[QUOTE]Originally posted by TSJAFO:
RE: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,143756,00.html

"But DoD soon could be out of the disability rating business and using VA to end any unfair disparities."

DOD and the VA...that just sounds scary to me.
When I think of how many decades it took to fight for my 100% rating...
If this works out, then vets, probably those that are "older" to the system, and for certain the "new arrival vets" are going to get the worst end of it.

No doubt...watch and see...

"Attn:all Vets! Bend over for another one...!"

Yes, This situation happen to me. I had 14 years,E-6 and on my last enlistment up to 20 years.I had Degenerate Disk Disease in the lower back. I was awarded 20% in 1998 by the DOD. Now with the other elments that was in my medical records , the Va rated me at 70%. Now will this bill be retroactive to other vet that this happen too?

I am rated at 70% disabled from the Vietnam War. I do not know what all these changes mean to me but it seems the VA and DOD are giving priority to Iraq War Veterans. I respect their service in war time but it is not Vietnam. We experienced the same things they do only on a larger scale, they are hero's and we were depraced fiends. The United States people did not support us nor did they like us. This includes the VA and their ratings board. I have been fighting them for over 25 years and like someone said earlier, they are waiting for us to die off and go away. Their ratings system is a mystery to me and it does not matter how much evidence I present to them, they always make up their opinion's separate from any evidence, be it a VA or a private doctor. I continue to fight them through working with the DAV, which I joined because I finally realized I could no longer take them on by myself and by writing to my two U.S. Senators in Nebraska. I was wounded twice in Vietnam, the first time in the right hip which went through my right hip and came out my left hip. My hips are now killing me and I filed for disability for my hips. Even though x-rays taken by the VA showed significant tissue and muscle trauma in this area, my claim was denied because I did not complain about my hips the last ten months I was on active duty in the states. Do you think a nineteen year old would be less likely to suffer long term affects than a fifty nine year old? This is how the VA works, making up any excuse they can to deny benefits they know they owe. Where do they think those baseball sized wounds on my hips came from? I will continue to fight the VA until I die. It is not a matter of money for most veterans, it is a matter of respect, respect earned on the battlefield and by going to war for a country and government that does not appreciate or respect us. To all Iraq war veterans just joining the fight with the VA, I respect and appreciate what you have done. I love you as a brother and sister in arms and I worry daily about those still over there in harms way. Unfortunately, your country and government do not feel the same way about you that I do.

Nothing like a war to get things moving. I and countless other veterans have all gone through what most are just now reading about and experiencing. It’s great to read of the advances, but also disconcerting at the same time. The system has been a disservice for a longer period of time for vets such as me and countless others. Does the new approach only deal with today’s vets? As an example, my friendly-fire gunshot wound was classified as a instrumentality of war, subject to the same treatment as a normal combat injury, (received in Panama) I was discharged medically after being a nice test case for Brooke Army Medical Center as to wound ballistics. The VA held my rating at 30% (for only one condition), but the Army didn’t feel like paying me full retirement and conveniently lowered my percentage to 20% (it was at 30%), so I guess I’m special and have two ratings. This is a text book case with regards to what we all are reading about now. As an added bonus, the Army also gave me severance pay and then came back three years later and garnished my disability for around six years to get it back. The VA has actually treated me well, it was the Army, who as Congress has asserted, has pulled moves like lowering disability rates to save themselves money. Congress should also remember veterans didn’t start serving just on 9/11, some of us didn’t need the towers to collapse to do our duty. The point of boring you with this story; Reforms should cover all who have had a disservice done to them by this process. Many service members I have known during conflict and peace time have incurred the same types of wounds, surgeries, rehab and medical board crap and didn’t have the luxury of a war on the front page to bolster their sacrifices. Special Ops and combat arms people get messed up all of the time you just don’t hear about it. The help for vets is admirable, but the political grandstanding to benefit one segment of a larger group is getting old.

What about the disabled Vets that didnt get retirement or compensation untill long after they left the military???????

It would be unjust and unfair if only certain categories of vets got the new law provisions. A lot of retro should go to ALL vets who have had to fight tooth and nail to get their benefits over the years. Combat vets from ALL wars should geat theirs, and, all vets who got service-connected injuries (to include PTSD from other issues such as rape)should get theirs as well. I have to wonder if Congress is truly looking at the magnitude of all of this. Or the Pentagon. Or VA. None of us would mind the extra benefits. But, the big question is: WHO really gets the benefits of these new laws? Only the new vets? That's good for them; but what about us?????

I want to clarify one point. The doctors and nurses at the Omaha VA Hospital are for the most part all very caring people. Yes, some are from India but they do not smell. The hospital is clean and orderly and yes I have spent time in the hospital. The problem is they are overworked and overwhelmed with patients. They do the best they can under difficult circumstances. My son spent a medical rotation there and he had nothing but high praise for the experiences he got while there. The last compensation physical I had there the doctor was very understanding and sympathetic to my plight. The problem is with the ratings board who sit behind locked doors and deny benefits to veterans who they know qualify. They hope they can wear us down and wait us out, hoping we will just give up. My advice to veterans is to write your respective U.S. Senators or Congressman. Get somebody to represent you, such as a DAV NSO or a lawyer. Please make sure the lawyer understands the VA system and if you have to pay him for representation, do it. DO NOT EVER THINK THEY WILL TREAT YOU FAIRLY IF YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN! THEY WILL NOT AND IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU QUALIFY FOR BENEFITS OR NOT BECAUSE THAT IS NOT WHAT THEIR GOAL IS. THEY WANT TO SAVE MONEY FOR THE CORRUPT BUSH WAR MACHINE AND THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT DISABLED VETERANS. THIS GOES FOR THE IRAQ WAR VETERANS AS WELL AS THOSE WHO SERVED IN WWII, KOREA, VIETNAM, THE GULF WAR, AND THE CURRENT WAR IN IRAQ AND AFGANISTAN. A lot of people that are not in harms way are making and have made a lot of money off your sweat, blood, and misery. Defence contractors make billions of dollars off you and so does Bush and Cheney. The VA paid millions of dollars in bonuses to higher management because they succssfully screwed us, which is the goal of the Bush Administration. Stand up for yourself and do not give up. We are in this together and if we don't fight for what is fight, no one will do it for us. The federal government paid millions of dollars to the victims of 9/11, the war in Iraq costs us billions of dollars every month, and we have get treated like beggars!

I am a service connected disabled veteran. I have been out of the Army for over a year now and am still adjusting to being disabled. I have been disappointed with the entire process that I went through after becoming disabled. Complaining is useless without suggesting and attempting to fix the problem with definite solutions. After reading the other posts, and having gone through the process myself, I recommend the following be done:
1) Make the DOD's ONLY job in the disability process to be the determination of the soldier's fitness for duty. The DOD was created to command and take responsibility of the armed forces. The VA was created to take care of soldiers after their time in service ends. Logic dictates that after the soldier is declared unfit for duty, the soldier should be discharged (whether honorably or else wise) and this declaration should be made by the department responsible for the soldier's actions and deployment readiness, hence the DOD. After that point, the VA, again logically, should determine how to best take care of that soldier's (now veteran) needs. The current process strains the DOD's ability to conduct the mission by tying up resources in the conduction of what is the VA's designated duty (i.e. disability rating, compensation, and health care to name a few). This current process also creates TWO entire sets of government funded personnel that do the same job (one from DOD and one from VA). This further creates confusion when one agency declares a disability rating that the other does not agree with. Removing the DOD from any other process, excepting fitness for duty, will free up budget constraints, reduce confusion between agencies, and increase the amount of personnel available by combining staff into one agency that is designed to conform to the same standards. Looking back at the previous posts, this DEFINES the reason that the disability process is so slow and wildly inaccurate, while also recommending a way to increase staffing in the VA, reduce or eliminate cross agency confusion and paperwork loss, and therefore eliminating what I believe to be the cause of the current system's failure to take care of the soldier properly.
2) After the soldier is declared unfit for duty, that soldier should be IMMEDIATLY (mission allowing) be quickly and painlessly separated from the Service (after unused leave time if the soldier desires). This can be accomplished through many ways, one of which I recommend is to immediately assign the soldier to the nearest Post's soldier service center that can ensure that the soldier completes all separation activities. The current system requires the soldier to out-process and conduct separation activities while also carrying out daily duties. The soldier ends up being in a "limbo" situation where numerous supervisors and commanding officers are completely unaware of the soldier's unfit for duty status. Often, the soldier carries out normal duties up until the final day service. Commanders are forced (knowingly or not) to place a soldier on a deployment or mission roster AFTER the soldier has been declared unfit for duty. The soldier is sometimes (in my case especially) forced to go through incredible physical pain for extended periods of time simply because the disability process is at a stand still (from paperwork or cross agency miscommunication). Separating the soldier as quickly as possible by removing them from normal duty activities will solve many other problems. Commanders will be able to accurately give a standing list of deployment ready personnel and request additional personnel to replace the losses. Soldiers deemed unfit will be removed from daily stresses of duty, and will be able to more adequately prepare for the transition to civilian life.
3) The DOD personnel designated to prepare disability percentages and compensation/severance pay should be given the opportunity to join the VA system. The VA would be able to receive the much needed increase in staffing, while also preventing the VA from the need to completely train new personnel. This also prevents the current DOD personnel from completely being put out of a job, and ensures government retirement benefits if desired. This increase in VA personnel will allow the VA to conduct the newly appointed responsibilities.
4) I agree with the need to reform the compensation and severance plan as stated by Mr. Philpott. At a rating of 29% or less the current system is two-tiered and includes severance and health care for the service connected disability only. The severance check is received upon leaving service, and the monthly entitlement designated by the VA is not received until the total amount per month over time has equated ("paid off") the severance check. If a soldier receives a substantial severance, that soldier might not receive any money again for many years. Much of the severance pay will be used in the transition to civilian life through various expenditures (such as a new residence at a different location). With the veteran's diminished ability to perform everyday activities, his employability is also diminished. Jobs that the veteran was trained for while in the service are usually unavailable to physically challenged people, regardless of equal opportunity laws. The disabled veteran is virtually required to undergo training in some new field. While the VA currently gives various stipends for this training, it is not nearly enough to pay for this training (i.e. a college or trade school degree). The disabled veteran is almost FORCED into poverty. Aside from the job field, the monthly entitlement does not nearly take into consideration the everyday activities that a disabled veteran is unable to participate in. Sports, physical games, recreational parks, zoos, and more are all impossible for the disabled to participate in. While it is possible to maintain physically active through various gymnasium activities and physical therapy, such things are very costly and are not covered for most disabled veterans. Therefore the veteran finds it hard to remain happy, healthy, and economically well, ALL because of the decision to serve the country and becoming injured in the line of duty. The veteran should receive a severance, health care, AND cost of living/wellness allowances to even BEGIN making amends for the disability. I am no expert in economics, but I would imagine that it would not be hard to find the money needed to give our disabled veterans the opportunity to live out the rest of their days in happiness. Whatever the cost, it is not enough to repay what our country has asked our sons and daughters to do on an everyday basis in order to protect freedom and the American way of life, and becoming disabled in doing so.
In closing, I do not mean to say that all of these changes would completely fix the situation. There would be incremental changes necessary in both the DOD and VA after the change occurred which can only be accurately gauged after beginning the transformation. These changes, however, are essential if we wish to continue to expect our sons and daughters to freely enter military service; confident that their country will provide and care for them if they are injured. With the threat of terrorism and conflict so eminent for the ongoing future, these changes are essential if America wishes to remain the strongest and most effective militant force in the world. This is not a liberal or a conservative issue; this is very much an issue of the pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness which is not being maintained for our nation's disabled veterans. Thank you for your time in reading this post.

The VA is finally awaking. Beware of the Ides of March !! E tu Brutus? So said Popeye. I have been fighting the VA since St. Peter was a corporal in the Continental Army. Bastards !!

I agree with those reponders who cry "foul". This is nothing more than another unkept promise which is perpetuated by the V.A. system.

Old Ordie who has been "engaged with the V.A.for
22 years.

I have but one thing to say. "FUBAR".

I,for one,hope this move goes through. It will mean getting all my retirement pay due me. I'm tired of seeing double dippers retire a second time from government service, wave their military retirement and then get all their disability on top of a federal pension.

Re-comp, new VA Regulations, dual compensation VA' and the US Armed Forces, plus letting the "DOD" get involved:

will never happen

believe me

Got my fingers crossed, too.

Not so much for me; I'm rated at 0% (care is covered by VA but I'm not paid any sort of pension), but for the guys with bigger problems than mine, and who have been fighting for 10, 20, 30 years or more to get what they were promised. I've written to my Congressman and both Senators, urging them to support this move and to push it with legislation. IMO, everyone here should do the same and make sure the bozos in Washington get an earful from us.

Over.

I have not seen it addressed, but I am aware of the current situation Reservist and Guardsmen are in. Guardsmen and Reservists under DOD parameters have their disability setlements pro-rated aginst their points. As example if you are rated at 30% - your annuity under the present paradigm is then multipled by your participation percentage, usually 40%. So in esscence the Guardsman gets 0.4 of the disability that an Active Component of the same rank gets. Whereas VA doesn't care if you were Active Component or not. Does anybody know how this knew recommendation will affect this disparity?

I do not know that the system needs a 100% overhaul but it does need many updates and changes. This commission did a good job and should be congratulated but a complete overhaul may be going a little too far and could cost veterans some very hard earned benefits during the process. It would have to be a very slow and item by item look to determine the need for the change and what type of change. I agree with most of the recommendations and feel they did well in their job. I just urge care in overhauling the complete system having seen the way this administration and congress works to get things done. My guess is four generations of veterans down the road would see the final product.

Well most of y'all seem to have forgotten that the VA's Disability process is not there to grant disability pensions, it is there to DENY them. Any disability pensions awarded are due to an overwhelming amount of evidence, cubed, dumped by the truck load on the disability board. It took me 11 years of constant battle and hundreds of dollars in duplication fees and postage to finally get rated at 100%, permanent and total. That doesn't include the life membership fees I paid to the DAV to provide my legal representation. That was money well spent. DO NOT attempt to get a disability without a VSO from the DAV. They exist to fight those battles for us. They do an exceptional job of it.

IF the proposed changes occur it will be a good thing, if they don't it will just be business as usual. For our Vietnam brothers and sisters who think they have been forgotten, you are no where near forgotten. Y'all fought the battles that led to the formation of Vet Centers and higher quality care for all Vets.

The Vets of the First Gulf war have special regulations written against us to make it harder for us to get anything, so we were deliberately kicked to the curb as opposed to forgotten. In our local Vet Center you will see graphic representation of every war from WWII to the present EXCEPT for the Gulf War, the bulk of which is Vietnam era. Seems we don't even rate a poster. I donated one, 2 years ago, but they have yet to hang it. Point is we all have our beef with the system. It is overtaxed and underfunded hence understaffed. The management system within the VA medical centers is full of people who were promoted for anything except their leadership ability and they will remain well entrenched for the next 10 to 15 years. So until these underqualified/overpaid supervisors of all levels are gone, you're not going to see much of an improvement in the VA Medical Centers.

Still they manage to do provide adequate care most of the time. I can't say what will happen if they ever re-open the system to Class 8 Veterans. I truly believe that will overload the system and the whole thing will collapse. The VA should be reserved for Service connected disabled only. Class 8 Vets are just going to have to continue to use their private insurance. They were never promised full medical care for life just for serving. Harsh, but in order to treat the service connected Vets those kinds of decisions are going to have to be made.

Yeah, yeah, whatever, as it is a shame that when
one is injured fighting for his or her country
too much red tape is involved to get anything
done. So what a bunch of people got togeather
to make it better after all these years and as
usual a trial period takes place because it
is new and in the meantime the disabled have
to wait again to receive the attention they
need. Since nothing can be done about it as
the minds of the people have already made the
decision and now all we have to do is like we
have been doing for years and that is wait and
see what will happen. As a retired vet of
Viet-Nam who served 22yrs of my life in the
military I know from experience what I am
talking about. What a Disgrace and a shame.

When I first heard of this, made me worry a bit knowing the track record of the VA for the past 30+ years.

However, I've also seen the VA at it's best (during times it was most helpful for me).

When judging, past history is always relevant. However, looking at the dynamics of integrating the systems, leaves me skeptical this could finally make the VA system successful in many aspects and makes me wonder, "Are they finally going to fix the system, or is this just another ploy?"

One being, I might finally regain a benefit I lost while ago while trying to go back to work. Either way, going back to work is always a great idea.

But I think I should look at the main issue here, is the quality of care for those wounded. Also saw the news post about the VA dedicating a full time recovery coordinator for the severely wounded. Seeing a recent disabled service member get the benefits he/she needs is always more important then me getting another $1 anyways. :-)