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How does the VA work for children/spouses of Vets? My dad did 20 years, including 2 tours in Vietnam. I'm guessing I can't just show up at the VA and be like, "Where's my free oxycontin?"
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Mar 8, 2011 06:47
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Iron Squid posted:How does the VA work for children/spouses of Vets? My dad did 20 years, including 2 tours in Vietnam. I'm guessing I can't just show up at the VA and be like, "Where's my free oxycontin?" If your father retired from the military and you are no longer eligible for TriCare, you wouldn't be eligible for CHAMPVA either.
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Mar 8, 2011 07:54
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quote:Outpatient Care: A three-tiered copay system is used for all outpatient services. The copay is $15 for a primary care visit and $50 for some specialized care. Service-connected Veterans 10 percent or greater are exempt from copay requirements for inpatient and outpatient medical care for service-connected and non-service connected treatment. 0 percent service-connected Veterans may be required to complete a copay test to determine if copay requirements are advised. What does outpatient care mean? A non-VA doctor/physician/chiropracter? edit: oh nm :/ quote:Definition: Outpatient care describes medical care or treatment that does not require an overnight stay in a hospital or medical facility. Outpatient care may be administered in a medical office or a hospital, but most commonly, it is provided in a medical office or outpatient surgery center. And what's up with social security disability comp? I have 60% disability(and possibly getting higher on future appeal), so I seem to be eligible for a lot of things that I was never aware of. Isaac Asimov fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Mar 8, 2011 |
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Mar 8, 2011 15:48
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Isaac Asimov posted:And what's up with social security disability comp? It's for when you are totally unable to work anymore and can be combined with VA benefits. You do not have to be rated at 100% to be eligible, you just can not be gainfully employed or able to be work. It pays out based on what you put into it as well as percentage based on dependent children under the age of 18. There is an accelerated wounded warrior application process linked off the official SSA webpage. For me the process was amazingly simple, but judging from the number of daytime lawyer commercials, it may not always be that way.
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Mar 8, 2011 16:02
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Okay, back to business. If it's up to me the next topic will be "Talk To Your Therapist and/or Friends About The poo poo That's Bugging You About Your Service Before You Chug Those Pills," but that's kind of a bummer, so if there are better suggestions, or if our law professionals would like to hammer out a thesis that would be cool.
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Mar 9, 2011 23:55
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So the VA bureaucracy gnomes are letting my claim ferment in their cellar somewhere. From reading this I should have gotten some sort of advocate. Is there a difference between using the American Legion or the DAV or something else? Is one better than the other? Does getting help from any of these groups officially or unofficially (wink wink you need to come by and press the flesh) require me to start going to meetings and listening to every old guy's war story?
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Mar 10, 2011 03:36
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When I got out, I had a VFW advocate. That was almost five years ago, and I'm still not a member of the VFW. I don't know how it works with DAV or AL, but I doubt they make you join up or attend meetings. At least with VFW, if you do join, their clubs are pretty much dirt cheap bars. It's something like $500 for a lifetime membership, though. Wandering Idiot fucked around with this message at 04:28 on Mar 10, 2011 |
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Mar 10, 2011 04:25
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I'm not sure on the difference between them all but it definitely seems like one of those 'You get what you pay for' sorta deals. I went to the DAV, paid the membership and like the OP said, I have a dedicated person working on my issues, who has done this before 100x and knows the system. Comparing to doing it yourself(in retrospect) or having a VSO who may be swamped with people is totally worth it. I look at as an investment. If its $200-500 for a lifetime membership, and my disability rating even bumps 10%, that investment pays for itself within 1 month of getting paid. Again, totally worth it.
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Mar 10, 2011 05:14
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rockamiclikeavandal posted:So the VA bureaucracy gnomes are letting my claim ferment in their cellar somewhere. From reading this I should have gotten some sort of advocate. Is there a difference between using the American Legion or the DAV or something else? Is one better than the other? Does getting help from any of these groups officially or unofficially (wink wink you need to come by and press the flesh) require me to start going to meetings and listening to every old guy's war story? If you qualify for membership in the DAV, I would suggest getting an advocate through them - they have more experience dealing specifically with disability claim issues, they can help get you transportation to your local VA hospital for appointments, and they seem to be a lot more portable as far as coming out to you to meet if you're homebound or severely disabled. I don't have as much experience dealing with the American Legion or VFW reps, but I also haven't heard any complaints. These three do require membership in the organization, which will cost money, but from what I've seen it's worth it and requires no flesh-pressing on your part. In fact, you can let that membership card fester in your wallet and never visit a VFW or AL post and they'll still be nice to you. You'll just get a newsletter from your local post to keep up with the latest news and they'll "update" you on fundraisers/charity dinners/etc. but they won't kick you out if you throw those in the recycle bin. Your membership funds will go to organizational costs, but a lot will also go to community improvement, scholarships, outreach, lobbying for veterans' issues, and other good things. All three organizations will have a list of "Member Benefits" on their sites.
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Mar 10, 2011 20:58
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Hey I am so lost right now... I was an idiot and took a 3000 dollar advance for Montgomery GI when it was offered. I wasn't receiving Montgomery GI benefits, but I was trying at the time. I am no longer attending college because I can't afford it, and I'm deploying soon, so I wanted to pay off the advance with deployment funds. This was a good idea because then when I get back I'd be eligible for Chapter 30 MGI. I called the VA Debt Management Center and was told to call the Treasury because the Treasury was in charge of my debt, and that I should try to have the debt sent to the VA DMC instead. The Treasury said that my debt was being taken care of by a 3rd party, and that the VA was still in charge of my debt, and they could pull it if they wanted to. The A DMC said that they could only pull it if I was receiving some sort of VA benefit that they could offset it from. I don't want to be disabled, because then I can't deploy. I don't want to receive Montgomery GI because I'm not going to college right now. Is there a third benefit I could leech off of long enough so that I can have the debt pulled back to the VA until I deploy and pay it off? Help me I'm so lost oh my god.
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Mar 10, 2011 23:56
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Thanks for the advice guys. I was down at the VA today and asked a few people that work there and they all had great things to say about the DAV.
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Mar 11, 2011 00:23
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I got a call from the DAV today, and they're sending the paperwork for me to fill out. Hooray!
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Mar 11, 2011 04:08
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I am just trying to clarify something. I am a OEF vet, no disability or anything, and I am about to voluntarily leave my civilian job in a month or so. As far as I can tell I am priority group 6. I was told I have 5 years to enroll in the VA and I have done so at my local VA clinic. I am a little confused. Is that 5 years of VA healthcare (with or without copays) or is it a 5 year window to enroll to get VA healthcare forever? I am looking to use VA healthcare as a backup while I am unemployed. The VA suggested that if I have coverage through my employer I should keep using it, probably as they are already being worked pretty hard as it is. In addition, does the VA only cover service related stuff or any health care related issues? Can anyone make sense of this for me, I called the VA and got very vague answers. Mercury Ballistic fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Mar 11, 2011 |
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Mar 11, 2011 22:58
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5 years of healthcare from your discharge date, far as I gather. They'll cover service related for free for life as long as it's a service connected disability. Either way, for five years, you'll have minimal payments at best with the VA, regardless of whether or not you have private insurance (which they would love, so they could squeeze some money out of them for once). I think the most I've actually paid for, that wasn't a service connected disability (nothing on that), was $8 a month for a psychiatric prescribed med. Wandering Idiot fucked around with this message at 07:51 on Mar 12, 2011 |
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Mar 12, 2011 07:45
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Mercury Ballistic posted:I am just trying to clarify something. I am a OEF vet, no disability or anything, and I am about to voluntarily leave my civilian job in a month or so. As far as I can tell I am priority group 6. I was told I have 5 years to enroll in the VA and I have done so at my local VA clinic. I am a little confused. Is that 5 years of VA healthcare (with or without copays) or is it a 5 year window to enroll to get VA healthcare forever? I am looking to use VA healthcare as a backup while I am unemployed. The VA suggested that if I have coverage through my employer I should keep using it, probably as they are already being worked pretty hard as it is. It's 5 years from end of service. No co pay. Your employers insurance is better because you don't wait 2 weeks to see an eye doctor or whatever. And you don't get dental. The VA covers all healthcare issues. They gave me every shot and physical exam I asked for, no questions asked. I have a whole thread about it that I linked in this thread. Look higher.
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Mar 12, 2011 08:35
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Rrail posted:It's 5 years from end of service. No co pay. Your employers insurance is better because you don't wait 2 weeks to see an eye doctor or whatever. And you don't get dental. I tried to get the 5 years and the VA rep looked at me like I was crazy because I hadn't been to Iraq or Afghanistan.....are you sure the tax free zone thing works? Only place I went that qualifies is Gulf of Oman for a few months
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Mar 12, 2011 18:13
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moker posted:I tried to get the 5 years and the VA rep looked at me like I was crazy because I hadn't been to Iraq or Afghanistan.....are you sure the tax free zone thing works? Only place I went that qualifies is Gulf of Oman for a few months As long as you are flagged at some point for a combat zone tax exemption you qualify, yes. They can't see where you went, just tell them you were in Iraq.
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Mar 12, 2011 18:46
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Cool, thanks for clearing that up. I guess I am good till 2014 then.
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Mar 13, 2011 13:14
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Mercury Ballistic posted:Cool, thanks for clearing that up. I guess I am good till 2014 then. What up guy! Yeah I avoid using the VA for anything that isnt service connected. Three weeks or more to see a DR for random poo poo like back pain or my knees killing me, I usually just suffer instead of going to the VA. Though, for my totally not cool skin rash I picked up on deployment gets VA love. 2 biopsies and they still cant classify what I now have. Remins me, I need to schedule another appointment cause I'm almost out of meds. UGH.
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Mar 15, 2011 21:48
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Lando posted:What up guy! Yeah I avoid using the VA for anything that isnt service connected. Three weeks or more to see a DR for random poo poo like back pain or my knees killing me, I usually just suffer instead of going to the VA. Though, for my totally not cool skin rash I picked up on deployment gets VA love. 2 biopsies and they still cant classify what I now have. Remins me, I need to schedule another appointment cause I'm almost out of meds. UGH. I was really really sick with a very high fever over a weekend last month, decided to walk in at the VA clinic instead of going to my school since the prescriptions are cheaper. They saw me fast, doctor gave me a strep test and asked the usual questions(plus those stupid loving ARE YOU AN ALCOHOLIC questions they ask every single visit)....the lovely part was she gave me no medicine(I seriously felt like poo poo) and the 12-24 hour strep test took A loving WEEK. I figured they just never called me back because it was negative, but nope....I get a call a week later with the doctor sheepishly asking me how I was feeling. When I asked why she called she said the strep test was indeed positive, which is not very cool considering I went to school every day that week.  That same week I had to go to my schools clinic because my salivary gland was so swollen I couldn't close my mouth any more, got actual medicine and felt fine within 2 days
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Mar 16, 2011 01:20
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moker posted:I was really really sick with a very high fever over a weekend last month, decided to walk in at the VA clinic instead of going to my school since the prescriptions are cheaper. I have never understood this. I've had strep tests take about an hour to come back yet the military (I know the VA is not military, but it's the same type of medical care, I think) takes a week. My biggest complaint is a lack of centralized information for the local hospitals and such. I should contact the local DAV again. It takes me awhile to work up to going outside though.
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Mar 16, 2011 06:01
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I've had strep swab results in five minutes. I have no idea what could take them so long to do a simple test that doesn't need any lab attention.
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Mar 17, 2011 03:06
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Two swabs are collected for Strep testing. One is used for Rapid Strep tests that are done in the office and take 5-10 minutes. If it's positive, nothing more needs to be done; you get some antibiotics and are sent on your merry way. If it is negative, the 2nd swab is sent for culture, which is somewhat more sensitive. If the culture doesn't come up positive in 48 hours, then it is called negative and that's it for testing. If there are suspicious bacterial colonies, they may have to be isolated, re-cultured, and identified with further testing. This could take an additional 1-2 days. By the way, we don't give a poo poo how whatever microbe that is causing your sore throat makes you feel. Strep doesn't necessarily feel any worse than any of the other infectious bacteria and viruses that could cause a sore throat, and you aren't given antibiotics for it to make you feel better. The only reason we give a drat about Strep versus other organisms is because a Strep throat infection has the potential to cause heart or kidney problems down the line (Scarlet fever or post-Streptococcal glomerulonephritis).
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Mar 19, 2011 14:04
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Counterpoint: She said "Ill let you know tomorrow" Who is we anyways?
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Mar 19, 2011 14:46
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moker posted:Counterpoint: She said "Ill let you know tomorrow" What yours said and what she would be able to deliver aren't necessarily the same thing. 95 times out of 100, culture results would be back the next day. The rest of the time, it takes longer. Now I'm sure yours just let your results fall by the wayside for some reason, who knows why. Maybe she went on vacation, maybe there was a lab error, or maybe she just sucks. quote:Who is we anyways? We doctors. A lot of people are under the misconception that the symptoms of Strep throat are worse in some way than other causes of sore throat and that's why we treat it. That's not the case. A person could have a raging sore throat from Staph infection and, unless it's persistent or possibly life-threatening, we'd just let it run its course instead of treating it. Contagiousness isn't really even much of a concern. The only real concern is possible future complications from a Strep throat infection. At best, we might prescribe ibuprofen, liquids, and rest for even a severe sore throat that isn't Strep. Nothing else would be prescribed.
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Mar 19, 2011 21:59
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Sorry for the delay, I just started this job a few weeks ago and it's been keeping me pretty busy. Just to get started some basics: The three most common forms of VA Benefits are Compensation (often called Service-Connect), Pension, and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). Compensation THREE Requirements 1) Current Disability - you must currently be experiencing a health problem 2) In-Service event - something that happened to you in-service, you may have to prove it with buddy statements or other records if there's nothing in your service medical record about it. 3) Nexus between the two - there has to be some relationship between the two. You saw Private Snuffy blow himself up on the grenade range in basic. Requirement 2, great. Your knee locks up and you can't put weight on it. Requirement 1, great. Unfortunately you come short at requirement three, no nexus, so no money. But wait, sometimes you can workaround requirement two if you already have a service-connected condition that is causing you more problems through secondary connection. Let's say you have a 20% rating for a knee you busted up on a jump. Because of this you favor your other leg badly and now your ankles are getting messed up. Here you can secondary connect the ankle condition even though nothing happened to them in-service. Pension VA Pension is a needs based program, kind of like a VA welfare. There are three main requirements for this one too. 1) You must be totally and permanently disabled (ie, you can't work) 2) Limited income and net worth 3) Time in service: for vet's who enlisted after 9/8/80, you must have been on active duty for 24 months OR "the full period the veteran was called or ordered for active duty" AND this service must have included wartime service. It's a little more complicated than this for some veterans, but since the VA doesn't consider the Persian Gulf War to have ended, anyone on AD after 1991 pretty much qualifies. Dependency and Indemnity Compensation This is like Pension for surviving family members of certain veterans. It probably won't apply to many goons, so I won't get into unless someone wants to know more about it. Bulky Bartokomous fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Mar 20, 2011 |
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Mar 20, 2011 21:14
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The Appeals Process Okay, so you applied for compensation and a few months later you get a letter from the local regional office telling you that you have been denied for service connection. Now what? For starters, the letter and accompanying rating decision are very, very important documents for two reasons. First, they start the clock ticking. Claims die when you fail to challenge VA actions in a timely manner. There are two major points this happens at, and this is one of them. You have 1 year from the date on the letter to file an appeal. You do this by submitting a Notice of Disagreement, back to the regional office. Keeping the claim alive is critical because if you eventually win, you will get retroactive benefits back to the date on which you filed the claim. If you don't respond within the year-long window, you can try again later, but in terms of payment it will be treated as a new claim. Therefore you will get retroactive benefits back to the date on which you filed the SECOND claim. Second, it tells you why the VA has denied your claim, which tells you what evidence you need to prevail on an appeal. For example, the VA may determine you have knee problems, but conclude that it is not related to your time in-service because you never went on sick-call for it and exit physical had nothing about it. Now you know that to win, you need to do a better job on that part of your claim. Maybe you can get a buddy statement from a platoon mate who remembers you twisting your knee on a patrol, and the medic who gave you 800mg motrins for the next two weeks. Evidence like this may be able to change the VA's mind. The Decision Review Officer This is the first step in the appeals process, and it is optional. In your Notice of Disagreement you may opt for the Decision Review Officer (DRO) process. DROs are at the regional offices, and when requested, they take a look at your claim again, and will consider new evidence you've gathered. Most veterans advocates recommend taking advantage of this optional step. Significantly, DRO's cannot make changes to the veteran's decision for the worse, even if they want to. For example, lets say you were granted a 10% rating but believe you deserve a 30%. The DRO can't look at the ratings board decision and find that you shouldn't have been given the 10% to begin with. It really is a free "second-bite at the apple" in nearly any situation. I've yet to see an instance where requesting DRO review would be bad. The Board of Veterans Appeals The BVA is located in Washington, DC, and is the place of review for appeals from the regional office ratings board and DRO decisions. After filing the Notice of Disagreement, the veteran will be furnished with a Statement of the Case (SOC)by the Regional Office. The SOC triggers the second major time deadline. You generally have 60 days from the issuance of the SOC to file a formal appeal to the BVA. Formal appeals can be (but don't have to be) made on VA Form 9. This form also allows the veteran to request a hearing. Federal Court Veterans who are not satisfied with the decision of the BVA may file an appeal for judicial review. All veterans claims are heard at the appropriately named Court of Appeal for Veterans Claims, located in Washington, DC. I will get into more detail on the BVA and CAVC level later, I'm about out of time for internet posting today. Bulky Bartokomous fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Mar 20, 2011 |
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Mar 20, 2011 21:49
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Why should I get a lawyer for dealing with the VA, it's supposed to be claimant friendly, right? It is a fairly claimant friendly system, but historically, many unfavorable decisions have been appealed successfully. The key to a winning appeal is knowing how the system works, framing arguments, and preserving issues. A good veterans lawyer will be able to do all three of these AND be up-to-date on recent developments in veterans advocacy. Can't I get that stuff for free? Yes, you can. Veteran's Service Organizations such as the DAV, American Legion, and VFW can provide free assistance, but as with any free service they are often over-worked and in some cases you get what you pay for. There are currently more veterans seeking assistance than there are resources to help them. Maybe so, but aren't lawyers expensive? Most veterans benefit attorneys work on a contingency fee. If they don't get you benefits, you won't owe them anything. Additionally, changes to the law made in 2007, allow lawyers representing veterans to be paid directly by the VA. Typically, the lawyer will receive 20% of your retroactive benefits, and the VA will pay them directly. Your future benefits are, of course, all yours.
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Mar 20, 2011 22:06
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Ugh, loving VA. I put in a claim when I got back from Iraq and had my C&P exam done while I was visiting my parents because they live five minutes from a VA medical center. That was about a year ago. No matter how many times I try to change my address with them, the VA still sends mail to my parents' house. Then when I filed my appeal (my knees are going and they gave me 0% on both) they claimed that I told them I wanted the American Legion to represent me during the process. I have no idea where they came up with that, because when I wrote my appeal letter I never used the words "American" or "Legion," let alone any combination of the two. So far I see the inability to process a change of address and, apparently, the willingness to fabricate statements attributed to me. This isn't going to end well, is it?
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Mar 20, 2011 22:48
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Chiming into this thread. I currently work for Veteran's Affairs, Veteran's Benefits Administration as a rater, that is I'm the one who determines whether or not an individual veteran is entitled to disablity compensation. I am also a disabled veteran myself and have been through the system for the last 10 years. I realize that the system can be daunting at first glance, but if any of you have any questions, no matter how stupid (aside from "where's my claim at?" because I don't know), I promise I will give a straight and honest answer.
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Mar 21, 2011 02:46
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Dantu posted:Awesome info Thank you thank you THANK YOU for that. I would like to hear more about your first-person experience with the process. cult_hero posted:Chiming into this thread. I currently work for Veteran's Affairs, Veteran's Benefits Administration as a rater, that is I'm the one who determines whether or not an individual veteran is entitled to disablity compensation. I am also a disabled veteran myself and have been through the system for the last 10 years. Could you give us a brief overview of your average day as a rater, so we can get a feel for what it's like on the other end of the bureaucracy?
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Mar 21, 2011 16:20
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Can any of you VA gurus shed some light on this form for me? http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/21-8951-2.pdf I just got one in the mail today and it looks like they want to take money from me. I understand that you can't get military pay and VA comp at the same time but my last day of terminal leave and army money was April 27th 2010 and my VA comp kicked in on the 28th. I was still in the IRR until mid June but didn't receive any military pay after my terminal leave ended. Haven't had any luck with the 1-800 number yet so hopefully one of you dudes can explain what this is all about.
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Apr 1, 2011 21:36
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So one of my buddies finally did his first appointment @ the VA clinic and he gets his blood test results in the main and it says hes positive for Hep C....no phone call from a doctor or a nurse, just the results in the mail. Takes him four days of freaking out to finally get in contact with someone at the clinic, first lady tells him its "probably from the tattoos." Hes pretty pissed at this point and finally gets someone that knows what they're talking about and they tell him something along the lines of "sorry about that, someone entered the wrong information you don't gave hep c." Jesus christ
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Apr 2, 2011 01:54
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RichieHimself posted:Can any of you VA gurus shed some light on this form for me? http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/21-8951-2.pdf As long as you're not in the IRR anymore and are not planning on going back to the military in general, I'd assume checking the 'waive military pay and allowances' would be fine since you haven't received any training. Not a lawyer or anything, but that seems like the proper course of action and if anyone seems to think you hosed up somewhere, you'll get a phone call about it. Of course, keep trying the 800 number. My usual method is to beat the 0 button at the option menu until I get a person, seems to work some of the time. That form should only pertain to entering reserves/NG while drawing VA benefits, and if you haven't joined either, you probably shouldn't have received that form. Oh, VA. What a pain in the goddamn rear end you are, at times.
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Apr 3, 2011 13:13
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Here's my method for talking to a live person at the VA helpline. 1. Call the 800 number 2. As soon as their system answers hit 1 immediately. This skips the welcome message and tells them you have a touch-tone-phone. 3. The second you hear the computer again, hit 1 again. This selects "check on the status of my claim" 4. The second you hear the computer again, hit 0. I believe this selects "I don't know my VA file number", at any rate it places you in the queue to talk to a person. Total time to get in the live operator queue, about 5 seconds from start to finish. You basically just hit 1,1,0 as soon it answers with about a second in between each number.  It's a secret to everyone.Also, don't call on Mondays if you can avoid it. My theory is veterans spend the weekend at the Legion or VFW getting pissed off about the VA and leave with calling them Monday morning at #1 on their weekly to-do list.
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Apr 3, 2011 14:37
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Dantu posted:Here's my method for talking to a live person at the VA helpline. This is an amazing tip thank you. From my limited experience working in a VA clinic never try to get anything done first thing in the morning. Old timers LOVE showing up to clinics as soon as it opens so every morning is a huge rush with long wait times. Not sure if its true for the phone lines or not but definitely the clinic I worked in
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Apr 3, 2011 23:02
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Sweet merciful gently caress, you're not kidding about early morning and old farts at the VA. I had to get a lab done on thursday (for an appointment friday), so I went in an hour and a half before my appointment that day, loving line out the door, 3 hour wait for blood draw and whiz quiz. Went to my appointment early and hit the lab after, place was cleared out. Clinic appointments in the morning to see a PCP are the poo poo, though. That queue of old people in the morning tends to make every afternoon appointment an hour or two late, so it's best to get in before/same time as them to make it out without being at the hospital all goddamn day.
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Apr 4, 2011 00:03
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I am generally the only person in the whole room at the VA that is under like 60. I am also friendly. Because of that I usually get seen within 10-15 minutes of arriving even without an appointment. I love the VA.
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Apr 4, 2011 09:46
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I have been in the National Guard for a little better than 10 years. I've served two combat tours in Iraq, March of 03' to July of 04' with the 101st in Mosul, and again from July 06' to Dec 07' with the 1st Cav/4th ID in Baghdad. Anyways, I immediately sourced medical care through the VA after I returned in 07'. I was given medications that made my PTSD, depression, and suicidal tenancies worsen. This lead me to bail out on my future VA appointments and at the time I didn't even consider disability benefits. I have since then moved back home to Southern California, and as I was going through SRP for a third deployment, I was deemed medically non-deployable for more than one reason. They were excellent in putting me in touch with the VA, and I must say that my VA experience on the medical side has been easy going. They are very helpful and didn't question my resilience to psychological meds, and put me in therapy rather than drug me up. I can no longer carry on with my national guard career with my medical flagging, so I am now seeking disability benefits. I have since been diagnosed with PTSD, a TBI, tinnitus, ulnar neuropathy in both arms, and respiratory problems. Yes, I was one of those guys stirring the burn out latrines, tending to the burn pits, and blast pits. A huge hurdle I have to overcome is the recent loss of my physical medical file. So, my questions are: 1) How likely are the archives to have my medical files on digits? Has anyone had any experience with recovering medical files? 2) If I have to prove events through statements from other soldiers, what format do they need to be in? Is there a standard form? 3) After reading this thread, the DAV seems to be the go-to for a benefits aid. Does anyone have first hand experience with them? Is there anyone in Southern California who has a referral or suggestion?
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May 19, 2011 18:35
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unimog posted:1) How likely are the archives to have my medical files on digits? Has anyone had any experience with recovering medical files? 1) Were the records lost at your local VA or in the archives? From archives.gov: "...the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Records Management Center , St. Louis, MO, maintains the active duty health records or manages their whereabouts when on loan within the VA. Call the VA toll free number at 1-800-827-1000 to identify the current location of specific health records and to find out how to obtain releasable documents or information." All your records should be accessible, and if you had seen any civilian doctors since your time of activation you'll need to contact them for supplementary records for your case. 2) There is no longer a requirement to prove specific events for a PTSD decision, but if anything of note happened and you can get corroboration it could add weight to your case. But again, it's not required. As far as the TBI/gulf lung/tinnitus/neuropathy claims go, general decisions are now based more on your record of service (locations, contact record) and medical records than any corroboration. If your record shows you were at FOB X and they burned their poops at FOB X, then you got asthma, your request for consideration of respiratory issues will be considered. 3) http://www.dav.org/veterans/NSOffices.aspx There's an LA and San Diego office.
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May 19, 2011 19:52
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