MRmonkey

I received my medical retirement from FT Knox Kentucky from the US Army. For some reason, my claims were processed through the Seattle RO. I now live in Kansas, and have the same RO. In my opinion, this is not the correct RO geographically, and I have yet to hear or experience anything good about the place. How does a veteran get away from the large imploding star known as the Seattle RO? Would it even matter?

That is very sound advice. I called the PT advocate and she informed me that I had 3 options, and that was it. 1. Drive and hour and 20 minutes to the large VA, and have a primary care doctor there. 2. Call the local CBOC, and they will forward my medical concerns to the "covering" doctor. 3) Use the Veterans Choice Program. I informed her that I cannot drive to the large VA. I then informed her that every time I used the "covering" doctor for medical help, I had never been called back to know what medical action is needed or I need to take. (The doctor does not physically see me, the CBOC nurse calls them). The last point I made is that I requested a Veterans Choice referral months ago, and it has not been approved. I had a session with my counselor via telemed ( Video conferencing), and explained my frustration with the VA. She looked in the system, and confirmed the lack of medical availability on the part of the VA. She promptly got on the phone and called her boss. I have an appointment today with the big wigs at the VA today, as I have an appointment there, and someone to drive me. She also mentioned that I have an appointment with a Primary care doctor at the large VA at the end of the month. The VA did not call me to set this up. The appointment desk was told to put this appointment in without calling me. My counselor informed me that "they do this to make it look like the PT misses an appointment, and it is their fault". She has my back. Thank god.

I called the HRC at Fort Knox today. I agree completely with your statement. The office that handles CRSC informed me that they have not had any correspondence from the VA, so they have no idea that the CRSC needs adjusted. I got through again to the VA this morning, and they informed me that they actually do the calculations since the change was a result of a VA decision. They went on to inform me that if the claim originated from DOD, the DOD would be responsible for calculating it. It seems that the two are telling each other that if they make any changes that results in a pay difference, then whomever it comes from, does the leg work, and the other simply inputs it into the computer. Ok. I am not impressed with the CRSC helpline. The nice lady there informed me that she has no communication with the people that actually deals with CRSC, she can look in the system and answer phones. I really do not miss the Army.

Hi, Its me again. I live in a rural area and fall under a CBOC. My primary care doctor at this VA clinic stopped working there 4 months ago. I had no idea until I called my nurse team in a horrible amount of pain. The nurse and the doctor does not work there anymore. I called the primary care management team at the VAMC I fall under and informed them of my situation. They told me to hold out 3 more months until the new nurse and doctor start working there. They told me to use the Veterans Choice program. The program told me to have my primary care doctor put in a referral. The primary doctor manager told me to pay out of pocket at my local civilian emergency room if I need medical help. Has does a veteran navigate the VA without primary care? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am still waiting for a call back from the PT advocate. Thanks.

Folks, Hello. I have been medically retired now for 2 years. I have been paid CRSC for those two years. As my appeals keep getting approved by the VA, My CRSC keeps being adjusted. My final appeal has just been approved, and I am at 100%. My last approval from the VA informed me the VA is calculating my CRSC. In 4 boxes on the award and payment start date section it says: Combat Related Special Compensation adjustment. I have only ever worked with the US HRC at Ft Knox when dealing with CRSC. What would be the reason that the VA is doing this? I fully understand what happens between retired pay, VA compensation and the offset of CRSC regarding all pay concerned. I called DFAS, and they informed me that they Pay CRSC. I try to tell them that I understood, and why is the VA trying to pay that to me. I asked her why DFAS did not send a letter to explain the previous CRSC adjustment. She informed me that no actions were taken by DFAS to adjust the entitlement. I then asked her why my CRSC increased by $200, and she could not tell me. I called the VA, and they told me that they do not do CRSC, and to call DFAS. Has anyone seen this before? What do I do beside make my VSO pull the rest of his hair out?