flhtci2004

Went down and got my temporary VA card...yeah!

Just got my packet today (Saturday) that rates me at 60%. I know I could wait until Monday and call the VA but you guys are so knowledgeable I thought I'd throw it out there. Does wife of 34 years receive any health care benefit from VA and also (just me thinking) if I were to die tomorrow would she receive any of my 60%. Thank you in advance...

Carlie..thanks for answering so quickly. The at 50% or higher...is it only for service connected problems or how about just plain old age crap? Thanks again...

Got a ? though. My packet finally arrived from the VA stating the award and when it will start. I was rated 60% and my question is do I get regular health benefits? The letter states "You may be eligible for medical care by the VA health care system for any service connected disability". Does this mean I would not be able to go to the VA for a cold or other health issue...only if it was for the prostate cancer I had as that is the only service connected disability so far? Thanks for any info...

You know, 43 years ago a lot of us vets took off our uniforms and never looked back. Some never joined parades, protested nor joined veterans organizations but instead<br style="min-width: 0px; ">immersed ourselves into school or the work place and continued with our lives. There was not mention on exiting the service interview that we may of been poisoned during our one or two tours in Nam, so be aware in the future years and contact the VA if you have anyproblem...no mention of this at all. I remember in the early 90's that there was an AO lawsuit going around and somehow, someone contacted me to be part of of the class action. The biggest reportedproblem at that time were problems involving birth defects. Both my boys were grown by then and had no known effects from AO so I declined to try and squeeze the government of any moneyI didn't feel I deserved. Fast forward to 2007 and a report from my urologist that I had a very aggressive prostate cancer that needed to be removed. My only real option was radical prostatectomy so in Feb. 2008the prostate and limp nodes were removed just in time as the cancer had erupted from the prostate. Still no connection whatsoever to Nam for me. Apparently somewhere in the late 90's there were newspaper articles associating prostate cancer with the VA and AO that was now covered as a service connected disability. Well, unless you actually had it in the 90's or maybe 'total recall" I believe the majority of us would not of connect our prostate cancer 10 years down the road to Nam or some obscure newspaper article 10 years earlier. Two years after my operation every newsprint that mentioned prostate cancer now draws my eye and I happened to view a newspaper article about this very subject that basically informed us to seek out compensation from the VA, which I did and it is still on someone's desk waiting for approval. I don't fault the VA for the time it is taking to reach any decision because apparently they are buried in paperwork, my complaint is that they will not back up your claim to the date of the operation. They admit AO caused the problem but the VA is hiding behind the fact that somehow we should of known? I don't get it. They pay 100% if somehow you knew in advance of the problem but not if you were unaware that the VA owes you money? If all the vets that have had this same problem were to somehow come together (and there seems to be many) maybe we could petition the VA to back up our illness and paper work to the date of our surgeries? Just saying!