VA is extending debt relief for veterans through September 30, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. VA will suspend collection of all veteran benefit overpayments incurred between April 6, 2020, and September 30, 2021. No adverse actions or collection attempts will occur during this suspension period. Additionally, all copayments for medical care and pharmacy services incurred from April 6, 2020, through September 30, 2021, will be cancelled, along with any fees or interest. Any payments for this time period […]

An exciting international virtual workshop leading up to the “blindDance Film Festival” next fall kicks off this Wednesday, March 31, at 2:00pm EDT for blind and visually impaired persons interested in filmmaking. The series, entitled “Filmmaking and Storytelling,” is hosted by Morton Bonde, legally blind Senior Art Director of the Lego Group. The overriding theme of the workshops held throughout the next eight months addresses the question, “Can you make films if you are blind?” […]

The Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) is pleased to recognize the signing into law earlier today of the “Strengthening and Amplifying Vaccination Efforts to Locally Immunize all Veterans and Every Spouse Act” (SAVE LIVES Act), H.R. 1276, by President Joe Biden. The bipartisan legislation, which passed the House and Senate unanimously, significantly expands COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to veterans and their families under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It provides the VA Secretary with additional authority […]

The Blinded Veterans Association is the recipient of this year’s Bosma Community Partner Award for its contributions to the blind community of Indiana. Based in Indianapolis for more than 100 years, Bosma is a nonprofit organization that provides training and employment for the blind and visually impaired. The honor was presented at the annual Thomas C. Hasbrook Award Event hosted by the Bosma Visionary Opportunities Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the organization. Coincidentally, Hasbrook was […]

Some 3 million veterans, including a sizable number of  blinded veterans, are experiencing hearing loss from their time in the service and are receiving VA benefits from such a loss. The fastest growing post-war disability among veterans is, in fact, hearing loss and tinnitus. Accordingly, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established ways to help veterans communicate more effectively over the telephone. For many, current devices such as hearing aids do not provide adequate assistance […]

The Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) will present a Bronze Braille American Flag to the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center, Friday, March 26, 11:30 a.m. The media is invited to attend.  Blindness affects 130,428 Veterans throughout the United States. The Shreveport VA supports 500 ArkLATex Veterans enrolled in VA blind and low vision rehabilitation services. The Shreveport VA’s goal is to allow ArkLATex Veterans to live an independent life by offering reading technology, training with new […]

The National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision (NRTC) at Mississippi State University is recruiting persons with blindness or low vision (age 21+), who are working or who are interested in working, to be part of a five-year study about access technology (AT) use, particularly in the workplace. Some questions to which the Center seeks answers are: What access technology do you most commonly use? How do you decide whether to use […]

To promote accessibility for people with disabilities in the design of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs), the United States Access Board has begun hosting “Inclusive Design of Autonomous Vehicles: A Public Dialogue” along with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living, and other federal agencies. The national online dialogue is now open to the public. Interested parties may share their ideas for designing AVs […]

Blinded Veterans Association (BVA) National President Thomas A. Zampieri, Ph.D. will form part of a six-member panel of Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) on Wednesday, March 3, as he summarizes the Association’s priorities for the first session of the 117th Congress. The scheduled 10:00am EST beginning of the hearing, which will be conducted virtually by the House and Senate Committees on Veterans Affairs, will first feature oral testimony from the Disabled American Veterans followed by the […]

The United States Access Board will host, during the months of March and April, a four-part series of virtual meetings on making Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) accessible to passengers with disabilities.   The meetings will provide an open forum and encourage public dialogue through which stakeholders and interested citizens can discuss considerations, challenges, and solutions in the design of accessible, self-driving vehicles.   Two 90-minute sessions scheduled for March 10 and 24 will address access for […]