Stressing Over Entitlements

[medic5]

I'm with you Jar, at 100% it is the extra benefits that I want. My insurance through my job is what we call sucky sucky. I have a service connected disability for my jaw that was fractured and didn't heal quit right. When the jaw was fractured 15 of my teeth were also fractured at which time the Air Force said in the future I would need root canals. My dental insurance will only pay roughly 20% on the canal itself, but not for covering for that tooth. The insurance only partial pays for one canal every 2 years. When 5 of the teeth went south, I was charged close to $10,000 which I am still paying off. If I can get the 100% then the VA will do the dental work.

Maybe I'm being selfish but I was wounded many times in the Air Force and would like for the government to take care of the medical and psych problems caused by my time serving.

 

[Bill Simmons]

In the last year 6500 vets have killed them self over these issues. Well...for sure that is one way to cure PTSD. This is not about the VA. The VA is doing what they are told to do by the federal government in Washington. This is about the people who run this country and about the people who live here and simply do not give a shit. Not my problem, not my kid, I got my own issues. Out of sight, out of mind. They are just a bunch of slackers looking for a free ride. You know we have important things to deal with like iPhones and Sat TV. CNN will spend 24 hours a day to report on a school shooting where two or three people are killed. Who gives a shit about some chopper pilot or some grunt who gets killed this morning. This is the world we live in like it or not. This is a world of dishonest worthless politicians who do not in any way represent the American public, only the corps and super packs who put them in office. I have had VA doctors say they do not think PTSD is anything but a bunch of bull shit. Tell that to the guys who have blown there f*cking brains out.

As vets we will stand up together and be counted or die alone one at time one day at a time. I said from the first day I understood what PTSD was, where and why I have it, and what the effect was on my life that the federal government was going to give me every thing I had coming both in medical help and in compensation. I will also do my best to help any other vet to get the same. Stand together or die alone, our choice.

 

[Sarg]

Ditto, Bill!

Sarg

 

[JarHed]

Ditto, Bill!

We all served. We didn't ask where, when, how or what. We just did our jobs. We all got more than we barganed for. So be it, We're Soldiers All and we should be proud of that. BUT, now's the time for the gov't to do the same. To stand tall and be what it should be, not try and be like another damn insurance company figuring out how not to pay.Or more self serving politicians with the same old retoric. Sorry about the spelling, I'm loosing it.

Just Jar's 2cents.

JarHed

 

[medic5]

Ditto to Bill, Jar, and Sarg

 

[Shadowtao]

For like 30+ years I stayed away from the VA because my first few experiences with them sucked so. In those years now and then I would hear the letters PTSD, but knew nothing about it. I had no idea that my problems might be related to my combat experiences. I saw civilian shrinks who said I had anxiety and depression. Vietnam never even came up in treatments. In the mean time I lost jobs, lost and destroyed marriage after marriage, and just lived with all the fun symptoms of what I finally learned was PTSD.
My point is when I finally applied for VA comp. a big part of me was saying "Screw them, screw any money from them. I just want to be well."
The VA did help. The shrink, the groups, the other guys in the gropus. One thing I learned is severe PTSD will never be cured, lessened yes, but never cured.
And then I realised I had lost and lost and lost so much of life, of work, of everything due to PTSD, that it is more than just treatment I deserve.
Getting 100% or whatever will not make me rich. It will give me enough to live, to not have to face the job market again, only to again be fired. Not just me but all of us do deserve not just treatment, but to be able to live a simple life with enough money to pay for it.

 

[JarHed]

Hey JP

I can't tell you how often the experiences that you describe are mentioned by other Nam vets as well. The words that you've said just echo in my head. I've had similar experiences as well. Misery really doesn't love company. I always feel bad when I see another Nam vet with those things happening to them.

Good luck with the VA, it's a fight some of us are in also. Just don't give up, it's one worth fighting. It's true that once you learn what has been f*cking with you for a lifetime you can at least know what direction to go in to get some help.

Jar

 

[Bill Simmons]

This is the bottom line. You have no control over the VA. They do what that want to and when they want to do it.
Once the regional office has made a decision you then can fight it in court in Washington DC. The VA has had all the required documentation required to rule on my case for more than one year. They sent me in for a C&P exam eight months ago. All their doctors and all my private doctors are in agreement that I am 100% disabled per the government standards for that issue. They posted a note on my web account that the expected time line to rule on my case can be anytime from now until May of 2013. Until they make a decision at the regional office I have no legal recourse. All I can do is set here.

If I die before this is resolved my wife will not get a dime unless she can prove I died from PTSD. I guess if I get really sick I can show up at the f*cking VA and tell them I have PTSD and kill myself in their f*cking office with plenty of people around to witness it so my wife will have the proof she needs.

As of today this action is not needed. But I be god damed if they are going to f*ck me out of what they owe me dead or alive.

I am not angry at the military or the government because I have PTSD. That came with with my comitment to this country while I willingly served at war and I would do it again if needed knowing I would get PTSD.

I am angry because the federal government has not done what they agreed they would do. I do not give a flying f*ck what it cost them. They have plenty of money to continue having useless wars all over the f*cking world.

I want what is legally coming to me and I want it now. No amount of money can replace the life I have lost as a result of PTSD but it can make the rest of my life a small bit better.

 

[JarHed]

Amen Bill

I hope we all get to see a positive result after the interminable wait time the VA puts us through. It just adds injury to insult in my book. It makes me mad a hell when I even think about it.

Jar

 

[Sarg]

Sorry, Jar. Forgot you were in the same boat. And everybody else waiting.

Sarg

 

[JarHed]

Yeah Sarg

I'd be OK if someone, anyone actually knew what was going on. I can somehow deal with that. But I'm the most impatient SOB otherwise. I hate a situation that I can't do a damn thing about. But yet it's kind of what I have to do. I sent a letter to the DAV guy that I worked with originally. I know he'll get back to me quickly with some kind of answer. At least they do try and are honest with me. Can't really ask for more than that. I mean I can but it won't happen that way.

I get mad, then I calm down and soldier on. Guess I'll always be that way. Just try to enjoy being happy when I am and get through the rest when I'm not. :)

Jar

 

[T^3]

Waiting also, last month spent 5 hours with a VA regional rep going over everything. (They're reopening my initial denied PTSD comp claim from 2005.) Get this, the reason I was denied PTSD was due to "combat" in Somalia not "serving" in Somalia. The good news is, I'm getting the help I need now and not have to wait for the comp and pen board.
The comp and pen at the hospital have just started on my case. The VA regional rep is treating me with respect and is very supportive through the process. Theyeven return my phone calls with answers.