My Dad The VA The headache The craziness

[j_seph]

So my dad was injured while in the AF during the Korean War. He gets a small check of $100+/- a month. He never dealt with the VA after he got out. He got to wondering if it was possible to get maybe a little more money or even a small amount for my mom who takes care of dad who is 88 now. Maybe even some home health if needed. My dad had a stroke 20 years ago which has left him disabled, VA already stated that unless his injury (broke leg and arm) was the cause of his disability today that they could not offer anymore money.

He gets an envelope in the mail, stating that in the weeks to come a Fiduciary would be contacting him to setup a meeting at his home. He has been deemed not competent enough to handle his own VA affairs. My dad has some Alzheimer or dementia going on but it has never been diagnosed. It was found on an MRI he had that states something like the signs of it on the image. They were trying to verify he had not had another stroke a year ago. Also for this meeting he has to have whomever will be appointed to handle his affairs there at the meeting, which must have two Character witnesses, his bank account information, life insurance information, and credit check done on the one appointed to handle his VA affairs. As well he is not allowed to own, buy, transport any firearms nor ammunition due to the Brady Bill. If he does not have this meeting, they will stop the $100 +/- check per month. Mom takes care of the bills and the check goes into their joint checking account.

All of this from just trying to get a little help from our government for a man who served his country with honors. Yet all these other folks can get help over and over again.

All I know to do is to write a letter of appeal to them and prolong this whole ordeal. Any ideas other than that? I mean send someone a letter and state to them they are incompetent.

 

[bobocat]

sorry to hear this. ita a shame how our vets are treated. praying yall get the help you need.

 

[Milkman]

Sorry to hear. Unless he is getting medical care from the VA I would tell them to shove it.

 

[joepuppy]

I tried the VA once. That was enough. I don't want anything from them anymore. You're better off without the $100, trust me.

 

[dick7.62]

Contact your congressman and maybe both senators. All the gov't. agencies I have delt with are staffed with incompetents. I'm mostly talking about medicare. A lawyer couldn't straighten out my mess but my congressman did, for a while, then did it again. They(medicare) will probably screw up again and I will contact my congressman again.

 

[4HAND]

Man that's awful. Sorry to hear y'all are having to go through that.

And you are absolutely correct, they hand out "disability" SSI checks like they're candy to young healthy individuals every day.
Shameful!

 

[DannyW]

To begin with, sorry that your dad is having to go through this. It's so screwed up that veterans have to practically beg for assistance when the government hands out money left and right to people who are too lazy to work for it.

Just witnessed my mom go through this with my stepdad who was a Korean vet that was injured in action. It was a LONG process...it almost seems if the VA drags it out hoping you will die and the problem goes away. And don't get me started on the incompetentcey...my stepdad would get a letter one day saying yes, you get this help/money, and a couple months later another letter would come saying you are not eligible for any assistance.

My advice is to not give up! After 2 years of appeals my stepdad finally got a nice monthly check and 5-day a week in-home nursing assistance. But the VA made it as hard to get as they possibly could.

Find out who your VA 'advocate' is and bug her/him constantly. Appeal every negative decision even though filling out all that paperwork they demand is a royal PITA. And we could not find any attorneys that deal with helping veterans get assistance.

The VA should be embarrassed for what they make our veterans do in order to receive help. Completely and totally embarrassed....

 

[Cmp1]

The VA can't even find my Med records from my active duty service,,,,have got to fight with them tooth and nail,,,,

Contact a patient advocate at your nearest VA hospital,,,,they are really helpful,,,,

 

[Dana Young]

I have not had any problems with the VA as far as service connected disabilities. I use the Blairsville clinic.

 

[Cmp1]

My friend had to fight with them for over two years,,,,

 

[DannyW]

J_seph...we found a book titled '47 Secret Veteran Benefits' by Victoria L. Collier to be helpful. And it provided hope for my mom to keep trying. It's fairly short, around 100 pages, but it can help guide you through the process.

In fact, now that my mom's situation is settled (hopefully), I would be happy to send the book to you if you just PM me your address.

Remember...don't give up...the VA's main strategy is to make the process so long and difficult that you eventually just thrown in the towel and quit.

 

[DannyW]

For those who have never had to deal with the VA, I will provide you with one small part of the appeals process to demonstrate how asinine the whole thing is.

You have to provide the medical records for care received from the VA itself. In other words, you have to provide them with their own records.

Do you know how difficult and time consuming it is to contact all your doctors, some who may have retired in my stepdad's case, to get all your medical records sent to you? When the VA already has them available with a few keystrokes?

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

Man I hate yall's going thru that. Every time I hear a stinking politician say the word "Vet", I wanna smack em in the mouth. They talk and talk and talk. We need to take a lot better care of our Vets than we do. They need to clean house at that place. I'm really hoping that now that so many Veterans are taking roles in congress and the Senate, that they will do more than pay lip service to people's needs. There's no way a private business could be run that way. I knew one vet who they sent so much medicine too , there was no way any human could take it all. Tylenol and such. He took it to the flea market and sold the extra. He tried and tried to get them to quit sending so much, he said he could sale it for some change or throw it in the garbage. I sure hope it works out for y'all .

 

[shotgun]

Contact your congressman. Let them do the leg work.
Being a DAV WITH A SERVICE CONNECTED DISABILITY IS STILL
A PITA TO DEAL WITH THE VA.

 

[Cmp1]

J_seph...we found a book titled '47 Secret Veteran Benefits' by Victoria L. Collier to be helpful. And it provided hope for my mom to keep trying. It's fairly short, around 100 pages, but it can help guide you through the process.

In fact, now that my mom's situation is settled (hopefully), I would be happy to send the book to you if you just PM me your address.

Remember...don't give up...the VA's main strategy is to make the process so long and difficult that you eventually just thrown in the towel and quit.

This right here is true,,,,I'm gonna get the book,,,,thank you,,,,

 

[Patriot44]

First, very sorry to hear about your father, horrible! Tell him that this Army vet is praying for him.

This is a HOT topic of mine and it gets me fired up more than any other issue in our country. During the last couple of years, I stopped counting the number of battles of mine or just fellow Joe's that I served with indirectly that have committed suicide; all of them under VA care. I watched a manager of mine about 5 years ago spend 3 years at the VA just to get hearing aides (Vietnam Vet). I applied shortly after him for benefits with the sole purpose to store away for my children's education. The very first response that I received back fired me up so bad that I ripped the papers to shreds and never followed back up!

The worst part of the VA is that I know many former Joe's that do not need benefits and get 100% disability because they turned fat and have back problems, sorry, I know them personally and they are scamming the system.

My wife's cousin did 2 tours in Afghanistan and 3 to Iraq with 3rd ID and another Infantry unit. He lost 40% of his platoon during the surge or just before on one rotation. He gets less than 50% disability and is barred from applying to law enforcement jobs, so he works at KIA on the assembly line.

Having said all of this, my 86YO Godfather is also a Korean War vet and receives benefits. About two years ago, he was able to transfer his car to a place closer to home (private), and the care is great! I am of the STRONG opinion that we need to shut the VA down, NOW! Give veterans who need benefits get their care from wherever and let said establishment send the bill back to the government.

The VA is nothing but an employment agency! Sorry for the rant, and I will be thinking of you and your father.

 

[Ruger#3]

I also advocate ending VA facility care. Provide a portable benefita and let the vet seek care in the marketplace.

I listened to the older vets I knew and got a copy of everything before I left the base on retirement.

It is a terrible thing that your dad or any vet be put through this.

 

[Cmp1]

First, very sorry to hear about your father, horrible! Tell him that this Army vet is paying for him.

This is a HOT topic of mine and it gets me fired up more than any other issue in our country. During the last couple of years, I stopped counting the number of battles of mine or just fellow Joe's that I served with indirectly that have committed suicide; all of them under VA care. I watched a manager of mine about 5 years ago spend 3 years at the VA just to get hearing aides (Vietnam Vet). I applied shortly after him for benefits with the sole purpose to store away for my children's education. The very first response that I received back fired me up so bad that I ripped the papers to shreds and never followed back up!

The worst part of the VA is that I know many former Joe's that do not need benefits and get 100% disability because they turned fat and have back problems, sorry, I know them personally and they are scamming the system.

My wife's cousin did 2 tours in Afghanistan and 3 to Iraq with 3rd ID and another Infantry unit. He lost 40% of his platoon during the surge or just before on one rotation. He gets less than 50% disability and is barred from applying to law enforcement jobs, so he works at KIA on the assembly line.

Having said all of this, my 86YO Godfather is also a Korean War vet and receives benefits. About two years ago, he was able to transfer his car to a place closer to home (private), and the care is great! I am of the STRONG opinion that we need to shut the VA down, NOW! Give veterans who need benefits get their care from wherever and let said establishment send the bill back to the government.

The VA is nothing but an employment agency! Sorry for the rant, and I will be thinking of you and your father.

This right here,,,,saw a guy at the clinic the other day,100% disability,,,,driving a BMW m1,,,,yet the VA can't even find my Med records,,,,

 

[Cmp1]

I also advocate ending VA facility care. Provide a portable benefita and let the vet seek care in the marketplace.

I listened to the older vets I knew and got a copy of everything before I left the base on retirement.

It is a terrible thing that your dad or any vet be put through this.

No one told me to get my Med records,,,,

 

[buckmanmike]

Contact your local American Legion or VFW. They usually have someone available that can help you file needed paperwork and have contacts in the right places.