More Info. Vets Disability Commission

[carlie]

More topics that vets gave testimony for the record on at the St. Petersburg, Fl. Disability Commission were:

Blue Water Vets.

Wet foot - Dry Foot.

BVA - Remands, instructions not honored.

Having an attorney from the get-go, and not having to wait until a BVA denial.

Transportation cost and reimbursement. - This concerned a much older veteran that traveled all the way from Illinois at his own cost to discuss:

his round-trip bus fair to his VA appointments was $5.40 and the VA would not reimburse him for this -- yet between either medicare or medicaid and VA -- they would pay a taxi $60.00 to transport him. He was VERY upset about this

Co -payments on health care and RX drugs.

Compensation denials.

VA does not ASSIST the vet in obtaining benefits, they instead use their resources to deny, deny, deny.

I was upset that NONE of the local media showed up to cover this event and phoned 2 television stations to make them aware of the commission and let them know there was a second meeting scheduled for the next morning. I also gave the media the Commission's Web site URL. I have still not seen any media coverage on it, probably won't. After all they are ONLY spending 16 million tax payers dollars on it.

If you go to the Commission's Web site and research the actual questions they are to study on and come up with some answers -- those questions don't even coincide with what the VETS are concerned with.

The head - honcho of the Commission, at one point stopped all discussion to inform us that the Commission was in no way set-up to begin finding ways to CUT vets benefits -- YEA, RIGHT -- HA HA like we believed that BS.

I did make 4 really good contacts at this meeting that ALL said they would like to do anything they can to help me with my claims. 1) was the VA advocate for Senator Bill Nelson, 2) was a female congresswoman, 3) was the St. Pete VARO manager, but he handed me off to a lower level VARO guy, 4) was the manager

of the Women's program at Bay Pines.

I will begin contacting all of these people next week and see if they REALLY can help me some, this would be great.

I still do not like this new board much BUT I love the fellowship of my hadit family.

It seems like you people are the only ones in my life that give a damn about the things that are so important to me, and I thank you all.

carlie

[Guest Morgan]

Carlie,

Thank you for the update. I was just reading the commission's statement on the VA Web site last night. I don't care how much they say they are not set up to take veterans' benefits, that will happen in the end. It is such a shame that veterans have to know law and medicine to work their claims successfully. And then it's a crap shoot. I am convinced that the people involved have neuropathy of the ears, they sure don't know when that sense has been stimulated! Or at least they are numb to the veterans' voice.

Do you know when they are supposed to conclude their study or research...or whatever they have decided to call their Disable-the-Veteran commission?

I wish you well with your claim and these new contacts. I am not familiar with what is going on with you, but if I can help let me know.

Carrie

Edited February 19, 2006 by Morgan

[Josh]

Hi Carlie.

You wrote "I still do not like this new board much BUT I love the fellowship of my hadit family.

It seems like you people are the only ones in my life that give a damn about the things that are so important to me, and I thank you all."

What a true thought Thanks for reminding me .. thanks to all here for the campanionship though I hide i the background most of the time. COuld be a psychological issue.

[Testvet]

they were originally supposed to wrap it up before the elction this year, but instead of shooting themselves in the foot, they extended the date the report is due into 2007.

[Guest Morgan]

Yes, shoot them in the foot, it would. There is no doubt.

It's scary that so many lives hang in the balance.

[Testvet]

I don't think they have the power to just implement changes willy nilly, Congress should still have a yes or no vote on the acceptance of it, I can't just see them doing everything this committee says to do. No more than they did everything the 9/11 commission suggested. I don't think even the President can just change the VA claims and medical services to suit him. Then again the VA does have some strange rules like they can ignore court rulings etc. Whatever the VA secretary says goes. It is a different type system.

[Guest Morgan]

The willy nillly starts when the rater gets the claim. I realize I'm preaching to the choir here...but there's simply too much individual rater discretion. The VAROs are not held accountable for their decisions as each one relates to application of law. They know the clause covering their "discretion" is all they need to do anything they want. For instance, at their discretion, they can accept evidence or not, decide if it is or is not persuasive, and if so, decide how much weight to give it. They have a duty to assist in procuring the evidence, but then they have the right to decide it is worthless.

If I could change one thing about the VA process, it would be that. I would change the power VAROs have to act of their own discretion concerning evidence while having no legal consequence for errors. The VA defines competent medical evidence as "evidence provided by a person who is qualified through education, training or experience to offer medical diagnoses, statements, or opinions." A rater sitting at a desk, whether having a medical background or not, should not be allowed, under any circumstance, to knock down or ignore a board-certified physician's opinion--or any "competent medical evidence" for that matter. It's a mockery of the law, against which the veteran has no recourse but years of appeals.

OK, enough of my ranting and opinions...