Editor’s Note: Chris Short is a friend of mine I met through blogging back in 2003. Recent discussions online with him and others discussing the VA made me extend the offer to him to blog about this subject.
The Veteran’s Administration (VA) is charged with taking care of our nation’s veterans after their service has completed. With such passionate support that Americans give it’s veterans you would think the VA would be an auspicious place for passionate people. Where employees and administrators would take pride in helping those who need it. Sadly, the Veteran’s Administration is just another government agency overrun by people who are by and large merely collecting a pay check.
I was in the US Air Force for eleven years; I made it to the rank of Technical Sergeant (E-6) in nine years and earned several awards along the way. I was injured during a hurricane evac training exercise in October 2003. After seven years of dealing with daily pain and losing the ability to do some of the activities most people take for granted, one doctor (a civilian doctor) finally was able to tell me what was wrong with me; long thoracic nerve palsy with winging of the scapula. He explained that everything that the Air Force had been doing was likely fruitless and that since the nerve damaged happened so long ago that there was literally nothing that could be done to repair it.
Within a year the Air Force would tell me I was no longer medically fit for duty (since they had finally figured out what was wrong with me.) The process of being medically discharged is like most in the military, hurry up and wait. But, I was hoping the VA would be there to help me keep things together as far as continued treatment would go. I was setting myself up to be severely disappointed.
Outmoded and lethargic, the VA leisurely took up my case. The counselor I saw between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2010 on Fort Bragg was most helpful. Castigating me for asking questions, berating me for not attending briefings that I was never informed of (there was a huge communications barrier between Ft. Bragg and Pope AFB), and wondering why I was just now coming to see her (I literally had eight days to get the business of getting out of the Air Force accomplished – this appointment was the soonest available and was while I was on terminal leave). I knew then that my paperwork would likely be flagged and headed for the bottom of whatever pile it was in.
Months went by. Eventually, I received a letter (yes, a letter) telling me of my appointment to get a physical so that the VA could make a determination as to what compensation, if any, I would receive for medical issues incurred while serving. This appointment was conducted by a doctor who spoke broken English and had difficulties answering my questions (and I hers due to the language barrier). At no point in time did someone explain how this process was going to work. I still don’t know how to receive care for my injury and as you will come to understand, it’s probably a good thing.
Months went by. The VA made sure they sent me a series of pamphlets and brochures saying what they would do for me, form letters saying they were still working on my case, and other trash can fodder. My wife and I determined that they sent these in succession and we ended up receiving the same three or four mailings of information four times. At one point the VA’s dentist office sent me a letter saying I was to come in for an appointment. I did and they proceeded to set off a series of events that led to brutalizing headaches. When I called to come back in to figure out what was wrong I was told I had a follow up scheduled for six weeks away. After re-iterating that something was seriously not right about the treatment I had received the receptionist re-iterated that I had an appointment scheduled (six weeks away). I used my dental insurance through the company I work for to seek relief. Turns out the VA had triggered migraines that took quite some time to get back under control. To that point, I had never had migraines in my life.
It was approaching a year since I was discharged from the Air Force and I was tired of the VA dragging its feet. I contacted my elected officials and asked them to look into the matter for me. Within days a finalized decision from the Veteran’s Administration was mailed to me. They acknowledge I had an injury to my shoulder but I would not receive any monetary compensation for it, they admitted that I had a mild case of TMJ (again no compensation), and they took note that I sprained my ankle in the line of duty and for that I would receive monetary compensation. This was a low blow; to be medically discharged for one thing and to be told it wasn’t really a problem was insanely demoralizing. I could seek treatment for any of these things through the VA but at this point, I’m not going to be compensated for them. I don’t know who to call nor would I trust them to do what was needed if I were to seek treatment.
This past week the pain in my shoulder flared up more significantly than I had experienced since being discharged. Nothing I was doing was easing the pain and a series of sleepless nights began. I had to do something but calling the VA never really came through my mind. Why? Because being told I had an appointment in six weeks to talk about what to do two weeks after that to relieve the pain that was debilitating me now wasn’t something I wanted to endure. My confidence in the VA’s ineptitude is so high in fact that I just picked up the phone and called the doctor an hour and a half away in Fayetteville, NC that diagnosed my injury. His staff told me that I should get injections like I was receiving while I was in the Air Force. I knew that would likely provide relief but I also knew that if I wanted it to get done I’d be paying out of pocket for it.
Two days after getting the injections I finally slept well. Sure it cost me half a day out of work, $125, and a half a tank of gas but I did not get the runaround from the VA. I received treatment that I knew worked and I’m glad I was able to. At some point, I will have to get something setup with the VA to provide me with that quick release valve but it took me years to get that built up in the Air Force. I can’t imagine how much time and effort I will have to put into the VA to get through all the wickets just to pick up the phone and get treatment in a timely fashion. Here is hoping I can get an appeal filed that will actually help me pay for those shots out of pocket.
No related posts.
My dear son-in-law has had the same problem – inadequate care from the VA, time spent waiting for them to do their jobs, poor diagnosis, refusal to pay compensation.
I am so sorry to hear of your troubles. The VA’s level of incompetence is merely a harbinger of how well government will do with health care as a whole.
Mr. Short,
Your story, unfortunately, not all that uncommon. I work for The American Legion as a veteran’s service officer and see these kinds of things everyday. If you have just received that decision, you have one year to do a NOD (notice of disagreement) This is the first step to an appeal. Next, get as many statements concerning the degree of the disability, i.e.: Dr statements based on degree of pain, ability to function, etc., Statements can also be made by yourself, your wife, friends, co-workers, anyone that knows about your disability, your attempts to work with i, how you feel it has affected your work, your family, etc..
If you do not have a Service Organization helping you with this case, contact The American Legion in your area (or any one of the many service organizations, DAV, VFW, AmVets, etc). They will help you with your appeal. I have helped a lot of veterans trying to jump the VA hurtles and sand traps. The American Legion can be your advocate. Good luck.
Chris, and all Vets,
Just to reinforce what HC said, find yourself a Veterans Service Officer (VSO) to guide you through the process. Most all of the veterans organizations have them in one form or another. Even the VSOs from service specific groups like the Marine Corps League are charged with assisting veterans of all branches. You will be amazed at how much better they can make the process. Just one bit of advice, be prepared to work on your own behalf, too. They guide you through the process, they can’t do it for you.
As a side note, while staffs at various VA facilities vary, I’ve found the medical staffs to generally be very competent and quite devoted to helping veterans. The problems usually come from the administrative bureaucrats, more often than not the ones in Washington and other locations far away from those doing the actual work.
Good Luck
After I had been discharged from the Air Force, it took me almost a year to get the appointment for my physical through the VA. I had done everything before hand that I could, brought a copy of my medical records in to the VA office so they could write up my “claim” form before I was even discharged from the military. After I had gotten out, I still needed continued medical care because of the cancer that I was diagnosed with when I first had joined. The only thing that had saved me before my discharge was my civilian doctor had written me a prescription for the medication, that I have to take everyday for the rest of my life, so that I would still be able to get the medications that I need to survive.
Even after explaining to the people at the VA the conditions that I have were I do require constant follow-up care, i.e. blood tests and medications, they would not push my appointment up sooner. So during the 9-12 months after my discharge I was having to pay out of pocket for my medications so that I would not get sicker. Also during this time I did not have any follow-up care because I did not have insurance and the VA would not see me yet.
When I finally received the letter stating that I had an appointment for my physicals, (the VA hospital was 3 hours away from where I was located) I was scheduled to meet with 2 different doctors. When my first appointment ran over, the second doctor had refused to see me because I was “late” for my appointment even though the first doctor did state that I was kept in her office longer than expected. It wasn’t until almost an hour later, the doctor finally decided to see me.
At first she tried to explain to me that the follow up care for my cancer, would not be done though the VA system because it “could” have been pre existing before I had joined the service, but I knew how the VA system worked and had all my files with me. I just pulled out the paper signed by the doctor stating that this was not a pre existing condition and it happened while I was in the service, did she finally agree that my continuing health care would be at the VA hospitals. When I was finally scheduled to meet with the cancer doctor that I needed to see, I was informed that my cancer had came back and that I was going to have to go through radiation treatments again. They then informed me that if I would have been seen even a month sooner, I would not have to go through the treatment. However with the VA dragging their feet, I had to go through them.
Like I had stated before, the VA hospital was 3 hours away from me, however they had a CBOC (Community based outpatient clinic) that was 20 minutes away from my house that I would go to for the simple things such as blood work. I had called them because I had a Kidney infection that I needed antibiotics for, and they told me the soonest they could get me in was in 3 months, that they had no appointments sooner. I ended up sitting in their clinic for 8 hours to pee in a cup, and wait 3 days for them to call and tell me I was right and to pick up my prescription. I was rushed to the civilian er because my throat was so swollen up that I was blacking out from lack of oxygen, however the VA would not pay for that er bill because they stated that I could have driven to the VA ER that was 3 hours away instead of going to the hospital that was 10 minutes away.
All in all my experiences with the VA system have been horrible and the only good thing that I do have to say about them is they do take care of my cancer treatments, tests, and medications. I have to get a certain test done ever 2-3 years and with just the medications alone for this test, you are looking at $150,000. I do not have to pay for that. I could not even get a different insurance because the premiums would be through the roof because of my existing conditions.
You would think that they would take better care of their Veteran’s seeing as how we gave up years of our lives to fight for these people, yet they do not seem to care about that at all.
Chris,
Check out http://www.pebforum.com/forum.php there is a mass of info on this site to help with the military and VA.
The site owner is Jason Perry and he is an expert at dealing with these exact type of problems, also on the site you can contact MA Parker (LTC ret) who is also a veterans advocate and is very up on what can be done in your situation.
I can recommend one more site for VA problems and that is Jim Strickland’s site he took over from Larry Scott, these two guys are probably the authority on dealing with the VA and I am sure you can find some help there.
http://www.vawatchdog.org/Home_Page.html
http://www.jimstrickland912.com/BenefitsGuide.html
Hope these help.
Stu
Krystal,
Same thing concerning your denial of payment for emergency services. If you are not close enough to a VA hospital, or there is a VA hospital w/no emergency services, do a NOD (notice of disagreement) with Fee Services. That is the department that handles all “outside” payments.
Good Luck
Find yourself a Service Organization. You need an advocate that ‘ll work FOR you.
Can’t stress the Service Organizations enough! Get someone in your corner, Ken was right about being ready to do a lot of your own work, we can help you with the correct forms and verbiage, but we need your help getting proof. Don’t care what organization you get, BUT GET ONE! For your own sake and peace of mind.
Call the VA OIG.
I retired from the AF after 30+ years in 1984. I was used to dealing with the Flight Surgeons offices so when I retired I was a little put off by having to deal with the normal AF Hospital stuff first at MacDill and then at Homestead. Didn’t know how good I was having it until Hurricane Andrew whipped out Homestead.
Needing treatment for ongoing chronic problems I turned to the VA Hospital in Miami. What a goat rope. The clinic I attended was run by a nurse Ratchet type. They would block appoint 10 to 15 persons for 0900 and then take 35 to 40 minutes one-at-a time per person, most of which was spent setting on an exam table while the staff shot the bull in the next room. Never did get a clue how they determined the order in which we were seen; however I was usually either the first or second to arrive and sign in and almost always there at least 5 hours. After a year of that BS I finally gave up and started using my Blue Cross Insurance which I was paying for any way. That was in early 1994. Haven’t been back to VA since and wont be.
With the exception of some Volunteers most of the people I dealt with were surly and acted like they were doing me a favor. I know the VA is all that is available to some folks and I feet sorry for them.
I had similiar experiances with the VA. I suffered a severe back injury, not sure how it happened. After I was discharged it flared up something horrible. I could hardly walk. I went to the VA and was treated like a criminal, like I was trying to steal something from them. The Dr.s and Nursers were polite and the same as at any other hospital, anyone in administration or a clerical position were just miserable and rude. This was back in 1990. I hope and pray that the guys coming home now are getting better treatment.
I never went back