We have discussion boards which are monitored daily for questions on these issues. If you have questions on the Disability Compensation, Missing Medical Records, or Health Issues please go to the respective board and post your question(s). Since there are space limits, please read the introduction to the board and the posted rules.

Can you give me or point me in the right direction to find out more on concurrent reciept and my retirement. I have been reitred for 6 years and been given 40% a year ago. I refiled my claim thur the American Legion and they are representing me. They also put in a uneployabilty claim for me about month ago. The A/L gave me good indications that I would get a alot higher rating, hopefully 100%. I talked to the VA on the phone and they stated that my claim is at the decision broad and have to make a decision before 1 Nov 06. I would like to know what will happen if I get 100% and what I would be entitle too. I going to have to quit my job becuase I can't perform what is required any longer.

If you get your 100% disability pension you will receive BOTH VA and Military pensions. It will take some time to get all of your military pension. It was suposed to be last year that all of the military pesion would be given to a retired Veteran, but the DOD argued over it. Mine is only $1500 a month, but I have to wait a full 10 years unless Senator Reid keeps up the fight. I have 6 years to wait. I'll be 76 this year. hope you can get it
Gerry Flynn

VA pension is non service connected, VA Compensation is service connected. VA pension is offset $ for $ by all other income except Supplemnetal Security Income and/or state welfare income.
If a person receives military, or naval service retirement, it is going to usually be over the limit for VA pension.

Reform the Veterans Administration System!




View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition

To: President George W. Bush, Congress and House/Senate VA Committees
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation." --George Washington

It is time for the archaic VA system to undergo a major overhaul. Veteran’s rights are non-existent. We demand the right to access the federal court system as well as to have the right to secure representation without limits the VA now restricts us to. The laws that prohibit the payment and use of legal counsel in our claims process severely cripples the Veterans Right to “due process under the law”. This law clearly violates the civil rights of Veterans. We as Veterans want a fair and just system that affords us all the civil and judicial rights and freedoms enjoyed by the rest of the population. We do not currently have access or the privilege to such a system. We are not only denied such access, but the US Attorney, Civil Rights Division, fails to investigate Veterans civil complaints regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs. We are told (unofficially of course) that the US Attorney is the VA’s Attorney, yet when another citizen has their civil rights violated, the Justice Department gladly steps in. We are asking for our right to “due process” under the laws and the Constitution we swore to defend.

It is the demand of the following undersigned Veterans, Family members and Friends of Veterans, that the Congress enacts legislation that restructures the VA claims and Medical care process to allow the following changes.

1. The timely and fair adjudication of Veterans claims for compensation, without prejudice or malice.

2. Legal representation at all stages of the Veterans claims process. Removal of all restraints that prohibit the hiring and payment of private legal counsel necessary to prove the Veterans case.

3. Access to the Federal Court System closely mirroring the same guidelines as the Social Security claims process. This is to include the adoption of time limits and right to counsel policies that are currently in use by the Social Security Administration.

4. An end to the practice of 'Blanket Denial" of administrative tort claims that are filed as a result of injury at VA Medical Facilities. The Department of Veterans Affairs shall be held accountable in Civil Court for the actions and malpractice of its employees and Administrators.

5. The addition of oversight committees that are responsible for the investigation of Veterans Claims of injury and malpractice at VA Medical Facilities. These committees shall be composed of Veterans, Non VA Physicians and Non VA Lawyers. This will help curtail the practice of complaints that are "swept under the rug" and ignored by VA Administrators. In addition, VA Hospital Administrators and Directors would be required to turn over all letters of complaints filed by Veterans and their family members, along with a description of what remedy was given to alleviate the problem, to accreditation committees evaluating that facility for fitness and quality standards. Hospital administrators would be held accountable for fair and just remedy of these complaints. A failure to comply with this process would be considered a performance standard that directly relates to bonus payments and pay raises.

6. That competent, timely and safe medical and psychiatric care is provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs to all Veterans.

7. The registration and competency testing of ALL VA Physicians with the respective State Board of Medical Examiners, In the State that they are actively working in, not just the state they are licensed in. A basic requirement shall be that VA physicians, Nurses and Technicians be able to communicate in English so that they may effectively communicate with patients in both spoken, and written form.

8. That VA Facilities be required to turn over all documents and records in a timely and complete manner in order to assist a Veteran to accomplish the proper adjudication of his/her claim and to facilitate the care of the Veteran by outside providers. This shall include severe criminal penalties and civil liability for the destruction or altering of official medical and administrative files by VA employees and administrators.

9. That the Congress enforce the decisions of the Veterans Court of Appeals and the Board of Veterans Appeals upon VA Regional Offices and the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

10. That the US Attorney, Civil Rights Division, "cease and desist" the practice of ignoring Veterans Claims of Civil Rights Violations committed by the Department of Veteran Affairs against Veterans and investigate and prosecute all violations. We as Veterans deserve "equal and fair protection under the law" the same as the rest of the citizens of this country. The Justice Department needs to recognize Veterans as a part of that population.

11. We ask that The Congress enact legislation to restore the Rights and Dignity to those who served and to protect those rights from the constant erosion that has taken place. We ask that a system be enacted that guarantees the compassionate and respectful treatment of those who served this country. We ask that the respective Veterans Affairs Committees in the House act on these issues to insure that future enlistees that choose to serve their country have a guarantee that their service will not be forgotten or held in disrespect once they are discharged from active duty. We ask that they can expect competent, timely and safe medical care along with compensation for injuries received while defending this country in both peacetime and combat situations.

It is time to overhaul this broken and grossly unfair system. We ask for fairness, respect and dignity.

It is due to the sacrifices of the Veterans of this country that the rest of the population enjoys the rights and freedoms they have come to know and cherish, it is time for the Veteran to be afforded these same rights as well as the right to “due process” under the Constitution.

"IT IS THE SOLDIER, NOT THE POET, WHO GIVES US FREEDOM OF SPEECH. IT IS THE SOLDIER, NOT THE REPORTER, WHO GIVES US FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. IT IS THE SOLDIER, NOT THE CAMPUS ORGANIZER, WHO GIVES US FREEDOM TO PROTEST. IT IS THE SOLDIER WHO SERVES BENEATH THE FLAG, WHO SALUTES THE FLAG AND WHOSE COFFIN IS DRAPED BY THE FLAG, WHO GIVES THE DEMONSTRATOR THE RIGHT TO BURN THE FLAG."


Sincerely,

The Undersigned



View Current Signatures




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The Reform the Veterans Administration System! Petition to President George W. Bush, Congress and House/Senate VA Committees was created by USA Veterans and Supporters of USA Veterans Rights and written by John Ferguson, Veterans Activist, Phoenix, AZ. This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. The petition scripts are created by Mike Wheeler at Artifice, Inc. For Technical Support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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My husband is desparately looking for an attorney capable and willing to assist in his lawsuit against the Johnson City, TN VAMC for defamation of character, slander/libel: whatever you want to call it, false accusations were made in my husband's VAMC psychiatric file. A psychiatrist who never met him, never talked him, never evaluated him personally, made insinuations and accusations in his file that his symptoms were fake, false; that he is attempting to defraud the government. Please help us to locate an attorney, who is not an ambulance chaser, looking only for someone who has lost a limb or a life thru the VA!!

This was a psychologically and emotionally damaging assault, and he feels his reputation and his good name, as well as the 23 years he gave to the USMC, have been sullied and disgraced.

sstar4353@aol.com

USMC retired
Vietnam Vet PTSD survivor kcubrats2002@aol.com

Under sovereign immunity you can not sure the US government for money without their permission, or unless a law pasted by Congress allows a suit for a matter that the law covers. You can not usually sue the federal government for a tort without permission.

I would put you effort into resolving the problem. Unless the material was made public available via publication, there is not usually liable. Slander is the spoken word and usually means again a public announcement.

Start by trying to get the data corrected. There are means to do this and you should try a good VSO.

I am retired military. I've spent a quarter of a century in the military, and now since I've retired, my health is not getting any better as I get older.

After spending all that time with the military, I would expect to have the promises that were made to me to be kept. However, now I find that for the multitude of pills that I have to take, the government is messing around with my co-payments, and making some life-saving drugs unreachable for myself and my wife. My doctor and I have spent a few years trying to find the drugs that work for me, and have stabilized me, thus keeping me alive and productive.

The first thing that they went after, was Viagra. The co-pay went from $9.00 to $22.00. So I thought to myself "well, if a person is taken off that drug, it won't kill him". Then they went after cholesterol drugs, one being Crestor. I did however, succeed in retaining the copay to the $9.00 level with a doctor's letter to the health service provider. And now they went after the triglycerides drugs. And this time, they removed all the non-generic triglycerides drugs from the normal $9.00 copay. And as of late, they have DENIED me the $9.00 copay, and will penalized me with a $22.00 copay if I need to continue with that drug. And, lastly they went after the stomach drugs. I've been using Provachol. Again, I've been DENIED the use of this drug, unless I pay the higher copay. Unfortunately, I can't pay those prices. At least not on my measly military and Social Security checks.

I've been contacting a lot of people on this topic. I've tried to get them to realize that these drugs are not as some people think (like Viagra), recreational drugs. These drugs keep people alive, active and productive. This practice has got to stop! They are playing with thousands of wounded soldiers and military retirees' lives.

I have to assume that the prople who regulate the copay prices are most all well-to-do, are not starving, and live a very comfortable lives. More than likely, they don't have to go through with what the Veterans have to put up with, and they can afford to pay for their drugs. They have no notion of what it is to struggle and the necessity to have to take a cocktail-full of pills each day just to stay alive.

I will keep on fighting this copay problem until my senators and representative are so tired of hearing from me that they will take action just to see me go away. And if everyone does the same thing, we can impose our will to correct what is going wrong.

Any inputs on this?

I get my prescriptions from both the VA and Medco on my private plan. I am 100% SC so I have no VA cop-pay.

I use my private insurance if I want a drug the VA does not include on its formulary. For me the drugs are also life sustaining. I just had a big increase on one drug. That is the way it works. They promise to provide services. There was no promise that you could get the drug of choice.

The VA has rules that allow your doctor to get a drug not on the preferred list. The people who choose the co-pays are themselves paying the co-pay. The co-pay reflects the incremental cost of drugs. Most generics work as well as the branded. There are some situations that one drug does not work with another drug or for a certain patient. My wife has one of those drugs.

This is a battle you are not going to win. Even with Medicare Part D, the plans all give better prices for preferred and generic drugs.

CHECK THIS OUT>>
June 21, 2005

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America promised its veterans who served our nation during time of war that they would not have to live in poverty should they become disabled or when they reach retirement age. Sadly, that promise has not been kept, in large part because many veterans are unaware of the assistance available to them through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). A recent evaluation of the VA's Non-service Connected Pension Program found that only about one in four eligible veterans are estimated to be receiving the pension benefits they are owed.

In my home State of Nevada, which boasts a veteran population of more than 240,000, only about 3,000 veterans and survivors now receive non-service connected pension benefits that average about $7,000 per year. Unfortunately, far too many veterans still do not know that this VA pension program exists.

Current recipients surveyed by the VA in 2004 reported that they had been eligible for many years before actually applying for benefits. As increasing numbers of World War II and Korean War veterans reach the point when medical expenses take a large amount of their income, we must do more to inform these American heroes of their eligibility for a VA pension. The cash assistance provided by this program can help veterans with modest incomes pay for prescription drugs, nursing home or in home care, and other out of pocket medical expenses.

In order to qualify for the VA non-service connected pension program, veterans are required to have served during a specific “period of war,” such as World War II, the Korean Conflict, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan. The location of the service, stateside or overseas, does not matter as long as the veteran was discharged under honorable conditions and generally served for at least 90 days.

Veterans may receive a non-service-connected pension based on reaching age 65. Veterans who are under age 65 qualify if they are permanently and totally disabled. For disabled veterans, the disability does not have to have any relationship to the veteran's military service.

Eligibility for the program is based upon need. A veteran is generally eligible if he or she has less than $80,000 in net assets. The home and one motor vehicle are not counted in determining assets. The annual income of the veteran and dependent family member must be below certain limits.

For 2005, the maximum benefit for a single veteran is $846 per month. If the veteran has a spouse or other dependent, the maximum amount is $1,109 per month. In determining eligibility and the amount of the benefit paid, the VA will subtract any income, such as Social Security or retirement benefits, the veteran and his dependents receive from the maximum amount.

Additional amounts are payable to a disabled veteran of any age who is housebound or in need of “aid and attendance.” For example, a single veteran who is considered housebound is eligible for up to $1,034 per month. A single veteran who is paying privately for nursing home care may receive up to $1,412 per month. A single veteran who is blind or needs the aid of another person for daily activities and who receives care at home, can also receive up to $1,412 per month. If this veteran has a spouse, the amount is $1,674 per month. Single veterans whose nursing home care is being paid by Medicaid have their benefit reduced to $90.00 per month, but the $90.00 must be given to the veteran and may not be used for the cost of medical or nursing home care.

In determining income, the VA will count all of the income received by the veteran and his or her dependents. VA will subtract from a veteran's income, out of pocket medical expenses above a minimal amount ($508 per year for a single veteran and $665 per year for a veteran with a spouse or other dependent) paid by the veteran or dependents. Even if the veteran is depleting savings to pay medical expenses, the expenses are still deducted from income to increase the pension benefit.

For example, under VA rules, a single veteran who is housebound because of disabilities, who has $1,400 per month in gross income, and who is paying $562 per month for medical expenses, would be eligible for $157 per month in VA pension benefits. Medical expenses include Part B Medicare premiums, Medi-gap insurance, prescription drugs, nursing home care or other medical care and dental care. Only expenses actually paid by the veteran or dependent may be deducted.

Wartime veterans who believe that they qualify for a pension can contact the Department of Veterans Affairs (1-800-827-1000) for an application and further information. A simple letter requesting the pension benefits (including a request for housebound or aid and attendance if applicable) can serve as an “informal claim” for a pension, allowing benefits to be paid from that date forward, if the claim is approved. Applications can also be completed online or can be printed out and mailed directly to the VA.

Laws passed by Congress cannot achieve their desired result unless those who are intended to benefit from them are made aware of their existence. The VA pension program for non-service connected veterans provides valuable assistance to veterans with limited income and those who are depleting their savings to pay for medical care. Without information concerning the existence of this program, too many of our wartime veterans will continue to live in poverty.

Here is the link to the VA Form in filling out your request for the Not SC Pension>>>>

http://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/v...tructions.asp#21-526

Out Here!