Delivery unit has record-breaking baby boom - Military Medical | News

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Page 4 • December 2011 • Military Medical News www.militarymedical.com Marine enrolls in NIU’s graduate program for rehabilitating blind veterans “I fell in love with NIU,” Nathan LaForte explains as he reflects on his first campus visit. “I felt like this is what college should feel like.” A native of Zion, Ill., LaForte enrolled in NIU during the fall of 2007. He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology in May of 2011. Now a graduate student with the College of Education, he is enrolled in the Masters in Special Education program with an emphasis on Blind Rehabilitation and Orientation Mobility. LaForte is one of just five students to receive a one-time grant that instructs them to work with veterans who have lost their sight. The special Congressional awarded grant was offered shortly after NIU was nationally recognized for being a veteran friendly campus. LaForte is learning to instruct visually impaired veterans how to live day to day and to do the same things they did before they lost their sight. LaForte’s journey began when Dr. Gaylen Kapperman, Professor and Coordinator of the Visual Disabilities Program, came into LaForte’s undergraduate class to give an informational speech about the unique opportunity. At the time, LaForte’s studies were preparing him to become a social studies teacher; however, the closer he came to reaching his goal, the more anxiety he felt about teaching an entire classroom full of adolescents. LaForte may have been looking for a different path when Dr. Kapperman walked into his classroom that day. LaForte recalls Kapperman’s persuasive speech. He laughs and says “Dr. Kapperman is a good salesman.” As Kapperman talked about the program designed to rehabilitate blind veterans, LaForte couldn’t help but recall NATHAN LaFORTE what it was like to work one-on-one with people in the military. He served eight years in active duty with the Marine Corps and one year in the reserves. In that time, he worked as a mechanic and as a journalist. LaForte recalls, “They always had me do the on-the-job training, which really trained me to go one-on-one with someone.” Kapperman’s announcement of the program evoked these memories in LaForte. Now that he could work oneon one with students, he began to regain confidence about his original goal of becoming a teacher. The program focuses on the rehabilitation of soldiers that return sightless from Iraq and Afghanistan. In reference to loss of sight, Kapperman states, “It is seen by many to be one of the most disastrous things that can happen to a human being.” And in stating the significance of the program he says, “We are here to help those people regain as much of their former lives as possible.” In part, the program teaches participants how to use and teach others to use products that can help re-socialize the visually impaired with the everyday world. These products include braille computers and electronic devices, such as, GPS systems for the blind. In addition, the program emphasizes the relearning of everyday tasks, like cooking. Kapperman calls the course “cooking without looking.” Kapperman stresses that the adjustment to life after losing one’s sight is as much of a psychological adjustment as it is physical; the program prepares its students for this obstacle. The program specialized for veterans includes instruction like the traditional classes for blind rehabilitation, in addition to coursework to help support veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries. LaForte believes there are no limits to what individuals with visual impairments can do. He plans to expand the learning experience beyond the classroom, to include “outward bound” kinds of excursions. “They don’t think they can do these kinds of things, but they can,” he says with conviction. Kapperman emphasizes the significant impact of LaForte and his fellow classmates : “Without the training that our students provide [for] their clients, the blinded soldiers would remain dependent helpless individuals relying on everyone else.” The five students are taking six courses for two semesters and then one year of internships. The six courses are keeping LaForte up till 2:30 in the morning, studying rigorously. LaForte says, “I feel that it has really been a team effort for the faculty to keep us going through our first semester. And without our faculty members, like Dr. Kapperman, Sean Tikkun, and Dr. Bill Penrod and everyone else answering our frenzied e-mails and phone calls about course material at all hours of the day, we couldn’t make it.” Additionally, LaForte believes his participation in extracurricular activities made him successful at NIU. LaForte was uninvolved and unfulfilled when he first arrived at NIU, but quickly he became a member to multiple organizations: Alpha Phi Omega (APO), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club, Gymnastics Club, University 101 and 201 (UNIV), Orientation Leader, Military Student Services office. APO is a national service fraternity where LaForte participated in food drives, fundraisers, and auctions to help others. At the Gymnastics Club, LaForte learned how to push himself physically and mentally. “You have to commit to a movement or else you will fall. I have taken this and applied it to my personal philosophy. If you don’t commit in life, you’ll never reach the heights you can.” LaForte emphasizes the influence his extracurricular activities had on him, “I would not have stayed in college if I had not joined [these organizations]. Joining them made NIU a home.” LaForte’s dedication to higher learning and achievement has been recognized by the academic domain when he was the recipient of the Kevin D. Knight Leadership Award and was crowned Who’s Who on NIU’s campus in 2010. LaForte remains on his path of commitment to higher education as he pursues his graduate degree to become a lifeline for visually impaired soldiers and the rest of the world. McCain: Tricare fees must rise to control costs By Rick Maze Staff writer Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Thursday that “dire circumstances” are the reason he’s willing to make military retirees pay more for health care benefits. McCain, a decorated Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has drawn fire from retirees because of his suggestion that they can pay more for Tricare health coverage for themselves and their families. “Military retirees and their families deserve the best possible care in return for a career of military service, and nothing less,” McCain said on the Senate floor during debate on the $526 billion defense authorization bill for fiscal 2012. “But we cannot ignore the fact that health care costs will undermine the combat capability and training and readiness of our military if we don’t begin to control the cost growth now,” he said. “I am solemnly aware of the commitment this nation has made to the men and women who have served in the military regarding health care and benefits. This nation has made promises for many years and has endeavored to keep those promises. We are faced with a set of dire circumstances regarding the long term viability of entitlement programs that threatens to undermine a whole range of promises we have made to every American,” he said. The defense bill being debated by the Senate includes two provisions to hold down health care costs, and McCain said he wished it did more. The bill trims $330 million off the $16.4 billion account to cover private-sector care for family members and retirees, a reduction made when the armed services committee voted Nov. 15 to cut an additional $21 billion from the version of the defense bill it had approved earlier this year. The bill also allows the Defense Department to increase Tricare Prime enrollment fees in the future, but caps the increases at the rate of annual cost-ofliving adjustments in military retired pay. “This is the first step and important progress in helping the Department of Defense control spiraling health care costs. But, as with other challenges we faced in this bill, we could have and should have done more,” McCain said. Separately, McCain has proposed barring military retirees from enrolling at all in Tricare Prime -- the health plan with the lowest out-of-pocket costs for most retirees -- while also supporting the creation of a $200 enrollment fee for Medicare-eligible retirees using the Tricare for Life benefit and an increase in copayments for prescription drugs. McCain’s views have drawn sharp criticism. In a Nov. 16 letter, retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Jack Klimp, president of the National Association for Uniformed Services, expressed “deep disappointment” in McCain’s views. “Certainly, Tricare costs have increased in recent years. We have, after all, been at war for more than a decade,” Klimp said, predicting costs will decline as the number of people in the military shrinks when U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan. “Caring for our casualties, the moral responsibility, most certainly, helped drive up costs,” Klimp said. But he added that at the same time senior military leaders were complaining about skyrocketing health care costs, some lawmakers were diverting Tricare funds to pay for military medical research.
www.militarymedical.com December 2011 • Military Medical News • Page 5 Do veterans have a right to free health care for life? By Jeff Schogol Time and time again, Stars and Stripes hears from readers who say they were promised free medical care for life when they joined the military. The topic usually comes up when there is talk of raising Tricare fees for military retirees. “I do mind paying more than $460.00 per year,” one reader commented on such a story in January. “I was promised FREE medical and DENTAL for me and my family, for life. So to me any increase is a continuation of the break of a promise that was already broken.” Clearly, these folks feel betrayed, so The Rumor Doctor set out to see if there is any truth to this belief that troops and veterans are entitled to free health care for life. “The short answer is no,” said Peter Graves, a spokesman for the assistant defense secretary for health affairs. “Health care benefits for military members, retirees, and their families are, and have always been, as provided by law, and the law has never promised free health care for life.” The law provides free medical care for servicemembers on active duty and their families, Graves said in an email. Congressional Research Service, which provides analysis for Congress, issued a 2003 report that found veterans were not entitled to free medical care for life, even though they may have been promised exactly that by their recruiters. Since 1956, veterans and their families can be treated at military medical facilities “subject to the availability of space and facilities and the capabilities of the medical and dental staff,” the report found. “They have no right to military health care and the military services have total discretion in when and under what circumstances retirees and their dependents will get care in military treatment facilities,” the report said. Several veterans have taken their claims to court, alleging that recruiters promised them free medical care, but one court ruled that such promises did not constitute a contract, the report said. Moreover, since recruiters do not have the authority to make such promises, there is no way to enforce them, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in 2002. The Supreme Court later refused to hear the case, ending the matter. Above: Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) participants start the 2011 Great American Smoke Out Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk. More than 150 racers participated in NMCSD’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation event to promote healthy living and tobacco cessation. Right: Petty Officer 3rd Class Mike Johnston crosses the finish line and takes first place during Naval Medical Center San Diego’s (NMCSD) 2011 Great American Smoke Out Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk. More than 150 racers participated in NMCSD’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation event to promote healthy living and tobacco cessation. (U.S. Navy Photos by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Clay M. Whaley/Released) Great American Smoke Out Turkey Trot
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Delivery unit has record-breaking baby boom - Military Medical | News

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