Penny_Plinker
09-12-2008, 10:25 AM
A few months ago i got accepted into the VA health care system.
How this came about is that i thought i qualified, (Vietnam era vet), went to them for some health care help, but they said, sorry, no. They'd changed some rules in 2003 and unless you were in the system prior to that, you are priority 7, the lowest and you're just out.
My application was rejected, but the guy wasn't a jerk about it. He said do you have any service connected disabilities, anything at all you were ever treated for. Well, no, i always tried to stay off of sick call and was extremely healthy in those days. He said do you have any hearing loss? HUH? How'd he know about that? Because i do have hearing loss, to the point that i had hearing tests a few years ago and needed hearing aids, but they were expensive, (so got a 19.95 woodland whisper instead). Anyway, he said to fill out a service connected disability claim and wait.
So i sent in a copy of that hearing exam, a copy of my discharge, some signed statements from people who know how bad my hearing is, and a copy of my air assault certificate and MOS showing i worked around helicopters, heavy wheeled vehicles and air tools.
Six months later i got scheduled for a Compensation and pension exam. The exam showed moderate to severe hearing loss but they still only granted 0 percent for that. They did, however, grant 10 percent for tinnitus, which is ringing of the ears which is what causes a lot of the hearing loss.
So, now they're paying me a small monthly check,
and giving me two new state of the art hearing aids. A 10 percent service connected rating gets you priority 3 so you get appointments almost as fast as priority 1 and the treatment is just as good. So far they gave me a complete medical evaluation with lab work, a psychiatric evaluation, an MRI, an x-ray, the free hearing aids and a GYN appt, mammogram, and free meds.
Back when i was active duty a lot of the malcontents would boast and bragg about "getting over." I don't want to sound like one of those. I had proof and documentation and a military occupational specialty that the Govt couldn't deny or they would have. I didn't set out to get all i got, and wouldn't have even asked for it. All i wanted was VA health care that was promised on enlistment, then snatched back.
If anyone is reading this who is a veteran and needs medical help, don't give up when they turn you away. Send for your military health records. Sometimes there are things in there you have forgotten all about. The symptoms you have now could easily be related to an illness or treatment you had 20 or 30 years ago. A lot of the time when you went on sick call you weren't even seen by a doctor, it was just a low rank enlisted, trained but not a doctor. If you had a knee injury while in service, do you now have arthritus in that knee? If so, it may be service connected. If you had some mental health issues then and now you suffer from depression, it might be service connected. You just never know, so check your records.
Don't even want to apply because VA health care should only be for the armless or legless? Then think about this:
"A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The 'United States of America', for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'" (Author unknown)
Penny
How this came about is that i thought i qualified, (Vietnam era vet), went to them for some health care help, but they said, sorry, no. They'd changed some rules in 2003 and unless you were in the system prior to that, you are priority 7, the lowest and you're just out.
My application was rejected, but the guy wasn't a jerk about it. He said do you have any service connected disabilities, anything at all you were ever treated for. Well, no, i always tried to stay off of sick call and was extremely healthy in those days. He said do you have any hearing loss? HUH? How'd he know about that? Because i do have hearing loss, to the point that i had hearing tests a few years ago and needed hearing aids, but they were expensive, (so got a 19.95 woodland whisper instead). Anyway, he said to fill out a service connected disability claim and wait.
So i sent in a copy of that hearing exam, a copy of my discharge, some signed statements from people who know how bad my hearing is, and a copy of my air assault certificate and MOS showing i worked around helicopters, heavy wheeled vehicles and air tools.
Six months later i got scheduled for a Compensation and pension exam. The exam showed moderate to severe hearing loss but they still only granted 0 percent for that. They did, however, grant 10 percent for tinnitus, which is ringing of the ears which is what causes a lot of the hearing loss.
So, now they're paying me a small monthly check,
and giving me two new state of the art hearing aids. A 10 percent service connected rating gets you priority 3 so you get appointments almost as fast as priority 1 and the treatment is just as good. So far they gave me a complete medical evaluation with lab work, a psychiatric evaluation, an MRI, an x-ray, the free hearing aids and a GYN appt, mammogram, and free meds.
Back when i was active duty a lot of the malcontents would boast and bragg about "getting over." I don't want to sound like one of those. I had proof and documentation and a military occupational specialty that the Govt couldn't deny or they would have. I didn't set out to get all i got, and wouldn't have even asked for it. All i wanted was VA health care that was promised on enlistment, then snatched back.
If anyone is reading this who is a veteran and needs medical help, don't give up when they turn you away. Send for your military health records. Sometimes there are things in there you have forgotten all about. The symptoms you have now could easily be related to an illness or treatment you had 20 or 30 years ago. A lot of the time when you went on sick call you weren't even seen by a doctor, it was just a low rank enlisted, trained but not a doctor. If you had a knee injury while in service, do you now have arthritus in that knee? If so, it may be service connected. If you had some mental health issues then and now you suffer from depression, it might be service connected. You just never know, so check your records.
Don't even want to apply because VA health care should only be for the armless or legless? Then think about this:
"A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The 'United States of America', for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'" (Author unknown)
Penny