seminoles

I had to file paperwork to decline it

I have been thinking about applying, I am in a wheelchair part time for a sc condition hmmm

how long did it take for them to process this and did you apply for both the SAH and SHA?

And of course I checked into in and asked for documentation from the SS office to verify it when I opted out. One thing I am not is an idiot or someone who does something willy nilly to save a few bucks now to screw myself later.

That is a different circumstance, they have to opt in at retirement age just like my husband has to with champva, I can opt back in without penalty when I reach retirement age. Very different situations.

I declined my medicare and don't pay the premiums anymore........it is worthless to me honestly at this point I couldn't find shit for providers and in order to find any I had to buy a medicare advantage plan that cost $$$ and when I turn 65 I won't have to pay the penalty for opting out when I was eligible for SSDI, so I stopped wasting my money every month.

Also, don't 5 year olds go to Kindergarten? Which would leave you only needing part time care for one child? I am very confused honestly and in most states they have head start programs, which your children would probably qualify for based on your situation. You really need to look into that as well. https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/1903

I thought you were receiving SSDI and SMCs as well as your wife working? It seems like you should be able to cover the cost of part time daycare honestly with that level of income. Maybe I am wrong and you don't receive those things, if not you should be applying for assistance with daycare. If you don't qualify for assistance for daycare at least you will qualify for a daycare credit when you file your taxes so it isn't all out the door really, you will get some of it back. I hope that helps at least in the long run.

SSI is income dependent and only around $700 and they count ALL household income against that so most veterans will receive very little if anything at all if they are receiving VA compensation if awarded SSI, especially if they also have a spouse who is earning. "The income limit for the SSI program is based on the federal benefit rate (FBR). The federal benefit rate represents both the SSI income limit and the maximum federal monthly SSI payment. In 2019, the FBR is $771 per month for individuals and $1,157 for couples. (The FBR increases annually if there is a Social Security cost-of-living adjustment.) To qualify for SSI, your countable monthly income cannot exceed the FBR. However, the SSA counts only some of your income when it determines whether your income is over the income limit. (This is called the earned income exclusion. Also, the SSA ignores some types of income altogether; see our article on what income counts toward the SSI limit.) For instance, if you are earning money from work, less than half of your monthly earnings are counted toward the income limit, so you can make more than $771 per month." Here is a good site that explains SSI https://www.disabilitysecrets.com/resources/social-security-disability/supplemental-security-income-ssi/income-limits-eligibility.htm

I know this is a pretty old post but I am rated for migraines at 50% and have been for a very long time I am also diagnosed with Migraine assoicated vertigo aka vestibular migraines and they are so severe that I not only have a Service dog to help with my balance (he wears a harness), before that I was using a walker which was provided by the VA and that damn thing well I couldn't go so many places it was annoying to say the least, but on my worst days I am now in a wheelchair which was prescribed by neurologist and now I am having to have my vehicle adapted etc which I have been putting off until we get a larger vehicle. I had put a claim in for this previously and the examiner NO JOKE said I was malingering........should I refile or file a CUE?

I live near Tallahassee so we are kind of in no mans land with nothing around us for hours in any direction so it makes us an island for care options. There are no community care providers sadly, I had one and their office closed and he was also amazing. When we move it won't be in Florida. I just don't see my provider as often as I should to be honest. I see my psychologist weekly and psychiatrist well as often as I can. I don't have a choice but to see someone as I have multiple mh issues that need mediation and as most with those sorts of diagnoses know medication changes are never ending.

I did not, sadly the MH clinic at my local VA after my long time psychiatrist transferred 5 years ago has been awful to say the least. I had to have a congressional inquiry just to have therapy at one point, I had one horrible psychiatrist after another, finally received telehealth pscyhologist who is AMAZING out of PA and was sent outside the VA for psychiatry, then that provider closed. Now, I travel 3 hours each way to another VA for psychiatry after the head of the local VA psychiatry sat with my telehealth request from community care in his inbox for 3 months and did nothing.........I found that that it was waiting in his inbox from another provider. I called the whitehouse hotline to complain and of course he was then calling me all day long and talking to my spouse trying to get me in for care. He didn't get a damn I was without a provider for almost 6 months until he was called after I called the hotline. He got busted and was trying to cover his ask. I refused to be seen in that clinic and I will never again set foot in it. Even though I have been approved for community based care there are no providers who will see VA patients and they insist there is zero telehealth psychiatry available. The psychiatrist I see now is night and day different to the mh clinic at my local VA. He is much like my old psychiatrist. He is very good and actually gives a damn. Go figure, he isn't like the last 3 women I saw who are dismissive, never look at me, read questions off a screen, act as if I am fine and then just renew meds and say well if you don't have a plan of suicide then knock on wood........you are good. See you in 3 months. Horrible.

exactly, I had a psychiatrist at the VA tell me that MST doesn't happen anymore that the military "fixed" that........I walked out of her office and got a never psychiatrist at another VA facility. I had MST flagged in my records for a very long time, I had already been diagnosed with PTSD and have more than mh diagnoses and she was one of the worst providers I have ever seen. Don't put up with providers dismissing you, it isn't okay, ever. Non combat ptsd is far more common than many are aware of.

You should have a wheelchair!! I am in the ILP now and it is nothing but a joke honestly. The counselor never did the in home assessment like they were supposed to, I can go on and on about how it was handled wrong but at the end of the day all it did was cause me frustration, waste a ton of my time for a few items that after all the aggravation in hind sight my husband and I would have rather just went and purchased instead of the hassle that I had to go through for ILP and of course they denied every single item that was avocation/hobby related even though there was a letter from both my primary and psychiatrist for every single item. Biggest crap show I ever went through honestly, and at one point they were trying to tell me I had to volunteer??? I am on SSDI, was IU PT and was increased to 100% PT with smc s and had to have letters written that I am unable to work STILL by my providers for voc. rehab. I seriously think that most of these counselors don't even know what to do with veterans in the Independent Living Program. Mine surely Doesn't. I hope you have a much better experience than I do and PLEASE ask the VA to provide you with a wheelchair for days you need someone to push you around, so glad you weren't hurt badly!!

I never guess what the VA is going to do..............they have screwed me over enough when I have been told they can't do this or that so yeah....until I see it in black and white I believe nothing. I have had a favorable exam and then had a rater say not service connected. I have had an examiner say something is absolutely horrible and rated at 60% according to their exam then state it isn't service connected because of x, y and z and then have it over turned by the rater. The VA is a hot mess of inconsistent exams, ratings and sadly we are the ones who have to deal with it. Hopefully you will get at least what you expect and not have to fight and the news shouldn't be too long if you already have the exam records. Best of luck, keep us posted!

I am service connected for bipolar and PTS, which includes panic attacks with agoraphobia, which are both quite severe and fought tooth and nail to be rated at 70% for mental health this is a very good CP exam for secondary anxiety from tinnitus.

I am really glad you posted this, I need to filed a CUE as well and no one seems to have the same answer as to what form to use, which is why I haven't filed it! Drives me nuts!

I am rated for severe chronic migraines (which are not sinuse headaches) and I filed later for my sinus issues not secondary to anything but as a stand alone rating and the idiots at the RO have my sinus infections rated secondary to my migraines, because that makes TOTAL sense. AS IF, I seriously wonder who the heck is working these jobs.

Nope, caregiver program is something entirely different and is applied for by the caregiver and is set up for the veteran to be evaluated completely different. There is absolutely ZERO risk about losing benefits or reduction in your rating like applying for SMCs....just another way that pre 9/11 veterans are being screwed....

My husband also had to resign from his job and thankfully has been able to build a business that is one that he works from home and is self employed and works his own hours around caring for me, of course he makes far less than when he was working at his last company, zero benefits, retirement, etc. but we are far better off than many pre 9/11 veterans who are severely disabled with their spouse caring for them living off what they can. It is disgraceful honestly that the legislation was passed as it was, era should not matter, level of care needed and sc disability should.

I have found the exact opposite to be true, I did have evidence to back up my complaint and not only was my issue resolved but I was contacted within 24 hours to resolve it by someone much higher up within my local VA healthcare system than I could get to assist me prior to calling.

I have those issues and my husband definitely doesn't get paid a cent to care for me...........then again I have one of the crappiest RO in the country.

yep, and odd enough do you know how many of the veteran's are women? VERY few, I don't know if my husband will ever apply honestly and if he does our younger children will never be present for any of these "inspections", the VA has no business when it comes to them. We aren't people who blindly trust some crappy va social worker in the first place, and definitely not when it comes to being around our young children. NOPE

Precisely!!

Isn't it ironic how a "tech" problem has delayed implementing a program for so many disabled veterans yet they can find ways to implement other things?? I call BS..........