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MAIL CALL! YOU'VE GOT QUESTIONS, JIM STRICKLAND
HAS
ANSWERS -- Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland
answers questions from VA Watchdog readers.
Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland provides
regular columns for VA Watchdog dot Org.
If you would like to contact Jim about his
columns, you can email him here...
The archive of Jim's articles
is here...
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My Reply:
I too am amazed at the sheer gall of some guys. About a year ago I read
an article in a newspaper in Missouri...I think that's where it was
anyhow. The columnist, a woman with no military experience wrote of
"Poor ol' Bob", a Vietnam Veteran who had been screwed by VA and SSA.
His SSDI benefits had been revoked and the VA wouldn't do anything for
this hero. She blathered on about how the Vietnam Veterans were always
tortured souls, lived homelessly and were all on drugs.
I got curious and investigated on my own. I'm pretty good at that and my
built-in bullshit detector was alarming loudly in my skull.
Our "Vietnam Vet" wasn't. He was, like me, "Vietnam Era". I was on my
way to Saigon when someone tapped me on the shoulder with orders to the
98th General Hospital, Neubrucke on the Nahe, Federal Republic of West
Germany. I never have claimed differently. I'm proud of my service but
never got a single shot fired at me. A drunk German tossed a beer bottle
at me in a Gasthaus one night but missed...no Purple Heart in that I
suppose.
So anyhow my snooping turns up that ol' Bob had been drafted and spent 2
years in ~~Hawaii~~. He was from San Francisco. He was a mail handler.
Not a thing wrong with that, he wore the uniform and did his job. He's a
Brother, a Vet. In 2006 he's down on his luck. He has hepatitis C and
some other health issues. Nothing was service connected so no huge
surprise VA won't help him. It seems his hep was the result of IV drug
abuse after service...back in San Fran.
He won some meager SSDI bennies from SSA a few years back. Suddenly, no
check showed up in the mail and he was just pitiful. While the director
of that SSA office couldn't speak to me about ol' Bob's case, privacy
issues you know, he could speak in general terms.
It seems that upon occasion the SSA asks that recipients of SSDI
complete financial statements to verify family income. I knew that and
it sounds reasonable to me. If, for example, a recipient decided he
didn't want to or have to complete such a form because his wife's income
as a waitress might exceed a threshold and cut into his payments, the
SSA would not be pleased and would withhold that check until a hearing
could be convened. The SSA automatically cross checks such data with the
IRS and if the recipient hasn't filed a return for a few years, a small
red flag begins to wave.
Then if the recipient refused to go to the hearing...well, as far as the
SSA was concerned, case closed. I contacted the reporter who wrote that
and let her know she had offended me and every other Veteran in America.
Her facts were wrong from the ground up and to paint us all with that
brush was a huge insult. She could have cared less. His problem was his
traumatic Vietnam service (???) and he needed/DESERVED government help.
This is an age of no personal responsibility for our actions any longer.
In our group, it's always the VA's fault.
Personally, I'm confident if not for my military service I'd be in some
jail somewhere...I wasn't a highly motivated teenager back then. I was
given an opportunity in the Army...by big tough men with big hard
jobs...to prove myself. Every man I saw in uniform had that same
opportunity handed to them. I was overwhelmed but I took it. Ol' Bob and
his ilk effed it all up. That ain't my problem...nor the VA's.
A Reader's Question:
My Veteran husband is 100%, but not P&T yet. He is very ill with cancer.
I am 4 hours from the VA hospital. The VA clinic is in town but no
forwarding number when I call there when it's after hours. If an
emergency situation arises and it's after hours.....can I call the local
ambulance service and have him taken to the local hospital and not have
to pay the huge fee? This has been a real concern of mine.
My Answer:
Yes. Although, it's never that easy. Pre-approval is the thing to do. If
you sense that a crisis may be in the making, call your clinic or VAMC
and speak with just about anyone you can to explain the situation. Ask
for approval to use an ambulance and/or local civilian facility. Even
better, discuss this with someone responsible at your local VA clinic.
Be sure to note who it was and when.
Of course, in a genuine emergency call 911 and sort it out later.
He is approved by virtue of his service connection to use a civilian
facility in an emergency. Present his VA ID card as his 'proof of
insurance'. Prepare for this as best you can by having a list of
medications, recent medical records (obtained at ROI) and a copy of your
POA to represent him. A civilian facility (hospital ER) will treat him
no questions asked. Request a transfer to a VAMC as soon as he is able
to travel. They will call the VAMC and make doctor to doctor
arrangements. If you have that direct number handy it's a plus.
The VA system will pay them. They are required to accept the VA payment
as the total with no copay. The VA is the slowest payer on the planet.
The civilian facility will eventually send you a bill. Promptly get that
to the 'fee basis' people at the clinic or VAMC. They won't pay it
immediately but you'll begin your paper trail. Chances are 50/50 it will
be paid in 90 to 180 days. If not, the hospital and ER doctors and so on
may begin to dun you for some payment arrangement. Be firm in saying,
"NO". If you make any payment, VA will not reimburse you and will
eventually make the payment to the institution and they'll collect more
than they should have.
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Larry Scott --
