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eli

Second Class Petty Officers
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eli last won the day on July 12 2020

eli had the most liked content!

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About eli

Profile Information

  • Interests
    Taking it one day at a time.

    100% + SMC T

Previous Fields

  • Service Connected Disability
    TBI
  • Branch of Service
    Air Force

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eli's Achievements

  1. It's been awhile since I've posted. The process took a lot out of me and my health has been pretty bad. My TBI and residuals among other things were service connected and I was awarded SMC T. To all still in the battle, don't give up and keep fighting. Thank you all, it was a long road we traveled together and I appreciate the knowledge base.
  2. @Vync Thank you for the link. Although I wouldn't/won't be using an agent it will be easier to pass on the info to other vets if I am able to separate it out by state for them. :)
  3. Thanks for posting it. It looks like an excel spreadsheet any chance of sorting it by state and reposting?
  4. Instead of editing my prior post, I'll just add this here. Having been married to a ptsd vet and given my medical conditions, I sure as hell would be ocd about getting a/a if I was trying to care for my kids. I've never birthed but we did adopt a kid that a crackhead left at our church cause I didn't have the heart to let the child go into "the gov system." So yeah I understand his stress over this.
  5. Yes she's a nurse if I remember correctly, so they depend on her income. Thus why he's so on top of this, he needs her or someone around more because of his condition and they have children. He's not capable of handling/being left to handle these situations.
  6. Alex, apology accepted, Eli is a she. :) Enough of my VA battle is posted within this site for reference. As a TBI vet suffering and dying from one of the non-curable neurological diseases I tend to help where I can and on the subject matter I know best - tbi's. My first marriage was to a vet with ptsd, although at the time tbi, ptsd and vet services were unknown terms to most of us. ***************** I really do hope that Theresa reads this or those moderators that know her best will ask her to create separate discussion areas for said topics. ******************* Alex you do a great job for vets and people appreciate your time and efforts. ********************* Given I am usually dealing with tbi vets, many of my vet friends are dealing with ptsd and as I said my first husband was a vet with ptsd I am very aware of many of their issues. Confusion, OCD, short and long term memory loss to name a few. So I know I end up repeating a lot of the same information to them repeatedly. So I try to maintain a lot of loving patience with them. My refractory epilepsy is bad enough. And as I often say to my caregivers, esp after I've been postictal (and don't know who they are, who I am or where we are) or after they've just spent hours in the hospital holding my hand (April 2018 - praying God doesn't take me during this round of status) while I was status epilepticus for six hours......I tell them I don't know how they deal with the stress of being a caregiver. Unfortunately there are many side effects and neurological problems caused by tbi's. It will be years if not decades before the VA fully grasps this. But tbi vets have given the medical field many research subjects to study, evaluate and write research papers on.
  7. Thank you broncovet for reinforcing using the NVLSP's training! That is the same pdf I posted earlier in the thread when trying to show that smc t is not the tiered caregiver program that was being called smc t. Many thanks!
  8. Hopefully the entire thread clears it up for many folks. Those of us that are familiar with both "programs" differentiate the 2 by their proper names, smc t and the caregiver program. You are the first and only person I've known to use the same verbiage for both. The conversation re qualifying for smc t has been going on on these forums for at least most of this year if not longer. And those of us involved knew what we were referencing; esp when the poster, often jfrei quoted the smc t regs and asked if he would qualify. In this case as jfrei has worked through his sc approved and other smc processes/approvals he was again wondering what needed to be done to qualify for smc t. And if I remember correctly he asked if a smc t topic could be put under the smc forum area for those needing to discuss it. You are correct, very few qualify for smc t, it is a rough situation some vets find themselves in, thus why it was created. Hopefully in the future the correct verbiage will be used. smc t is a smc and that is the name by which the regs reference it. Having been involved with vets on and off of this forum re smc t and having spoken with jfrei previously I knew what he was referencing. It was once the temp tiered stipend was brought into the conversation that confusion occurred. Thus my links to clarify. So yes please by all means let us all use the correct terminology as stated by the VA. And maybe a separate topic area can be created for smc t if it hasn't been already. I will again state the caregiver program is temporary. I have seen no documentation that smc t is temporary, thus the stringent rules to qualify and why so few do qualify. If the VA called a vet in for a future assessment then maybe they would lose smc t if they no longer required that level of care. The vet has to be and the dr has to clearly state that if the vet didn't have a caregiver taking care of them they would be institutionalized. The VA requires the doctor to give medical justification when he fills out the paperwork. I know/remember 3 off the top of my head that receive smc t.
  9. Re this, that is one of the huge problems tbi vets face. Ben and/or Chris have written about it as well. TBI claims are some of the most backlogged claims. And as Berta and I discussed in the past the VA admitted to not giving the correct exams to tbi vets and also having unqualified drs do said exams. My RO was given the award of most screwed up and backlogged tbi claims. Joy for me! :P But brain injuries are complicated issues, esp for non-drs.
  10. Agreed, maybe when we are older and have more gray hair the VA will be more transparent. If someone had told my great grand parents we'd be using a "typewriter" in the future to communicate instantly and globally they would've lol. :)
  11. I also went back through some correspondence from vet friends receiving smc t. One quote: once my smc t was approved my monthly check went from the smc L amount to the T rate.
  12. @Buck the caregiver program is temporary as they expect many of those vets to improve through therapy, etc. Also, as a member of some of those caregiver support groups one of the problems is that the VA/politicians started the program, allocated funds for it and then were overwhelmed by how many applied, were accepted and the cost it involved. The caregiver program is a nightmare that I'll leave up to you to research. My understanding is that smc t isn't temporary. Unless I guess you are suddenly cured of the tbi residuals. Maybe like you'd lose smc for lou if that limb suddenly grew back in a miracle? /sarc but with humor
  13. @Buck the regs state what is needed for smc t and it is listed in the PDF reg that I posted. Jfrei and his drs, vso, rep etc would have to determine if he meets those requirements. SMC t was established esp for tbi vets. They suffer costly brain injuries that don't fit well into other smc categories, thus smc t was created. I'm not here to tell someone if they qualify, all I can do is provide links to regs and information that I have learned about from my research.
  14. I am providing a link for the caregiver program: https://www.caregiver.va.gov/support/support_benefits.asp And as Alex stated this payment comes from VHA. (copied and pasted from pdf link from above site): Eligibility for the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers The Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) is a clinical program administered by the Veterans Health Administration. It is not a VA benefit program. Eligibility is reassessed annually or as needed. When appropriate, the long term goal is for the Veteran to be able to safely meet his/her own care needs and discharge from PCAFC. Participation in the program must support the Veteran’s progress in rehabilitation to the extent possible.
  15. @Alex I am simply providing the regs as listed by the VA and knowing of vets that receive smc t. It isn't easy to qualify and as listed in the pdf I linked there are pre-reqs but the difference I was pointing out in my post was quoted from the regs regarding how smc t differs from r2. No one stated you get r1-2 with a note from the doctor. Also the caregiver program is the tiered program, not smc T. These are 2 separate "programs" or payments types, (choose your own verbiage). And yes I completely agree that erroneous information is not beneficial, I encourage everyone to do their due diligence and research these issues themselves. The VA covers many issues, health, law, etc and no one should blindly accept information on a blog. (j) Special aid and attendance benefit for residuals of traumatic brain injury (38 U.S.C. 1114(t)). The special monthly compensation provided by 38 U.S.C. 1114(t) is payable to a veteran who, as the result of service-connected disability, is in need of regular aid and attendance for the residuals of traumatic brain injury, is not eligible for compensation under 38 U.S.C. 1114(r)(2), and in the absence of such regular aid and attendance would require hospitalization, nursing home care, or other residential institutional care. Determination of this need is subject to the criteria of Sec. 3.352. (1) A veteran described in this paragraph (j) shall be entitled to the amount equal to the compensation authorized under 38 U.S.C. 1114(o) or the maximum rate authorized under 38 U.S.C. 1114(p) and, in addition to such compensation, a monthly allowance equal to the rate described in 38 U.S.C. 1114(r)(2) during periods he or she is not hospitalized at United States Government expense. (See Sec. 3.552(b)(2) as to continuance following admission for hospitalization.) (2) An allowance authorized under 38 U.S.C. 1114(t) shall be paid in lieu of any allowance authorized by 38 U.S.C. 1114(r)(1). (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 38 U.S.C. 1114(t)) [26 FR 1587, Feb. 24, 1961, as amended at 27 FR 4739, May 18, 1962; 28 FR 1587, Feb. 20, 1963; 28 FR 5671, June 11, 1963; 40 FR 54245, Nov. 21, 1975; 45 FR 25392, Apr. 15, 1980; 46 FR 47541, Sept. 29, 1981; 48 FR 41161, Sept. 14, 1983; 49 FR 47003, Nov. 30 1984; 54 FR 34981, Aug. 23, 1989; 60 FR 12886, Mar. 9, 1995; 67 FR 6873, Feb. 14, 2002; 68 FR 55467, Sept. 26, 2003; 74 FR 11483, Mar. 18, 2009; 83 FR 20736, May 8, 2018]
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