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Kawasaki Nun posted:a modicum of proactivity on the part of the VA fuckin lol
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May 12, 2016 21:11
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Kawasaki Nun posted:Yeah withholding medication for a surprise blood draw is an unnecessary interruption of care for some stupid policy. There are ways to enact drug screening policies in a way that doesn't interrupt care. Them wasting your time when you drove out there and then denying you your prescribed medication for some nebulous policy is poo poo treatment and you should tell them to gently caress themselves via complaint IMO. I spoke to someone at the pharmacy after I couldn't sleep and they spoke to the department head and was able to make it refillable again. I really wish the VA had a pick up option from ordering online. Now I have to play a game with the post office because this is signature required and in true post office fashion they always lightly knock and run away as fast as possible to try to avoid doing any real work. Thanks, VA! Edit: Oh and last time they didn't even make an attempt to deliver, put 'address non existent, returning to sender'
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May 13, 2016 01:16
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Sarah, I'm so sorry they're loving around with you, and you're not alone. Half the vets have had their opiates, benzos, or any other controlled substance cut off cold turkey. One had been on opiates for a decade because his spine is crumbling and they can't fix it because his seizures tear apart any stabilized vertebrae. He was housebound in agony for months before he saved up enough to see a pain specialist out of pocket. His file now has the big fat DRUG-SEEKING label because he complained to his primary and the patient advocate. I've seen others who have been made dependent on sleep meds, either by their condition or because VA docs were candymen not long ago, get cut off and go days without sleep, jumping at every sound and about to cry with exhaustion. Any complaints, even up to the rat-faced Secretary, have been met with form letters about new VAMC policy and contraindications. In actuality, as I've mentioned before, the VA sees patients as statistics rather than individuals, and one of McDonald's initiatives is to bring down the number of scheduled drugs prescribed. It doesn't matter if you're physically dependent, or it's the only thing that helps — if their bar graph doesn't show numbers going down from 2015-2016, they will face sanctions. Of course that's not spelled out as clearly in the documentation, but if you're paying attention, it's obvious. I'm glad you got the pharmacy to act. I've also been witness to complaints being met with the other fun label of NON-COMPLIANT. I hope your situation doesn't stay bad, and that they don't pull this poo poo on you again.
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May 13, 2016 06:58
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Busket Posket posted:Sarah, I'm so sorry they're loving around with you, and you're not alone. Also I forgot to mention that I ended up going to urgent care recently for foot pain because it was over a month for primary care appointment and was given steroids and pain killers and referred to podiatry. Next appointment with them was over a month away. Went back to urgent care, they said they couldn't give me anything else because i'd would become addicted. Podiatry gave me inserts, stents to sleep in. Didn't bother her one bit that I said my pain when walking was 8/10. Didn't offer me anything for pain, even though OTC isn't helping. Talked to mental health about the sleep today because sometimes my feet hurt so bad (plantar fac in both feet) that I still can't sleep after taking sleeping meds. His solution is apparently to drug test me, and give me some excuse about they have to do it for everyone. So now after reading your post, I've probably been marked as a drug seeker because I'd like to actually walk places and go do things and not be in pain. Oh yeah and sleep, I'd actually like to sleep.
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May 13, 2016 11:55
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Sarah posted:So now after reading your post, I've probably been marked as a drug seeker because I'd like to actually walk places and go do things and not be in pain. Oh yeah and sleep, I'd actually like to sleep. Ugh, I'm so very sorry. They've become so ridiculous about pain meds; Vietnam vets are even getting cut off after nearly 50 years on opiates so they "don't get addicted," and one of my guys was taken off lorazepam, the only thing that helped his anxiety in public spaces, because (as the Chief of the Mental Health wing here put it) "if you stay on that stuff now, then fifty, sixty years down the line you'll be on a much higher dose." Not like 50-60 years of agoraphobic panic isn't going to gently caress up his life well before that. I get frothing mad about this, and even Congresspeople aren't willing to fight it because then they worry they'll be seen as pro-drug, or contributing to more overdose deaths. They want all vets to bootstrap their way out of pain, even if those boots are full of plantar fasciitis and it makes you vomit in pain to pull them up.
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May 13, 2016 19:10
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How far out from the start of the month does mypay post retiree pay statements?
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May 18, 2016 21:02
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So questions now that my Formal PEB is over and the end is nigh...So far my estimated Army disability is 60% but will move up to 70% as soon as the VARR goes through on my legs. The VA will be going up from 70% to 80%. 1) Over 30% gives what benefits? Tricare, On base privileges, and what else? 2) Do my family get Tricare benefits too? 3) Dental? 4) Considering that I'm on medication right now (5, to include opiates) how do I make sure that I continue to keep getting my medication? Especially since I'll be leaving this state and moving to California. Running out is something I don't want to do. I tried once, it sucked. 5) Since I'm relocating to CA, and my home of record is FL, how do they plan on getting me and my family down there? If we drive, how do we get paid for it? Also, will transportation ship 1 car? If not, no biggie, but I'd rather not leave my wife alone in the car driving along the coast with our 2 kids in the back possibly screaming their heads off.
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May 23, 2016 23:23
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Soulex posted:So questions now that my Formal PEB is over and the end is nigh...So far my estimated Army disability is 60% but will move up to 70% as soon as the VARR goes through on my legs. The VA will be going up from 70% to 80%.
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May 24, 2016 00:39
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Thank you!
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May 24, 2016 15:59
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Soulex posted:3) Dental? Make sure if your dental work is not completed when you separate, your record is stamped and signed that you did not receive all your dental treatment within 90 days of separation (Navy branches always had a stamp and the frost desk would do this, I have no idea what other branches do but it should be similar). Even if you're due for a cleaning, sealants or anything else minor, get that box checked no. If it's no, you can be seen by VA dental to finish the treatment. Check in with the VA dental department ASAP so you can get scheduled, I know my VA has absurd wait times.
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May 25, 2016 00:49
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What if I have a VA rating for grinding my teeth? Will it only cover night guards or can other dental fall into that?
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May 25, 2016 01:45
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Is molar grinding an actual, no-poo poo rating? if so, I might need to talk to my base dentist.
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May 25, 2016 02:24
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Arc Light posted:Is molar grinding an actual, no-poo poo rating? It can also be tied in to other ratings, I've heard of people having it coupled up with their anxiety and a few other diagnosis. Some military hospitals have civilians on a loan from the VA that sit in an office and answer questions about ratings. The quality of these people may vary. If you have any questions on payment coverage for different things, try getting a hold of a Health Benefits Advisor (job titles may vary a little depending on location), but it's pretty much a person in a hospital whose sole purpose in life is to code the referrals sent in and out of a hospital to rate if the government should foot the bill or if responsibility for treatment falls on the patient. This can be helpful in preventing you from getting the bill after seeing a provider for a while, only to find out that what you were seen for wasn't covered. I've only seen this happen in some cases of mental health from patients, but it's best to be safe than pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars for an appointment/medications you've already gone to/picked up. A case manager might also be able to get you a list of approved providers in the area covered by the government insurance, but their job is primarily in getting information from hospitals about patients being seen outside of the military/government healthcare system.
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May 25, 2016 04:08
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Rad, thanks. I don't think I'm bad enough about it to merit a rating, but it's good to know.
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May 25, 2016 05:21
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Pandasmores posted:It can also be tied in to other ratings, I've heard of people having it coupled up with their anxiety and a few other diagnosis. Some military hospitals have civilians on a loan from the VA that sit in an office and answer questions about ratings. The quality of these people may vary. I do anyways. I am 10% with Bruxism. Basically grinding my teeth and soreness of the jaw because of.
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May 26, 2016 19:07
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Out of curiosity, how often have you guys heard of people embellishing the stories they tell their C&P examiners or faking symptoms to get a higher rating? Is that something you guys think happens often? Ever?
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May 27, 2016 01:24
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Residency Evil posted:Out of curiosity, how often have you guys heard of people embellishing the stories they tell their C&P examiners or faking symptoms to get a higher rating? Is that something you guys think happens often? Ever? I'm sure it happens a fair bit, but I think the opposite is actually more common. People tend to play down their symptoms and tough it out then they end up with ratings that are way below than they really should have gotten. I've talked to plenty of people that said during their exam, especially mobility tests, the doctor would have them start stretching or whatever and they'd go well beyond where the pain started and all the way until where the pain became so intolerable that they physically could not move any further. The doctor would then mark that as their maximum mobility point which may be in or near the normal range when it actually should have been recorded as way lower. During a VA briefing I got some advice after the fact that I wish someone had told me before my C&P exam. The briefer said that during your C&P exam you need to tell the doctor what your conditions are like on your worst days. Every medical condition fluctuates a bit and your doctors need to know what it's like when it is really limiting your ability to function as well as what it is like on average.
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May 27, 2016 02:42
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Residency Evil posted:Out of curiosity, how often have you guys heard of people embellishing the stories they tell their C&P examiners or faking symptoms to get a higher rating? Is that something you guys think happens often? Ever? Considering half the time when you try to look up answers online about C&P stuff online the forums will have big notices that : WE DO NOT COACH INDIVIDUALS ON HOW TO SCAM THE SYSTEM I have inferred that people do that poo poo all the time. The guy who was in the charge of the New Orleans OIF/OEF coordination program or some poo poo was 100% disabled and it showed in how he filled out my initial claims paperwork. stupid gently caress.
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May 27, 2016 06:46
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Residency Evil posted:Out of curiosity, how often have you guys heard of people embellishing the stories they tell their C&P examiners or faking symptoms to get a higher rating? Is that something you guys think happens often? Ever? I saw a bit of that happening during my group sessions at Pendleton. Guys would come in and refuse to speak during groups, keep their shades on and whatnot then when the sessions ended the ones that were usually faking would take off their shades and suddenly become chatter boxes only to put on the face of whatever was going on when the group sessions started all over again. Some of them would straight up get called out by guys in the group that deployed with them.
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May 27, 2016 22:29
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I wish I still had that article about the AWACS radar technician talking up how he was a combat veteran and firefighter.
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May 27, 2016 22:32
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Godholio posted:I wish I still had that article about the AWACS radar technician talking up how he was a combat veteran and firefighter. Technically...?
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May 28, 2016 09:51
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Kawasaki Nun posted:Technically...? He never fought a fire.
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May 28, 2016 21:14
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Please help me out but I can't imagine "firefighting" on board an awacs can't be more complicated than "spray fire extinguisher at burning poo poo"
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May 28, 2016 23:00
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There's a little more to it than that, but basically the equipment techs are responsible for locating and dealing with sources of smoke, fumes, or fire. There's a lot of specialized equipment on the lower decks that you don't want untrained personnel loving with. Everyone has a specific task for specific emergency situations. One of the controllers is usually the "runner" carrying oxygen bottles around the jet to give to the techs, pulling breakers as needed, etc (everyone else is usually on system oxygen plugged into their consoles with little mobility). The other controllers and the enlisted surveillance team are refilling empty bottles because when you've got a runner and 2 or 3 firefighters running around they go through O2 bottles FAST. But if there's an open fire on any airplane you're almost certainly hosed unless you can get it taken care of FAST. So in the event of a fire, they'd be VERY important. But it's basically always been caught early enough because smoke and fumes attract attention very quickly. The guy made a big deal over things that he had nothing directly to do with. It'd be like me, as a controller, taking credit for a successful HIMARS strike because I cleared the loving airspace of military aircraft. This guy turned on the radar and unless it broke, he sat there and read a book or watched movies on his laptop until it was time to power down. If it broke, he replaced a few computer cards until it started working, then went back to his movies.
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May 29, 2016 23:46
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Godholio posted:
Sounds like he'd make a great SNCO.
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May 30, 2016 00:23
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This is probably a question for Vasudus, but I'm thinking about doing the VA work study, does anyone have any experience with it? Are there any benefits to it rather than just a work study through the school I'm going to?
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May 31, 2016 19:31
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Am I correct in that the M. GI bill would actually be better than the post 911 in my case? Here is how my tuition works:quote:Tuition: $510 per 3-credit hour course (most OMS CS courses will be 3 credit hours) Fees: $301 per academic term of enrollment ($194 institutional fee + $107 technology fee). Fees are assessed only for those terms in which students are enrolled in courses. I plan on taking 2 classes per semester. This is for grad school and is all online. Since I'll only spend $1400 on tuition per semester, everything will be covered in the first month, and then I get to pocket roughly $3000 per semester?
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Jun 2, 2016 04:49
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Sir Lucius posted:Am I correct in that the M. GI bill would actually be better than the post 911 in my case? Here is how my tuition works: there are certain cases where the GI is better than the post 911, but it's few and far between. go with whatever gives you more fat stacks of taxpayer cash to blow on video games and weed
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Jun 2, 2016 04:52
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Sir Lucius posted:Am I correct in that the M. GI bill would actually be better than the post 911 in my case? Here is how my tuition works: uh what about housing benefits? They usually add up to more than 3k a semster?
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Jun 2, 2016 05:56
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It's based on ZIP code, so "usually" means dick.
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Jun 2, 2016 06:13
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I wont be eligible for housing benefits as a part time student taking all classes online.
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Jun 2, 2016 09:34
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Godholio posted:It's based on ZIP code, so "usually" means dick. For all online its a fixed rate IIRC. For me 6 credit hours would be half time which gets BAH but I assume its different for you. Sounds like the MI GI bill might be better but I'd go over everything in detail with your schools veteran services people and certifying official to make sure all the details are correct. I could be wrong but dont you have to choose between Montgomery and post 9/11? While the Montgomery might make more sense for this semester theres the other ~31 months to consider. Even if you only might want to get any further education you need to account for the opportunity cost of choosing one chapter of benefits over the other. Having the opportunity to enroll in a community college for BAH between jobs could be pretty useful Kawasaki Nun fucked around with this message at 17:24 on Jun 2, 2016 |
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Jun 2, 2016 17:19
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Yeah, online is half the national average BAH for E-5 (w/ or w/o dependents, I can't remember). That's probably about $800 for full time.
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Jun 2, 2016 17:43
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Kawasaki Nun posted:For all online its a fixed rate IIRC. For me 6 credit hours would be half time which gets BAH but I assume its different for you. Sounds like the MI GI bill might be better but I'd go over everything in detail with your schools veteran services people and certifying official to make sure all the details are correct. i thought you could switch from GI bill to post 9/11, but not back that might have been when it first started up
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Jun 3, 2016 04:29
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So where did that extra money I paid into the Montgomery GI bill go when I first joined? I can't even remember what it did, extend it for me maybe?
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Jun 3, 2016 04:44
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That's just so that you could utilize MGIB, I think. You'll get that $1200 back after exhausting Post 9/11. Correct me if I'm wrong.
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Jun 3, 2016 05:09
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that and I paid an additional $600 into MGIB for a higher payout, I wonder how I get that back 
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Jun 3, 2016 05:34
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I just got a call from the VA, they want me to come in Monday for the claim I submitted half a year ago for PTSD (constantly harassed and kicked out for being gay) and Hearing Loss plus Tinnitus (my exit exam they said I suffered hearing loss, makes sense since I constantly slept under a super loud industrial fan). They said that's good news if they called me in only half a year, it means they confirmed enough of my references. They said I'd do an audiogram or something there, and that my psych eval would be conducted over Skype, which sounds a bit ghetto. Is there anything I should know going in? Naturally I'd just like as much benefits as I can get without looking like I want as much benefits as I can get. Hillary Clintons Thong posted:that and I paid an additional $600 into MGIB for a higher payout, I wonder how I get that back I think if you pay the $1200, you get that back if you use up the entire 9/11 bill, and if you pay the kicker, they actually work that into amount you get for the monthly tuition allotment or something. I remember reading it and they did think all those bits out.
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Jun 3, 2016 16:04
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Zero VGS posted:They said I'd do an audiogram or something there, and that my psych eval would be conducted over Skype, which sounds a bit ghetto. Is there anything I should know going in? Naturally I'd just like as much benefits as I can get without looking like I want as much benefits as I can get. The "Skype" call is just a video chat with a psychiatrist/psychologist and other than the fact that you're in completely different places it is essentially just like any session you'd have discussing the relevant issues. If you treat it like that it should go fine. Answer the questions honestly but don't expect treatment, whoever you talk to is just trying to confirm/deny whether you have a valid claim.
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Jun 6, 2016 18:37
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I found out recently that I wasn't using my Retiree benefits to the fullest extent possible. I never received my blue retiree card after leaving on TDRL in 2013, then was moved to PDRL after two years. When I went to get it today, I was told that I wasn't eligible because I wasn't 100% disabled (I'm 70 according to the Army, and 90 according to the VA). I've been just getting the VA checks, and using my GI bill. I was wondering if anyone could confirm that I am eligible (I looked on google and it seems like I am), and if anyone could clue me into any other benefits I'm not using? Is there a list or something somewhere? My buddy uses his retirement card to get space A flights, which is how this realization occurred.
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Jun 7, 2016 04:07
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