how the aquifer will react to the proposed project. There certainly shouldn’t be a hurry in lieu of the fact that there wouldn’t be any diversion for another 40 years.

Agent Orange Claims

Agent Orange generally refers to any herbicide that was used during the Vietnam War, but the main ingredient within these herbicides that causes most medical problems is dioxin. Generally to receive presumptive service connection for agent orange exposure you need to have one of the diseases linked with exposure. See 38 U.S.C. § 1116(a); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307(a)(6), 3.309(e). Periodically this list is revised since the VA partners with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) who occasionally finds new diseases that are positively linked with agent orange exposure. Generally the IOM will issue new reports every two years and has found new diseases that are closely associated with exposure including hypertension and AL amyloidosis.

Although the Veteran need not show actual exposure to AO they do need to show that they served in Vietnam or to use VA vernacular that they had “boots on the ground”. Unfortunately this requirement leaves out many Veterans who were exposed outside of Vietnam during the same time period and House Bill 2254 (see below) may correct this problem if passed. This includes military service in Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975. The boots on the ground requirement applies to those Veterans who served just off shore, but you’ll still need to have spent some time (even a minute) in Vietnam itself. Since the requirement includes service “in the waters offshore and service in other locations if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in the Republic of Vietnam.” 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(iii). Boots on the ground includes service within inland water bodies within Vietnam, but does not include overflights over Vietnam. There have been problems with the so called “blue water” Veterans that were just off shore of Vietnam and has been appealed up to the Federal Circuit where it was held that these Veterans did not meet the requirement since you need to prove that you at least set foot on shore.

Secondly, you need to show that you have one of the diseases located at the cites above that typically includes various types of cancer, hodgkin’s, soft tissue sarcomas, diabetes, and medical problems in the children of exposed Veterans. See the list in the code provisions cited above. Lastly, certain types of diseases must have had an onset within a certain amount of time after the Vet left Vietnam. Its also possible that a Veteran could be compensated for a disease not on the list, but it can be assumed that this will be a tougher task, and would require excellent medical support.

Women Veterans Struggling

The Associated Press did a great story on the problems women veterans face in lieu of their increasing numbers and society’s failure to acknowledge their sacrifices. The numbers are quite high since over 230,000 women have fought in recent military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The problems they face are the same as their male veteran colleagues although they seem to face added sexual discrimination. Like their male cohorts they struggle with PTSD but such an illness may be discounted in their disability rating if they are pregnant. Although military law prohibits women from being in artillery front lines the likelihood they will be in a combat situation is high due to the nature of recent conflicts. Even as a police officer there is a strong possibility of being situated in the middle of a violent conflict. One hundred and twenty women have been killed in action and 650 have been wounded. One area that women veterans seem to be struggling with at higher rates then men are sexual assault, but often the most common complaint is the stigma they receive when they get back home. Women veterans do not seem to receive the same level of respect as males when they return such as the free beers that many veterans receive. That disrespect is compounded by the military establishment and VA since the woman’s role in service is frequently viewed as a subservient or lesser role then the male veteran’s.

Search Drinking Water Quality

The NY Times in their ongoing coverage of water quality problems nationally have developed another powerful tool for searching the local drinking water quality where you live. Its a part of their “Toxic Waters” series. You can search even the smallest of municipalities, interestingly enough is the fact that often local water will meet legal standards– but not health standards. Obviously this makes it clear that there’s a problem with our laws.

HR 2254 Could Expand Benefits for Agent Orange Victims

Anybody who has applied for VA benefits alleging medical problems due to Agent Orange exposure knows about the “boots on the ground” requirement that requires that Veterans have had physical presence in Vietnam. The problem with this requirement is that many Vietnam era veterans were exposed to Agent Orange in areas outside of Vietnam including off shore, in the air, or in other countries such as Thailand. HR 2254 currently has the support of 200 house members of Congress and could expand benefits to all victims of Agent Orange exposure regardless of whether they had “boots on the ground” in Vietnam. Obviously, time is of the essence here since these Veterans health is ailing either due to Cancer that was caused by this exposure or some other health problem. Its unfortunate that this law was originally drafted so poorly and inequitably so as to exclude so many Veterans that were exposed to dangerous herbicides during the greater SE Asia conflict in the ’60s and ’70s.