In response to a recent report that found "a possibility of an increased risk" of Type 2 diabetes in Vietnam veterans, leaders of the House VA Committee issued a call for veterans to seek a routine health care examination for the disease. Type 2 diabetes, often referred to as "the hidden killer", affects 16 million Americans. "Veterans who served in Vietnam can apply for VA health care at any of almost 600 locations throughout the United States. If diabetes is diagnosed and treated, serious health complications can be avoided," said VA committee chairman Bob Stump.

Representative Mike Bilirakis, a senior Member of the VA committee and the chairman of the Commerce Committee's subcommittee on health, added: "Many veterans who served in Vietnam are not aware that they can obtain health care from the VA, and that in most cases there will not be any charge."

VA Subcommittee on Health chairman Cliff Stearns noted that a recent Centers for Disease Control study had raised the "possibility that there is an epidemic of diabetes in the United States, and Vietnam veterans, most of whom are over 50 years old, are clearly part of this population that is at increased risk."

The test for diabetes is not painful or complicated, and anyone who served in Vietnam and who has not had this routine test in the past several years ought to ask the VA or their physician about being tested."

BILL TO ENHANCE PENSION CREDIT LAW FOR VETS - - A REALITY

Governor George E. Pataki today signed into law legislation that will make it easier for wartime veterans who work as public employees to increase their retirement pensions.

The legislation improves a 1998 law that allowed veterans to get retirement credit for the years they served in the military during wartime. The so-called "buyback" law permitted veterans to purchase service credit but was considered too expensive by eligible vets.

This new law makes it affordable for veterans by setting the cost of purchasing service credit within the various public retirement systems at three percent of the veteran's current annual salary for each year of military service, up to a maximum of three years. Individuals who purchased credit under the 1998 law, which required veterans to pay the entire cost of the credit, will receive a refund of the difference between what they paid and what they would have paid under the provisions of this new law.

"Today we are again recognizing the important sacrifices that public employees made by risking their lives in defending the freedoms we enjoy as Americans," Governor Pataki said. "This legislation will provide a richly deserved benefit to the men and women who have served New Yorkers during times of war and help repay the tremendous debt we owe our veterans."