maknon31

I’ve got questions about the 5-10-15-20 Rule. I am going on 8 years (so far) since my 100% Total & Permanent disability findings and rulings in 2016. I am worse now. However, recently, the VA has gotten VERY aggressive and are trying to get ahold of my medical records (from Medicare) from my non-VA private doctors--after 8 years. I don’t go to the VA for healthcare. They are trying to find away how to access my private doctors’ records since I disabled record(s) sharing. I went into my online VA portal about 9 months ago, and I noticed in the medical records section, they had “sharing” with non-VA providers enabled. However, I changed it to “opt out of sharing.” That way, they cannot scrutinize me with non-VA doctors and violate my privacy. They no longer have my permission to access and/or share my medical records to anyone. However, the VA sent my insurance (Medicare) a VA Form 10-5345 to send me. It was a REQUEST to fill out and send that form back to my insurance about my health. It didn’t say “required.” I declined and refused to fill it out and send it back. The VA Form 10-5345, as far as I know, is permission for the VA to gain access to your non-VA records and/or share such records. Does anyone else know about VA Form 10-5345? It’s voluntary, right? So…what might the VA try next to get ahold of my private records? I thought that I have pretty much shutdown their ability to gain access to my non-VA providers. But I’d like to know if the VA would try a different tactic for access to those privileged records. Thanks in advance...

I am a 100% service-connected disabled veteran. I am totally and permanently disabled. Under what circumstances could the VA take your 100% service-connected benefits away? My rep said that after I was deemed 100%, my VA record was going to go on a shelf and collect dust. I was also told that the only way I would lose my benefits is if I (veteran) opened a new claim for benefits after my 100% rating. Is this true?