ptsd I Had My Ptsd C&p :)

[Guest swells1]

I had my PTSD C&P about a week ago. I was told where to go and when to be there. I arrived at a small clinic where the receptionist was friendly and helpful. She offered my wife and I something to drink and talked to us till the doc came in to ask us back to the exam room. She was very friendly and seated us in comfortable chairs. We talked about the exam for a bit before the questions started. I handed her a letter I had printed that gave details about the Beirut Bombing, some before and after pictures of the explosion, My accounts of what happened that day, a page of why I was asking for both compensation as well as assistance, and a letter from my wife stating the changes she has seen in me since the bombing in 1983. She seemed honestly impressed with what I handed her and told us that it would be very helpful to her in writing her report. She asked many questions and drug my wife and I through some awful memories. She put us through the grinder then pulled us back out again. It was honestly one of the toughest things I had ever been through. Obviously she could not and did not say "You have PTSD and this is what you are going to get" but she indicated that she had little doubt that I would be rated at least at the 50% level and that she reccomended I receive the care I need for my PTSD by the VA. I should have come forward a very long time ago and gotten this assistance. Just the one time opening up and letting it out of the box for the world to see took some of the weight off of my shoulders and feels good. I have a lot of claims in with the VA some minor and some pretty serious... But this one means more to me than the rest and it's important to me that the VA also seems to think it's my most important claim also. I hope the rest of my C&Ps go as well as this one did. Oh yeah I submitted my first ever claim to the VA around the 1st of June... It's now the 24th of September... Does this seem like things are going along at a brisk enough pace for me? How soon should I get an answer back on the C&P from the VA? How long should I wait to ask for my C File? And what exactly is in a C File? Ok That's enough questions for now. Be well all and good luck! swells1

[LarryJ]

Yes my RO is Waco and that's good news. Two months I can do standing on my head after waiting like a fool for 19 years. As far as getting help goes... I was told that I make too much money to be seen at the VA (I seem to be one of the first of the Obama health careless casualties). If I make too much money? Why are there old generals and admirals using the VA facilities? I also can not be seen out in the real world because none of the psycologists accept my HMO. Ya know it's funny... Ya work your whole life at doing what is right... Ya get screwed by everyone that walks by... Then when you finally break down and cant function anymore... The government that promised you care, kicks you to the curb and the insurance you paid for like clockwork year after year wont buy you a friggen bandaid. And people cant understand why other people commit suicide... As a combat vet I should be taken care of by the VA and as a consumer that pays for insurance in good faith I should get better care than having to go to a free clinic to be seen for a real condition. Wait a minute... That's not funny... But thats how it goes for folks like me.... My hope is you are right and I get a percentage sooner than later so maybe I can be seen in the VA for what I should have been seen for 27 years ago. Right after the Beirut Bombing. Yes thats my fault because of foolish pride.... I don't blame that part on anyone but myself.Ok I'll stop ranting now... Thank you for listening.

swells,

Do you know for a fact that you "make too much money"? The reason I ask is that, first of all, the VA has now started accepting, for treatment, those vets that are "category 8". These vets were, for several years (since 2003 I believe) considered to be too "well off" financially to be accepted into the VA Medical System (which I thought was B.S., if you are a vet and you put yourself at the whim of the U.S.ofA. in defense of our country.......then it shouldn't MAKE a DAMN how much money you have been able to scrounge together since your service.......but, that's just my humble opinion). Anywho, you should be enrolled in the VA Medical System. Get you down to the Medical Center and fill out a 10-10EZ. They will treat you, but, of course, you will, most likely, have to pay a co-pay.......UNTIL you are "rated" on your claim and get your percentage up to or above 30%, then you can actually get BACK what you have had to pay in co-pays.......they'll send you a check, believe it or not!

The Veterans Center program is, BTW, the way to go, if you have one nearby.

[Guest swells1]

I recently applied for health care through the VA for the first time after 19 years of being out since I beleived that I could pay my own way using insurance from my work. I was thinking why be a burdon on society and the overtaxed VA system if I could pay my own way through work? Also I watched the VA whittle my dad down with bad medicine till he died. So another reason I waited so long was I was scared of what sort of Voo Doo medicine they would try on me. I am having trouble finding folks that accept my insurance. Go figure I'm a government employee with a government sposored insurance program HMO that I pay $200 a month for and cant find someone who will take it. So I go to the VA thinking the medicine sucks but at least I can be seen and when I apply, they send me a letter that I make too much money and catagorized me as a catagory 8g I beleive. (P.S. is $25 an hour too much money?) The letter went on to say something like: I could have emergency health care but I would have to pay the VA for this humanitarian service. it goes on to say that for me to receive any other care, I would have to be at minimum rated at 50% and at minimum be 10% SC for what I was being seen for or I would be turned away at the door. It was a pretty big letter telling me all of the benifits my brother gets after he was kicked out of the army for doing drugs and being in for less than a year and I'll never see with a distinguished 10 years with combat time. life aint fair and the VA is 10 times larger than life.

[Guest Cliph]

Yes my RO is Waco and that's good news. Two months I can do standing on my head after waiting like a fool for 19 years. As far as getting help goes... I was told that I make too much money to be seen at the VA (I seem to be one of the first of the Obama health careless casualties). If I make too much money? Why are there old generals and admirals using the VA facilities? I also can not be seen out in the real world because none of the psycologists accept my HMO. Ya know it's funny... Ya work your whole life at doing what is right... Ya get screwed by everyone that walks by... Then when you finally break down and cant function anymore... The government that promised you care, kicks you to the curb and the insurance you paid for like clockwork year after year wont buy you a friggen bandaid. And people cant understand why other people commit suicide... As a combat vet I should be taken care of by the VA and as a consumer that pays for insurance in good faith I should get better care than having to go to a free clinic to be seen for a real condition. Wait a minute... That's not funny... But thats how it goes for folks like me.... My hope is you are right and I get a percentage sooner than later so maybe I can be seen in the VA for what I should have been seen for 27 years ago. Right after the Beirut Bombing. Yes thats my fault because of foolish pride.... I don't blame that part on anyone but myself.Ok I'll stop ranting now... Thank you for listening.

For Post 9/11/01 Vets, the VA limits healthcare to combat zone Vets ( and then for only 5 years after RAD), unless they have a SCD and then they're are eligible for treatment for that disability unless they are rated 50% SCD or more. This change went into effect years ago. Poor Vets are eligible for some treatment. Poor is based on "poverty levels" as determined by US Gov.