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JIM STRICKLAND'S MAIL BAG: VOLUME #10 FOR 2008 --

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...

-------------------------

by Jim Strickland

NOTE:  Letters in my mailbag are reprinted just as they come to me. Spelling and grammar are left as is and only small corrections are made to improve readability, ensure anonymity or delete expletives that may offend some readers. This is not legal advice. You should always seek the advice of an attorney who is qualified in Veterans' law before you make any decisions about your own benefits.

Jim;

You and I have corresponded now for a couple of years and I really enjoy your articles and answers. I know I often ask things of you that are not quite within your baillywick, but you do always provide answers. I bought my daughter a Wii for Christmas and I have to say that I enjoy certain games on it as much as she does. I find that it has gotten me up off of my chair and actually moving. I would like to get one (when I can find one) and donate it to a veteran's facility where it would get used. Any ideas of how to go about doing this. I think that the Wii sports pack (bowling, tennis, baseball, golf) would be great for almost any semi-mobile vet. After reading the articles about the veteran charities and how little or almost no money actually goes to support the veteran, I would rather spend the money myself, donate the item and then know that 100% of my gift was actually going to the veteran. Dave Young

Reply;

The selflessness and courage of the veterans who read VAWatchdog and my occasional ramblings never cease to amaze me. Dave Young has been a faithful supporter and constant reader as he's fought his own battles and provides me with good feedback and commentary.

I hear from many like Dave who want to do what they can to help other veterans who may be less fortunate. There are a lot of you who have started to do advocacy on your own. Some of you are offering rides to veterans who have troubles getting to and from appointments. Many are telling me of these efforts and much more.

The recent bad news about the organizations who take your money and promise to help soldiers and veterans has generated a lot of anger. http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfDEC07/nf121407-3.htm

How dare these people use the plight of a disabled vet to enrich their own lives? Many of you wrote to Larry and I asking for advice about who to donate to?

Dave's letter made me realize that I'd missed an opportunity to tell you about the biggest and best of all the agencies that help veterans who need a hand up.

There is one agency out there where you can be assured every dime you give is used to directly support efforts to improve the life of your brothers and sisters. This also happens to be the largest group of its kind.

VA Voluntary Services (VAVS) http://www1.va.gov/volunteer/  is home to all of those good people you see whenever you go to a VA clinic or hospital.

I suggested to Dave that he pass his Wii idea on to Laura Balun, the DVA Director of Voluntary Services. I remember when I first sent Laura an email. I was astonished at how quickly I had a reply. In no time at all I was signed up as a volunteer at my local clinic. The hours I've given to that clinic have been beyond rewarding. I've gotten back much more than I've given and I've met and made friends of many of America's finest.

Much as I expected, Dave had an answer from Laura within a short time of writing to her.

Laura told Dave, “First let me say, thank you for your service to our country and second, the notion of donating to fellow veterans is commendable! When an organization or individual donates to VA, 100% of the donation goes to veterans, there is no overhead. ...I have a list of stations who have requested a Wii. If you want the Wii to go to a certain facility, please let me know and I can make arrangements to give you the contact information...(many) facilities have indicated they would like a Wii to assist in the rehabilitation, if not diversional activities for the veteran patient. Thank you once again for your offer!”

Think about that; “100% of the donation goes to veterans, there is no overhead.”

There is no other organization with a mission designed to assist veterans that can say that. Whether you give your time (calculated as being worth $18.77 per hour) or money or material goods to VA Voluntary Services, you can be absolutely certain that your donation is going to enrich the life of a veteran.

Why a Wii? What's the deal with this anyhow? It's just a video game, right?

There are a lot of recent articles published that are proving that the unique features of a Wii are motivating injured patients to get up and move around. It takes physical therapy to another level; it's not just good for the patient, it's a lot of fun.

Check these links out...

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/01/therapists-army-tap-wii-for-patient-rehab/

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2008-02-08-wii-rehabilitation_N.htm

http://www.thescizone.com/news/articles/1478/1/Wii-Gets-Physical-With-Rehab-Therapy/1.html

http://www.howtocopewithpain.org/blog/194/wii-chronic-pain/

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/wii-used-for-physical-rehab-by-joelwhy/1271386421

The VA Voluntary Service has a rich history. Founded in 1946 to provide care for veterans while they're served at VA health care facilities, volunteers have given over 676 million hours of their time since. VA volunteers help veteran patients in end of life care programs, foster care, community-based volunteer programs, hospital wards, nursing homes, and veteran outreach centers.

I hope you'll consider becoming a VA volunteer. Whether you give a local facility a Wii, write a check for a monetary donation or go down and work alongside the professional staff as they care for veterans, you'll discover that the most effective way there is to improve the well being of vets from yesterday, today and tomorrow is to do what Dave Young has done; get involved!

Jim;

I wrote you concerning the supposed to be rebate for disabled veterans and how to go about collecting it although I do not file a return. Your's and Larry's website ran an article saying that Liberty Tax Service would help by filing a 2007 return for disabled veterans . I contacted Liberty and they told me to come on over and within 30 minutes the return was filled out by a preparer who was a veteran himself and the next day they called me to come sign it and it was filed. This turned out to be a very pleasant process that I was very worried about. My disability is rated at 60% and any extra money is very welcome to me. I am writing to you to compliment Liberty Tax Service for their professional attitude and service that they provided. Thanks for the article letting me know about it.
 

Reply;

Thank you for sharing that!

Jim;

My hearing on 2/26 went pretty good I think. I met with a state VA affairs claims rep. 1 hr. before the hearing. He suggested a informal hearing so we decided to go that way. My wife, and I were a bit worried. Anyway the DRO showed up, and turned out to be a real nice person. I kept breaking out evidence, and had 3 letters typed out as per your guidelines. One was just kind of a overall statement, and one each entitled "true statements about my Hep C", and another about my Diabetes. Every time he asked a question about one of my statements. I would back it up with some evidence, or refer to a VA medical report. We were kind of in shock when he said that "neither one of us wanted to go to the higher appeals court". He said I should be 100% unemployable, and retro payed back to 2006. He said he would go through my file a bit more, call me in 2-3 days, and that I would have a check for retro pay in about 1 month. He said I might have to have an exam, but doubted it when he looked up how many VA appointments that I had in last 2-3 months. I know I shouldn't be counting chickens before they hatch, but so far it looks good. I even brought along a financial report of last year to present, and he didn't want to see it. It almost seemed too easy- from 20% to 100%.

My blood sugars are still spinning from it.

I have a question about the meaning of 100% unemployable. Are there different 100% disability ratings, or is 100% all the same. Someone mentioned that a 100% unemployable rating means that you could only earn up to $10,000.00 more per year. I might have heard that from you, but can't remember. You should write a book on-How to deal with the VA. Thanks again for all your help!
 

Reply;

That is just terrific. Yours is the second email I've opened this morning telling me of a winner. You did it yourself and you did it very well. Congratulations!

The IU 100% and the "schedular" 100% are the same monetary benefit. Other benefits like CHAMPVA and DEA are also the same if the IU is awarded as "Permanent & Total" (P & T). You will know that it's P & T by wording on your award letter that says "No future exams are scheduled" or similar verbiage.

If a veteran is awarded IU 100% it does restrict work. You will receive a yearly questionnaire that will require you to state that you've not engaged in "gainful employment". That means employment where you have earned more than the federal guideline that defines a poverty level income. That can vary from place to place but about $10,000.00 is correct. This is not family income, your spouse or other dependents aren't restricted. It also doesn't factor in any winnings like a lotto or gambling. For some reason I get frequent questions from veterans who have hit a winner in Vegas and they worry about how it may affect their benefit. It won't VA is only allowed to be concerned about gainful employment.

I always wonder why I never won anything in Las Vegas or New Orleans? Oh well.

This is one of the best explanations of the IU benefit I've found http://www.va.gov/OCA/testimony/svac/05102720.asp

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posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

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