john999

I would get the 10 grand with the waiver. The other extra insurance is expensive. Just save your money and create you own insurance plan. I am pretty much self insured these days. All this damned insurance for house, health, car, flood etc. costs me a fortune.

Yes, if you have ChampVA you don't need a Medicare supplement. My wife's insurance with regular Medicare is better than mine. I have insurance via the National Association of Letter Carriers. Very good insurance. With Medicare I pay nothing except for drugs. My wife pays nothing. I stick with regular Medicare and steer clear of Medicare Advantage since Part C is private insurance and not Medicare. To me it is a scam to destroy regular Medicare. Part C advertises non stop and is misleading people. Part C can change their benefits any time they like and then you can lump it. I know lots of people get Part C because they cannot afford part D and the supplement. I am talking about non-100% vets and their wives and kids.

I just found out that my grandfather who died in 1953 was a deserter from the Navy back in 1906. The wise guy then changed his name and joined the Army. What a guy. I never knew him because I was only 3 when he died. You talk about a mad sailor. I think when he got orders for one of those long cruises he jumped ship and went AWOL. He was a minor criminal in his youth. He got straight after he met and married my grandmother. He did spend 6 months in jail for some other crime. You know in those days there was no SSA or even driver's license required as far as I know. You could go across state lines and start a new life with a new name. This may be TMI but it entertains me.

I think we should invite Berta back to the game. I got "S" for being TDIU P&T, and an extra 60%. Bronco helped with that. I am not housebound per say. However, going out to the VAMC is hard on me due to my bad feet and parking problems. I don't think you must be totally stuck at home to get HB. If you are stuck at home how would you get treatments? I go to the VA about 4-5 times a year and I have to drive 20 miles. That is nothing for many vets drive 50 miles one way. Every time I go to the VA the nurse asks me if I have fallen. I tell them "Yes, and I busted my head". They just note and go on by. The care we get is substandard. Real doctors don't act like that as if they did not give a damn.

Flip I have about 10 conditions besides the ones I actually got service connected for. VA medical and VA compensation don't even talk to each other. My VA doctor knows nothing about agent orange. All she sees is a patient in front of her. We could be coming from the moon. VA doctors are generally hacks who just want to do their 8 hours and go home. Then there is the pharmacy which is a world onto its own. I have to call my congressman once a month to get them to send my drugs on time to the right place. I send my congressman $25 every time they help get the VA off their asses. It actually works here in Tampa. I just wish I had a bigger hammer.

You know VA often tends to forget or ignore their own regs. I was entitled to "S" for a couple of years before I found that out for myself. I did file a claim for "S" and VA called CUE on themselves. I think that if I had not filed the claim for "S" I never would have gotten it. I got two years retro on the "S". I know a vet is not supposed to have to file a claim for "S" but there it is. No claim, no S in my situation. There is no argument here just the VA doing stupid stuff and us having to figure it out.

I don't think anyone really has the answer about the TDIU rating being protected after 20 years. If you have TDIU and you are p&t I don't think you have to worry unless you go back to work. I was TDIU for 20 years and recently got actual 100%. I never had a problem with reductions.

I think Bronco is right here. SSDI wants to know if you are working or ready and able to go back to work. If you have not worked since 2002 and have not gotten a W-2 in all those years I would not worry. How old did you say you were? People who have something to worry about are those who try and play the system but working and collecting SSDI.

Once you are 55 I don't think you have anything to worry about now. The only way you might have a problem is for you to go back to work at a regular job. IMO once you are P&T the VA tends to forget about you. I was TDIU for about 20 years and never had a problem. Maybe you can work on getting actual 100% or another 60% because then you get Housebound which is another $300. I got actual 100% a few years ago. Nothing changed. If you have VA and SSDI you can actually survive even in Florida these days. Have you checked out toxic exposure?

I got SSDI within three months after applying. Much of it depends on how skilled your doctor has at dealing with SSA. I do think it is easier to get SSDI for those with emotional/mental disabilities than physical ones. If you base a claim on pain related to a physical injury they might say the pain is just a subjective symptom with no proof. However, if you file for chronic pain disorder related to depression it goes. Having a doctor who has had dealings with SSDI is the main thing IMO. Shrinks usually have lots of experience with invisible disabilities.

SMC is a very complex thing, or the VA makes it complex. There is a guy we all know named former member or Alex. SMC is is special thing. He works for money but he does know the subject. You can get help from experts on this because most at the VA don't even understand their own rules.

These exams are gambles. You may have an exam doctor that is great and then one that is bad. You pays your money and you takes your chances.

I had 94% rating and it was not until I added an extra 80% that I got to 98%. You will never get to actual 100%. They round up or down. You cannot reason with the VA which is actually part of the reasons CUE's get denied because they don't accept rational arguments, just facts If you are getting TDIU you are lucky. To get 100% you have to get higher ratings to put you over or equal to 95%.

Pacman....I have been telling vets to file depression claims for years. I just about gave up because I did not think they understood what I was getting at. If you have chronic pain or disability it would be strange if you were not depressed. The mind and body cannot separated .

That is funny since just because you are qualified for a government job doesn't mean you have a snowball's chance in hell of getting one. Back in 1984 I got a job at the VA hospital as a really low level supply clerk. I tried for a year to get a promotion out of that job and it was impossible. I used to get rejection letters with the heading of "qualified buy not selected" a few dozen times. Then I took the postal exam and transferred to the USPS. The USPS was the same way.

What if you need help just keeping your house clean and picking up after yourself. My back is getting so bad when I bend over to pick up something I can't get back up. To have a cleaning person come in once a week costs $90 where I live. My wife and I are both disabled. She can't do all the housework and neither can I. I don't want to end up in assisted living because I am not that bad off, but I could use a little help. Maybe I am just dreaming.

While you are at it start seeing a VA shrink and eventually apply for depression. If you are crippled up you are probably pretty unhappy about it.

I agree that you need to know about a doctor who is going to do surgery on you. Sometimes in an emergency you have to take what is available. I have good insurance so if I have an emergency I am going to the closest hospital available. For a lot of non-emergency type things VA is about as good or better than private sector. This is my experience.

Some vets go for years without their PTSD really bothering them and suddenly it hits them. Some times when you suddenly have time on your hands to think these long buried events with surface to torture you.

VA has been pretty awful at times, but I at least got to see a doctor during the pandemic. I could not find a doctor to treat me in private sector for about 18 months. I did have a private doctor infect my foot with a staff infection due to the fact he did not have clean needles when he injected my foot. I developed a really toxic infection and had to have an operation to save my foot. I tried to sue the bastard but no lawyers would take my case. Almost as bad as the VA. I basically agree with what Bronco is saying. To get good care you have to stay on the VA like a wet diaper. Maybe the private sector doctors have gotten so bad that the VA is starting to look good to me. My poor wife had a problem like an anxiety attack. I did take her to local hospital and the kept her there for days and ran $50,000 worth of tests on her and found nothing. Fortunately I have good insurance on her.

While my TDIU was on appeal I had to get dental work. I was able to get compensated for my dental expense because I should have been eligible for free dental work except for VA's initial denial of TDIU. If your 100%/TDIU was on appeal for 8 years you might be able to get paid for all the visual and dental expense you had during your appeals. Just because you get 100% don't give up. SMC such as "S" may be available in the future.

Very good advice, Rattler. Go for the big payday and put the dog and cat claims on the back burner for a while.

During or right after a war it is easier to get bad paper upgraded. As time goes by it gets harder and harder because there is less good will towards ex-soldiers. It is easier to get a general discharge upgraded to honorable than to get a bad conduct discharge upgraded to just a general discharge. Same with undesirable discharges due to drug use etc.

I went for an eye exam yesterday and I was very happy with the results. I know I have been down on them in the past but the service is just as good as a regular clinic now days IMO. I am still not crazy about the dental service but maybe that has improved as well. I need to see a podiatrist and maybe a back doctor. I will use the VA probably. I just got to get my PCP to refer me.

If you are taking any sort of tranquilizer for more than a few days you will have symptoms when you suddenly stop taking them worse than narcotics because you risk having a seizure.