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JIM STRICKLAND'S MAIL BAG: VOLUME #33 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...

To find an answer to a specific VA benefits question, use the VA Watchdog search engine... click here...

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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;

I'm told that VA has to schedule me for a visit with my PCP within 30 days and a visit to a specialist, such as a cardiologist, within 7 days or it has to outsource my care if I request an appointment. I have never heard of this. What is the story, I am a 100% S/C T&P?

Reply;

That's correct...by the book. That's how it's supposed to work but rarely does. Unless you had a very good reason, I wouldn't push it. The VHA is trying hard to be accommodating and provide very good health care...as opposed to the VBA who build ever more stumbling blocks. Those 2 divisions of VA have nothing to do with each other.

Pulling out your books of rules and regulations at the VHA will only lead to resentment from folks who may be doing a good job. Be cautious.

Jim;

I have a question about VA Benefit Compensation and being a member of a Drilling Reserve unit. I was injured during my 2 year mobilization, and am currently filing my VA Claim for my disability.

Now that I have returned to Drill Status, am I still entitled to VA Compensation? How does the process work for us Reserve and National Guard folks once we return from our active duty call up and now we have a disability claim? I have heard we have to forfeit compensation while in Drill Status. Respectfully...

Reply;

Thank you for your service to our country, sir. I'm going to link you to the references and rules to answer your question...look below for the links. Read it and then please let me know if this answers your question completely.

38 CFR Book B Adjudication
http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/bookb.html

Duty Periods
http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/regs/38CFR/BOOKB/PART3/S3_6.DOC

3.6 Duty periods

(a) Active military, naval, and air service. This includes active duty, any period of active duty for training during which the individual concerned was disabled or died from a disease or injury incurred or aggravated in line of duty, and any period of inactive duty training during which the individual concerned was disabled or died from an injury incurred or aggravated in line of duty or from a covered disease which occurred during such training.

Adjustments and Resumptions
http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/regs/38CFR/BOOKB/PART3/S3_654.DOC

3.654 Active service pay (a) General. Pension, compensation, or retirement pay will be discontinued under the circumstances stated in §3.700(a)(1) for any period for which the veteran received active service pay. For the purposes of this section, active service pay means pay received for active duty, active duty for training or inactive duty training.

Concurrent Benefits and Elections
http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/regs/38CFR/BOOKB/PART3/S3_700.DOC

3.700 General

(i) Pension, compensation, or retirement pay on account of his or her own service will not be paid to any person for any period for which he or she receives active service pay.

Jim;

I can't seem to get a straight answer from the VA or any return phone calls from anybody who is suppose to know so I am seeking your assistance. I am trying to find out what fertility services the VA offers it's women veterans. No one seems to be able to give me an answer. They ask why I need them, I explain that I am a lesbian and would like to start my family planning (which is not including in-vetro, which i am already aware they do not cover) and once they hear that it's like oh call the women's program manager (who never answers her phone or returns messages) or they put me into a messaging system for a primary care provider which again leads to dead ends. I have even had one doctor give me his opinion about how he doesn't think that I should be inquiring such services because why would a lesbian wanting a baby think that the VA would assist....

Any information you can provide would be very beneficial. Thank you.

Reply;

Your question about, "what fertility services the VA offers it's women veterans" must be expanded to include male veterans. Only then does the answer begin to make a little more sense.

To my knowledge, VA does not offer any such services.

The VA health care system is focused on providing care for veterans who have a service connected injury or illness that was caused by or aggravated by military service. Incidental to that, VA provides care for other health problems that may afflict the veteran.

To qualify for services, there are various levels of income that are considered along with the degree of the veteran's condition. Not all services are provided to all veterans.

I don't believe that the VHA system has any particular institutional bias toward sexual preference or lifestyle. I communicate with a number of veterans who are lesbian, homosexual or transgendered and they receive good care from their VHA facility. I also hear from many veterans who have suffered Military Sexual Trauma (MST), either male to female or male to male and my understanding is that their care is also high quality.

Having said all that, VHA is clearly not in the business of providing services that might be thought of as "lifestyle enhancing" such as elective plastic or cosmetic surgery. Further, VA hospitals aren't usually expected to provide children's services, labor and delivery and so on.

I believe that could reasonably include fertility services such as fertility drugs, such as clomiphene and gonadotropins, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization (IVF), gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), donor eggs and embryos and gestational carriers (also known as surrogate mothers).

Again, those services aren't routinely available to any veterans regardless of sexual preference.

One could easily argue that an individual veteran who was injured or became ill and the residual condition prevented conception would deserve such services.

For example, a male veteran who lost one or both testicles or a female veteran who lost one or both ovaries or other creative organs and who established that the subsequent condition was service connected could reasonably demand such reproductive services.

In that instance I would ask for a fee basis authorization to receive such services at a teaching hospital that works with the veteran's VA Medical Center.

If you couldn't establish that your need is service connected, your best opportunity probably lies within that teaching or university hospital that works with your VA Medical Center. Many teaching hospitals have reproductive centers that are available to the public. If you were to make a few phone calls you may find someone there who will be able to assist you. You never know that you might come across someone who has a teaching connection to the VA and knows of some grant money or similar available resources for you.

Jim;

Thank you again for all your help. I am coming to the end of the VBA claim process with a rating of 60 percent pending secondary approval for PTSD and a Bone injury due to service in Iraq. While the process has taken longer then one would have liked five months from C n P exams till now, the evidence I provided the VBA was not questionable ( I did my research got them the medical records ) thanks to tips from you. You keep on writing and I will keep on reading.

Reply;

Thanks very much for the kind words. Your email is a great way to finish up my week.

Yes, it all takes forever and there really never is an end to it all...but, isn't it satisfying to know that you did it and you learned from the experience?

Now...pass your experiences on to another veteran. Your knowledge is needed for a buddy!

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posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

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