Leaving Money on the Table

I am constantly amazed at how many veterans don’t know they have benefits through the Veterans Administration (VA) or feel they don’t deserve benefits for one reason or another. One of the major benefits veteran’s overlook is disability compensation. It is shocking how little veterans and their families understand about VA medical disability compensation. I was at a store last week and ran into John, an Iraq war veteran. John struggles financially because he can’t keep a good paying job due to his war disabilities. John has been out of the Marines for 3 years and thought he had waited too long to apply for benefits, this is a misconception. John will always be eligible for service connected disability benefits. John also was not told he was covered for medical benefits by the VA for 5 years after his separation from the Marine Corps. John has been paying for medical insurance when he did not have to. I asked if he had been told about his benefits at the Transitional Assistance Program or TAPS seminar and he said he hadn’t. If John receives a 30% disability rating or higher, as a combat veteran he has medical benefits for life through the VA. Some veterans struggle to make ends meet when they don’t have to. There are benefits for veterans, they just need to apply. Even though applying for benefits is easy, working through the bureaucracy of the VA moves slowly, and is not so easy.

Applying for disability is not a difficult task, working through the VA disability process is challenging. Every US President has said they will improve the VA system, but the VA ship is hard to turn around. Filing a disability claim through the VA can be a long, arduous process. Once a claim is filed veterans needs to be prepared for the wait. The disability process has gotten better lately but it is still painstakingly slow. The key for the veteran is managing expectations and understanding their benefits claim will take time. Some veterans don’t feel applying for disability benefits is worth the effort and some veterans feel they don’t deserve the benefits and refuse to apply.   

Why don’t veterans want to apply for disability benefits? When I pose that question to veterans they feel they are not disabled enough, there are veterans missing limbs and have visual wounds, while theirs may be internal and psychological. They feel their disabilities are not severe enough to warrant a claim. Another answer I get is, I am taking benefits from someone who needs them worse than I do. VA funding is based on the number of veterans served at their facilities. Sitting out the disability process is not helping anyone, by not applying for benefits you could cause a cut in funding to your local VA facility.

Sometimes, those who receive benefits are called “moochers” by some in our society, usually those who never served. Because of this attitude some veterans feel they are working the system and getting charity, the reason it takes months or years to get a disability claim through, is that the VA spends the time to weed out the “moochers”.  While in your 20’s, jumping off a 5 ton or duce and half with an 80 to 100-pound rucksack in full battle rattle, being tossed around on an aircraft carrier deck or, jumping off of aircraft and equipment is hard on the knees, ankles, and back. I truly believe no one gets out of the military physically unharmed. If you have a legitimate issue caused by your military service, file a claim. The health issues from your service in your 20’s might not be seen instantly but they do catch up to you as you age.  You earned these benefits, it’s not a gift.

The bottom line is you need to apply for the benefits you have earned. There’s no reason for veterans and their families to struggle financially or have medical bills when you don’t have to. I talked to John for about an hour and finally convinced him to apply for compensation for his medical problems.  Many veterans are going to have back, knee, ankle, or various other physical and mental issues because veterans are trained to feel indestructible while serving. Apply for the disability benefits you earned, the military forced you to abuse your body when you were young. Don’t struggle financially in retirement or pay for medical insurance because you abused your body or are suffering with PTSD. Why leave money you have earned on the table?

For questions or comments, I can be reached at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit our website at marriedtoptsdpro.com and like us on Facebook at Married to PTSD Pro.

Leaving Money on the Table

I am constantly amazed at how many veterans don’t know they have benefits through the Veterans Administration (VA) or feel they don’t deserve benefits for one reason or another. One of the major benefits veteran’s overlook is disability compensation. It is shocking how little veterans and their families understand about VA medical disability compensation. I was at a store last week and ran into John, an Iraq war veteran. John struggles financially because he can’t keep a good paying job due to his war disabilities. John has been out of the Marines for 3 years and thought he had waited too long to apply for benefits, this is a misconception. John will always be eligible for service connected disability benefits. John also was not told he was covered for medical benefits by the VA for 5 years after his separation from the Marine Corps. John has been paying for medical insurance when he did not have to. I asked if he had been told about his benefits at the Transitional Assistance Program or TAPS seminar and he said he hadn’t. If John receives a 30% disability rating or higher, as a combat veteran he has medical benefits for life through the VA. Some veterans struggle to make ends meet when they don’t have to. There are benefits for veterans, they just need to apply. Even though applying for benefits is easy, working through the bureaucracy of the VA moves slowly, and is not so easy.

Applying for disability is not a difficult task, working through the VA disability process is challenging. Every US President has said they will improve the VA system, but the VA ship is hard to turn around. Filing a disability claim through the VA can be a long, arduous process. Once a claim is filed veterans needs to be prepared for the wait. The disability process has gotten better lately but it is still painstakingly slow. The key for the veteran is managing expectations and understanding their benefits claim will take time. Some veterans don’t feel applying for disability benefits is worth the effort and some veterans feel they don’t deserve the benefits and refuse to apply.   

Why don’t veterans want to apply for disability benefits? When I pose that question to veterans they feel they are not disabled enough, there are veterans missing limbs and have visual wounds, while theirs may be internal and psychological. They feel their disabilities are not severe enough to warrant a claim. Another answer I get is, I am taking benefits from someone who needs them worse than I do. VA funding is based on the number of veterans served at their facilities. Sitting out the disability process is not helping anyone, by not applying for benefits you could cause a cut in funding to your local VA facility.

Sometimes, those who receive benefits are called “moochers” by some in our society, usually those who never served. Because of this attitude some veterans feel they are working the system and getting charity, the reason it takes months or years to get a disability claim through, is that the VA spends the time to weed out the “moochers”.  While in your 20’s, jumping off a 5 ton or duce and half with an 80 to 100-pound rucksack in full battle rattle, being tossed around on an aircraft carrier deck or, jumping off of aircraft and equipment is hard on the knees, ankles, and back. I truly believe no one gets out of the military physically unharmed. If you have a legitimate issue caused by your military service, file a claim. The health issues from your service in your 20’s might not be seen instantly but they do catch up to you as you age.  You earned these benefits, it’s not a gift.

The bottom line is you need to apply for the benefits you have earned. There’s no reason for veterans and their families to struggle financially or have medical bills when you don’t have to. I talked to John for about an hour and finally convinced him to apply for compensation for his medical problems.  Many veterans are going to have back, knee, ankle, or various other physical and mental issues because veterans are trained to feel indestructible while serving. Apply for the disability benefits you earned, the military forced you to abuse your body when you were young. Don’t struggle financially in retirement or pay for medical insurance because you abused your body or are suffering with PTSD. Why leave money you have earned on the table?

For questions or comments, I can be reached at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit our website at marriedtoptsdpro.com and like us on Facebook at Married to PTSD Pro.

Veterans Have Earned Their Benefits

Josh was one of my troops in Alaska; he was of those good guys with a sense of humor everyone loved.  In the military, especially overseas, your troops, comrades, and their families become your family of choice. In allot of cases the home of the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) is their home away from home. We had a small shop, there were only 7 of us and our families were very close.  Almost everyone is away from their families during the holidays, to prevent depression, especially during the holidays our house was their home away from home. Particularly for the single troops that lived in the barracks. Josh became part of our family, our children adopted him as a big brother and he became like a son to my wife and I.  

One day he was called out for a disabled fire truck, while on his way he hit a moose, not unusual in Alaska. This was the turning point that would change his life. He received a concussion and hurt his back. He was out of work for 2 weeks and on limited duty for a month. As things went along we thought everything was ok. After a couple of years he got out of the Air Force with an honorable discharge and moved back to Colorado, all was good.

We kept in touch and talked to him at least once a week. That continued for the rest of his life. He would come to California, we went to Colorado, and this went on for years.  At that time his life was good, he had a good job (with benefits), house, wife, and great friends. None of us had any idea everything would come crashing down in a few years.

About 2 years later his back problems flared up again. I tried to get him to fill out a VA 21-526 disability claim from the Veterans Administration (VA) and like many he refused. He did not want to be a whiner or deal with the VA red tape. He had insurance through his job and everything would be ok. The doctors gave him various tests and some pain medication and sent him home. That did not help; the back pain continued for another 2 years, he continued to go to the doctor, where they gave him more pain medication. As time went on he had two back surgeries, nothing helped. During this time I was still talking to him every week, I could see his decline. After a while we realized he was hooked on the pain medication, he had become a drug addict and his wife and family were enabling him. Soon after he was fired from his job because of missed work, his wife left, and his house went into foreclosure. My wife and I decided it was time to get him some help.

It took us months to convince him to come see us and get help from the VA, he finally agreed. We scraped up enough money to buy him a plane ticket from Denver Co. to Ontario Ca. I picked him up from the airport on a Thursday night. Friday morning, we went to the Veterans Administration (VA) hospital. He brought all the needed documents, tax returns, DD-214, unemployment paperwork, medical records, it was all there. After the wait he was told by a benefits counselor that he could not get services. He needed to be a combat veteran, have a service connected disability, or meet low income standards. He did not meet any of the criteria because he never filed a claim for his back. He never was in combat, and he did not meet the low-income standards because he had made too much money the prior year. Like many we were unaware there was an income cutoff at the VA.  He had proof he had lost his job, but the system got in the way. They told him he could appeal, it would be 3 to 6 months before a board would make a decision, we did not know it but he did not have that long.

We offered him the opportunity to live with us and help him work through the problems. But he gave up once adversity arose. We would not allow him to drink alcohol and be on medication at the same time when he was with us; so, he decided to go back to Denver. Three weeks later I received a phone call from his mother, he was found dead, he died of an accidental drug overdose.

This might have been preventable, but who knows. If he had filed a claim for his back when he got out, the VA would have taken him. If the VA did not have a limit on income for non-combat veterans and non-service connected disabilities things might have turned out differently. Veterans see their brothers and sisters with missing limbs and don’t believe they deserve benefits for their unseen disabilities. Every veteran, family member, friend of a veteran needs to let them know they are not a whiner for filing a claim, and the red tape is just another hoop to jump through. If Josh had, it might have saved his life. Do not let this happen to others, be proactive. They have earned their benefits. They deserve their benefits.

For questions or comments, I can be reached at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit our website at marriedtoptsdpro.com and like us on Facebook at Married to PTSD Pro.

Leaving Money on the Table

I am constantly amazed at how many veterans don’t know they have benefits through the Veterans Administration (VA) or feel they don’t deserve benefits for one reason or another. One of the major benefits veteran’s overlook is disability compensation. It is shocking how little veterans and their families understand about VA medical disability compensation. I was at a store last week and ran into John, an Iraq war veteran. John struggles financially because he can’t keep a good paying job due to his war disabilities. John has been out of the Marines for 3 years and thought he had waited too long to apply for benefits, this is a misconception. John will always be eligible for service connected disability benefits. John also was not told he was covered for medical benefits by the VA for 5 years after his separation from the Marine Corps. John has been paying for medical insurance when he did not have to. I asked if he had been told about his benefits at the Transitional Assistance Program or TAPS seminar and he said he hadn’t. If John receives a 30% disability rating or higher, as a combat veteran he has medical benefits for life through the VA. Some veterans struggle to make ends meet when they don’t have to. There are benefits for veterans, they just need to apply. Even though applying for benefits is easy, working through the bureaucracy of the VA moves slowly, and is not so easy.

Applying for disability is not a difficult task, working through the VA disability process is challenging. Every US President has said they will improve the VA system, but the VA ship is hard to turn around. Filing a disability claim through the VA can be a long, arduous process. Once a claim is filed veterans needs to be prepared for the wait. The disability process has gotten better lately but it is still painstakingly slow. The key for the veteran is managing expectations and understanding their benefits claim will take time. Some veterans don’t feel applying for disability benefits is worth the effort and some veterans feel they don’t deserve the benefits and refuse to apply.   

Why don’t veterans want to apply for disability benefits? When I pose that question to veterans they feel they are not disabled enough, there are veterans missing limbs and have visual wounds, while theirs may be internal and psychological. They feel their disabilities are not severe enough to warrant a claim. Another answer I get is, I am taking benefits from someone who needs them worse than I do. VA funding is based on the number of veterans served at their facilities. Sitting out the disability process is not helping anyone, by not applying for benefits you could cause a cut in funding to your local VA facility.

Sometimes, those who receive benefits are called “moochers” by some in our society, usually those who never served. Because of this attitude some veterans feel they are working the system and getting charity, the reason it takes months or years to get a disability claim through, is that the VA spends the time to weed out the “moochers”.  While in your 20’s, jumping off a 5 ton or duce and half with an 80 to 100-pound rucksack in full battle rattle, being tossed around on an aircraft carrier deck or, jumping off of aircraft and equipment is hard on the knees, ankles, and back. I truly believe no one gets out of the military physically unharmed. If you have a legitimate issue caused by your military service, file a claim. The health issues from your service in your 20’s might not be seen instantly but they do catch up to you as you age.  You earned these benefits, it’s not a gift.

The bottom line is you need to apply for the benefits you have earned. There’s no reason for veterans and their families to struggle financially or have medical bills when you don’t have to. I talked to John for about an hour and finally convinced him to apply for compensation for his medical problems.  Many veterans are going to have back, knee, ankle, or various other physical and mental issues because veterans are trained to feel indestructible while serving. Apply for the disability benefits you earned, the military forced you to abuse your body when you were young. Don’t struggle financially in retirement or pay for medical insurance because you abused your body or are suffering with PTSD. Why leave money you have earned on the table?

For questions or comments, I can be reached at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit our website at marriedtoptsdpro.com and like us on Facebook at Married to PTSD Pro.

Brown Water Veterans Can Get Benefits

I was contacted by a Vietnam Navy veteran and encouraged me to write about brown water veterans and the Veterans Administration (VA). Brown water veterans are Vietnam War veterans that served on vessels and never officially set foot on Vietnamese soil. They served on ships that operated on the coast or inland deltas of Vietnam. To most of society brown water veterans service in Vietnam is a no brainer and deserve their benefits. It took until 1991 for congress to passed a law requiring the VA to cover all illnesses directly related to Agent orange exposure in Vietnam, this included brown water veterans. This allowed brown water veterans to finally file for compensation for disabilities connected to Agent Orange.

In 2002 the George W. Bush administration changed the rules for military veterans concerning Agent Orange and their brown water service. It required veterans who filed for Agent Orange compensation to meet the “boots on the ground” rule established by the administration and passed by congress. With the change in the rule a veteran had to step foot in Vietnam in order to meet the Agent Orange requirement. This was problematic for some veterans because the never “officially” set foot on Vietnamese soil. Because of this ruling the George W. Bush administration stripped Navy personnel who had been receiving compensation unless they could prove they met the boots on the ground requirement.

In August 2006 The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims decided the Veterans Affairs requirement for “boots on the ground” as the definition of “service in the Republic of Vietnam” is unreasonable, and does not align with Congress's intent. This meant that any “brown water veteran” who served in Vietnam may be eligible for benefits. Many brown water veterans have given up on applying for benefits. Its time they rethink their strategies and reapply if they are eligible.  

There are ways to prove you served in a brown water area. One of those is the deck logs of the vessels you served on. Once Senator Akaka from Hawaii found out about the brown water veteran’s situation and summoned his staff to investigate the denial of their claims. Senator Akaka’s staff’s research found from 150 to 170 Navy vessels that were presumed to be exposed to Agent Orange because they operated off the coast or in Vietnamese waters. This list was sent to the veteran’s affairs office for review. Senator Akaka’s staff also found many cases in which the VA regional offices did not request the deck logs from the National Archives of those filing an Agent Orange claim. These deck logs would have produced the needed information to accept the claim of these veterans.

Senator Akaka who was serving as the chairman of the Senate Affairs Committee asked the VA to take another look at the Navy Veterans claims who served in Vietnams rivers, inland waterways, or docked in Vietnam. According to the information Senator Akaka’s staff found these veterans should be presumed to have Agent Orange exposure entitling them to compensation if they met the medical criteria set by the VA.  The US Navy confirmed Navy veterans who submitted deck logs with their claims should see faster results. With proof of service in Vietnam’s inland waters or time on shore, “the only issue is, ‘What disability do you have?’ and ‘What’s the current level of (that) disability?”

With the VA backlog it will speed up the process if the veterans advocate or the veteran themselves comb the deck logs of the ships to find the needed information. The easiest way to support your Agent Orange claim is to show you were on a ship that meets the criteria. It is crucial that there is proof in your VA Claims File (C-File) that you were on that vessel during the time in question. Make sure you get a copy of your C-File for your records (the VA has been known to lose paperwork in their bureaucracy). If your ship is not on the DOD list, you can request the deck logs of your ship from the Naval or National Archives. These logs should be able to confirm the dates and times of the missions of that ship. From those deck logs brown water veterans should be able to find information that will validate your claim.     

Some veterans feel it is not worth the time to dig through the paperwork needed to support their claim. My question is, can you use an extra $133.00 at 10% disability up to $3000.00 at 100% disability per month. One major reason for you to research your own deck log information is according to my sources, the personnel at the claims department have little or no medical experience and don’t spend the time needed to help you with your claim. They are just overwhelmed.   

If the military caused your disability you have earned the right to receive disability compensation. Brown water veterans have been left out of the Agent Orange conversation for years. It took a US Army veteran congressman to work toward getting Naval brown water veterans Agent Orange compensation approved. If you are a veteran and having medical issues centered around Agent Orange I challenge you to file a claim for what your government did to you without your knowledge.

The Following is a list of medical issues caused by Agent Orange exposure 

AL Amyloidosis

Chronic B-cell Leukemias

Chloracne (or similar acneform disease)

Diabetes Mellitus Type 2

Hodgkin's Disease

Ischemic Heart Disease
Multiple Myeloma

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Parkinson's Disease

Peripheral Neuropathy, Early-Onset
Porphyria Cutanea Tarda

Prostate Cancer

Respiratory Cancers (includes lung cancer)

Soft Tissue Sarcomas

For questions or comments, I can be reached at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit our website at marriedtoptsdpro.com and like us on Facebook at Married to PTSD Pro.

Here We Go Again, Talks of Privatizing the VA

As you can tell with some of my writing, I do not love the Veterans Administration (VA) nor do I hate it. I try to accept it for what it is, a huge bureaucratic system that can be difficult to navigate. There are some veterans that love the VA, and some that loathe it. As it stands right now top leaders of the VA and many congressional representatives are moving forward with plans to put more veteran’s medical needs in the hands of private sector healthcare. They are attempting to replace the veteran’s choice program designed to cut wait times for veteran services in areas where the VA was too far away. Where this can be good in rural areas where the VA is hours away, it can be problematic for VA’s and their funding. Privatization of the VA is a slippery slope, generations of veterans will have to live with the decision for the rest of their lives talking about the “good ole VA” and how much they miss it. By placing more funds in private hands, it takes away veterans utilizing the VA, hence cutting the VA’s budget, resulting in less services, producing a death spiral to for the VA. The private healthcare system is not always better, to so many private physicians it’s about money not patient care.   

When greed takes over often what’s best for the patient is not always what takes place in the private sector, veteran will be no different. But what scares me is the possibility of the privatization being worse than the VA itself. The private healthcare system is already overtaxed and some patients have trouble getting an appointment with their primary care provider. There is a shortage of primary care providers because the money is in specialization medication, not being a primary care provider. I have a very close friend who was the Director in a major hospital system in southern California, and what I learned from him is, private hospitals can be as bad if not worse than the VA. He quit a six-figure job because he could not ethically deal with the greed of some doctors and what they were doing for money to some of the patients. The acts the doctors took were legal, but lacked ethics and compassion.

One of the biggest fears I hear from veterans is private doctors do not understand Veterans issues. According to a VA official discussing privatization before congress, the private care physicians under the new program will not be required to complete or attend veteran specific training concerning veterans only issues. Studies have shown that veterans get far better care from healthcare professionals who have veteran centered expertise. Physicians in the civilian sector might not understand how Agent Orange, Gulf War Syndrome, Burn Pits, suicidal thoughts, PTSD, or trouble adjusting to civilian live can affect a veteran’s symptoms and miss something big.  

One of the biggest complaints I hear from veterans is the VA uses interns and physician’s assistants to work with veterans. This is true, but private hospitals use interns and PA’s too, because they can pay them less and make a larger profit. Physicians assistants and interns are not the problem at the VA; the problem lies with the number of veterans the VA must handle. After 16 years of war, the success of battlefield medicine, the competency of corpsman, field hospitals, and improved evacuation skills, more veterans are surviving their wounds. If the VA must be privatized, the best way can be utilizing veterans who understand veteran’s issues and culture as the providers. The problem is there are not enough medical professionals who are veterans to serve the need. There must be mandatory training for those who were not, or have not, been in the military culture.   

Whether you like the VA or not it appears to me the VA medical system has more pro’s than con’s. As I continually talk to veterans many of them think the privatization of the VA is a bad idea. The veterans I have spoken to want the VA to spend its money and focus on training who they have, hiring more people, build better facilities, and fire those who are not willing to conform, not send them outside the system where physicians decisions are made because of money. As Amy Webb of AMVETS stated to congress “Veterans want the VA to work for them” not be destroyed by a “bleed it dry strategy” of outsourcing and underfunding. It is time veterans who want to maintain the VA as an entity need to stand up to the Trump administration. According to some senators, the Trump VA budget is 6 percent larger than last year’s budget, but 33% of the increase goes to utilizing the private sector while 1.3% goes toward VA care. President Trumps budget includes 13.2 billion dollars in mandatory funding for outside care for veterans. Any way you look at it, you need to let your congressman know where you stand on the issue of privatizing the VA. Please contact them!

For questions or comments, I can be reached at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit our website at marriedtoptsdpro.com and like us on Facebook at Married to PTSD Pro.

Contact your senators and congressman for comments on privatizing the VA

US Senate    

Dianne Feinstein

11111 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 915
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: (310) 914-7300

Kamala D. Harris

312 N. Spring St

Suite 1748

Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 894-5000

US House of Representatives

 Paul Cook

14955 Dale Evans Parkway

Apple Valley Town Hall

Apple Valley, CA 92307