As a reservist or guard member, have you ever wondered what will happen to your civilian job if your Reserve or Guard unit is called into Active Duty? When you return to the civilian world, will you have to search for a new job? What can you do to ensure you will be able to work again? The following is a summary of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (updated in 1996 and 1998).
Fortunately, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) provides reemployment protection and other benefits for veterans and employees who perform military service. Under USERRA, if a military member leaves his civilian job for service in the military, that military member is entitled to return to their job, with accrued seniority, provided the member meets the law's eligibility criteria. USERRA applies to voluntary as well as involuntary service and in peacetime as well as wartime. Further, the law applies to virtually all civilian employers, including the Federal Government, State and local governments, and private employers regardless of size.
Reemployment Rights extend to persons who have been absent from a position of employment because of “service in the uniformed services.” “Service in the uniformed services” is defined as the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a uniformed service and includes the following: active duty (including Reserve and Guard members who have been called up); Active duty for training; Initial active duty for training; Inactive duty training; Full-time National Guard duty and other situations.
In order to have reemployment rights following a period of service in the uniformed services, a military member must meet five eligibility criteria to include: 1) you must have held a civilian job; 2) you must have informed your employer you were leaving the job for service in the uniformed services; 3) the period of service must not have exceeded five years (although certain exceptions may extend this period); 4) you must have been released from service under “honorable conditions”; and 5) you must have reported back to your civilian employer in a timely manner or have submitted a timely application for reemployment.
If you need assistance in this area of the law or have any questions, or if you have any other legal issues you can always contact my law office by e-mail at info@mitchellhowie.com or by phone at 256-533-8074. For more information please see my website at www.mitchellhowie.com.
Health Care Benefits for Veterans Go Unclaimed!
As many as 10% of Veterans LACK HEALTH CARE!
With health care being such a hot topic and my personal commitment to Veterans’ issues, I have decided to compile a brief summary of Health Care Options for Veterans. This is by no means all inclusive but rather a primer on qualifying for Health Care Benefits administered through the VA.
Of course, most everyone knows that for any Veteran who serves this country honorably for at least twenty years and retires, then that Veteran is entitled to health care benefits. Those Veterans/Retirees are eligible for Health Care at any Military Medical Treatment Facility scattered across this country and abroad with little or no cost. It is hard to beat this sort of Health Care!
However, often times, service members do not serve a full career on Active Duty in the military, but rather serve between four and ten years. By some accounts more than 10 percent of Veterans do not have health care or insurance to assist with their health care needs! Many of these veterans may not know, or just not have taken the time to enroll in Veterans Affair’s Health Care. This blog is for those Veterans!
Veterans should also be aware of the eight different priority groups that determine various issues related to Veteran’s Health Care:
Priority Group 1 includes Veterans with service-connected disabilities rated 50 percent or more and/or veterans determined by VA to be unemployable due to service-connected conditions.
Priority Group 2 includes Veterans with service-connected disabilities rated 30 or 40 percent.
Priority Group 3 includes Veterans with service-connected disabilities rated 10 and 20 percent amongst other eligible veterans.
Priority Group 4 include Veterans receiving aid and attendance or housebound benefits and/or veterans determined by VA to be catastrophically disabled.
Priority Group 5 includes Veterans receiving VA pension benefits or those eligible for Medicaid programs, and non service-connected veterans and non-compensable, zero percent service-connected veterans whose income levels are less than the established VA means test thresholds.
Priority Group 6 includes many combat veterans amongst other veterans.
Priority Group 7 includes Veterans who live in high cost geographic areas and who have income and/or net worth above VA national income threshold and agree to co-pays.
Priority Group 8 includes other Veterans who are above income level thresholds and geographic income thresholds and agree to co-pays.
The costs for VA Health Care are extremely low for Veterans! For example a typical 30 day supply of medication costs the Veteran only $8 dollars. Even more illustrative, those in the lowest priority group (group 8) would only pay a maximum of $1,068 dollars for a 90 day stay at a hospital! The co-pay is usually only $15 for a a typical trip to a general practice doctor for a routine matter and just $50 for a visit with a specialist.
Clearly, if you are a Veteran and you are in need of Health Care the VA can help. Please do yourself a favor and apply for enrollment and claim the benefits you have earned because of your service to the country! If you need assistance with your health care needs or any other legal issues you can always contact my law office by e-mail at info@mitchellhowie.com or by phone at 256-533-8074. For more information please see my website at www.mitchellhowie.com.