Transcript of Information About Veterans Benefits and Bladder Cancer

September 27, 2022

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Voice over:

This is Bladder Cancer Matters, the podcast for bladder cancer patients, caregivers, advocates, and medical and research professionals. It’s brought to you by the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, otherwise known as BCAN. BCAN works to increase public awareness about bladder cancer, advances bladder cancer research, and provides educational and support services for bladder cancer patients and their loved ones. To learn more, please visit bcan.org.

Rick Bangs:

I’m Rick Bangs, the host of Bladder Cancer Matters, a podcast for, by and about the bladder cancer community. I am also a survivor of muscle invasive bladder cancer, the proud owner of a 2006 model year neobladder and a patient advocate supporting cancer research at the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, or as many call it, BCAN. Producers of this podcast. This podcast is sponsored by CGEN Astellas, EMD Serono Pfizer, Genentech and Merck.

Rick Bangs:

I’m pleased to welcome today’s guest Jackie Imboden. Jackie is a special advisor for military exposures for the Veterans Benefits Administration or VBA, which provides disability compensation benefits to millions of veterans and their survivors. She has worked at VBA for over 20 years and has served in many different capacities. In her current role, she serves as a key advisor on military environmental exposures for disability compensation claims. Jackie earned her Masters in Public Administration, and she is also a military spouse. Jackie welcome. I’m so excited to have you join me on today’s podcast.

Jackie Imboden:

Hi Rick. Thank you so much for having me on the show.

Rick Bangs:

It’s our pleasure. So without question, one of the most frequently asked questions we see on the BCAN inspire web forum, is how veterans who have contracted bladder cancer can apply for benefits. So today with your help, we’re going to talk about exactly how to do that.

Jackie Imboden:

Sure, Rick, great question. I’d like to share with your listeners that VA encourages anyone to file a disability claim, if they believe they have a disability due to their military service. To include bladder cancer. There are many different ways to apply for benefits such as online. They can mail an application in, or they can fax it. They could also go to your local VA Regional Office and turn in an application in person. For anyone that needs assistance with filing a claim, there’s also many VA accredited representatives who could assist with the claims process. VA’s website has a listing of these accredited representatives.

Rick Bangs:

Can you help people understand the term disability compensation? What is that?

Jackie Imboden:

Yeah, so disability compensation is a monthly tax-free benefit that veterans can receive for the disabilities that they sustained as a result of their military service.

Rick Bangs:

And who would qualify for that?

Jackie Imboden:

So to be eligible for VA disability benefits, a person must have served on active duty, active duty for training or inactive duty for training and have a current illness or injury that affects their mind and/or body. I want to talk for a minute about a term called presumptive service connection. Presumptive service connection just simply means when VA will assume that certain disabilities are related to a veteran’s qualifying military service.

Rick Bangs:

Can you give me some examples of what that would be?

Jackie Imboden:

Yes. Let me give you two examples on how this presumption works. To start, I’m going to talk about the William M. Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021. So last year that law recently passed and added three new conditions to the list of diseases associated with exposure to herbicide agents or more commonly known as Agent Orange exposure. One of these conditions was bladder cancer. So you may be thinking about what’s the importance of this law? Well, this law actually allows for a Vietnam era veteran, who has been diagnosed with bladder cancer, to potentially be eligible for disability compensation benefits without having to actually prove that the condition is related to their military service.

Jackie Imboden:

Rick, let me give you just one more example. So bladder cancer is also listed as a presumptive condition for veterans exposed to contaminants in the water at Camp Lejeune. So veterans who developed bladder cancer after living at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune or Marine Corpse Air National New River, for at least 30 cumulative days between August 1953 and December 1987, may be presumptively service connected, for their bladder cancer. Again, without having to provide medical evidence that their condition is related to the military service.

Rick Bangs:

And can someone receive benefits if they don’t qualify based on presumption?

Jackie Imboden:

Oh, absolutely. Presumption is just one way of obtaining what we call service connection. When I use the term service connection, I’m referring to the way that VA recognizes a disability is related to a veteran’s military service in some way. Generally speaking, though, VA can consider service connection for disability compensation benefits, if a veteran has a current disability, there is an event in service and there’s medical evidence of record that shows that their current disability is related to the event that happened in service. I also want to just briefly mention that survivors may also be eligible to benefits if the veteran passes away due to a service related injury or disease.

Rick Bangs:

And if a veteran is qualified to receive these disability benefits, how does the VA evaluate bladder cancer? What’s the first step in the process?

Jackie Imboden:

So VA will evaluate bladder cancer depending on the severity of the condition. So let me go ahead and describe the process. If a veteran has an active form of bladder cancer or is in a period of post-treatment convalescence, VA may assign a temporary 100% disability rating. Once veterans stop receiving treatment due to remission, VA may then schedule them for a follow-up examination to reevaluate the severity of their condition. We’ll take a look at the results and then veterans may continue to receive disability compensation for any residual symptoms, which can include conditions like renal dysfunction, urinary leakage, urinary frequency, or obstructive voiding, which just refers to issues with storing or expelling urine. Again, the disability rating that will be assigned will be based on the severity of the residuals that the veteran has.

Rick Bangs:

And would support the retroactive?

Jackie Imboden:

So veterans may be eligible to receive retroactive benefits, but it really just depends on the veterans claim.

Rick Bangs:

And how can applicants check the status of a claim and where can they go if they need some help?

Jackie Imboden:

So applicants can check the status online. I would highly encourage listeners to visit www.va.gov. Again, www.va.gov for more information on how to do that. They can also call our toll free hotline at 1-800-827-1000, where we have representatives that are ready to assist

Rick Bangs:

And what resources might be available for a veteran or family member?

Jackie Imboden:

So of course our website has lots of great information, but veterans can also follow VA by subscribing to receive email updates and they can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and even LinkedIn.

Rick Bangs:

Wow. So Jackie, I want to thank you for your time today, and I know our listeners are going to appreciate the guidance you’ve provided regarding how veterans who develop bladder cancer from their military service can receive benefits. For more information on this topic, please visit the BCAN site at bcan.org and search for veteran. Jackie, if listeners wanted to get more information, can you reconfirm where they can go?

Jackie Imboden:

Sure. So Rick, again, just thank you so much for the opportunity to talk with your listeners today. For more information, you can visit our website at va.gov or call us toll free at 1-800-827-1000. Rick, I do have one really important message that I want to share with the listeners. Listeners, if you or someone you know, is a veteran in crisis, we here at the VA want to talk to you right away. We have a crisis line that is operated 24/7, with caring, knowledgeable representatives who do want to help. You could reach us any time of day or night by dialing 988, then press 1. Or you can call 1-800-273-8255 and press 1. Or you can text 838255. Again, the text is 838255.

Rick Bangs:

Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing that. So just a reminder, if you’d like more information about bladder cancer, you can contact the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network at 1-888-901-2226. That’s all the time we have today. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon with another interesting episode of Bladder Cancer Matters. Thanks again, Jackie.

Jackie Imboden:

Thank you, Rick.

Voice over:

Thank you for listening to Bladder Cancer Matters, a podcast by the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network or BCAN. BCAN works to increase public awareness about bladder cancer, advance bladder cancer research, and provide educational and support services for bladder cancer patients. For more information about this podcast and additional information about bladder cancer, please visit bcan.org.