Vet Commits Suicide

[Berta]

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10829

[simple fly]

as i was reading rockhounds reply,my daughter called to inform me her next door neighbor wheeled his wheelchair out into the yard between their houses and ended his life.not more than 5 minutes ago,another vet lost to desperation....when will the suffering and cries be heard....

i'm signing off for now...i will be back when my nerves settle.

[john999]

The thing is there is always an appeals process for just about anything decided at the VA. Even if you owe money you can often appeal your way out of it, especially if it is there mistake. The VA was dinging me for a few hundred dollars and I appealed my way out from these bloodhounds. They gave that minor debt a lot more attention than any claim I ever filed. I know that if the VA decided I owed them a bunch of money I would certainly be upset and wanting to wring some necks. The VA makes so many mistakes against the vet, but if they think you owe them then it is blood and thunder.

[danang_1969]

You are right John, I owed the VA $100.00 medical bills once and I had submitted a waiver because of low income in 2004. At that time I had no income. I was waiting on a SS decision and a VA decision. My wife's income was all we had for about 9 months. Without any notification the VA took that 100 dollars out of our income tax refund. A couple of weeks later the waiver of the debt letter came and it was approved by the VA. It took me six months to get that money back after they acknowledge they owed it to me on the phone.

Edited August 5, 2008 by danang_1969

[hayley3]

They did the same thing to me and it was over a thousand dollars. That was back in 1980 and I was only getting 30%. I fought it tooth and nail and I never understood why they were even taking it. I finally got a meeting with them, and they told me they had made an error. By this time, they had most of the money back. It was a nightmare for me, so I can only imagine how this guy felt. If the VA made the error, they should not be able to make claim to the money. That is what needs to be changed. If it's their error, they did it, not the veteran. Their calculations are too confusing for us to keep up with so why should we have to pay for their mistakes.

Susie

[purple]

I'm in the process of paying back all of my severance pay......around $38,000!!! Oh yes, you read that right, because the VA said I wasn't entitled to it. I'm still trying to figure that one out...I got my severance pay from the Air Force, not the VA! I've written my Congressman and I still get told that I have to pay it back...so they are taking out about $120/month of my pay per month...............forever.

So much BS.

[Rockhound]

I wasn't paid nearly as much as a 38,000 severance package, but you bet your last dollar they will want me to pay back the 6,000 I got and the little over 1,000 I owe for co-pays from my medication. They'll probably want me to pay it all back before I see a dime if they can get away with it. I will most certainly appeal for a waver, given the time laps since I was paid the severance, but I doubt they will forgive what I owe for co-pays.

I've tried to get a waver on the co-pays already and they still make me pay 10.00 a month, which does nothing to pay down my debt, but it is all I had left out of my budget after listing all the things they would consider as necessary living costs. This year may be different, since I won't get as much from assistance as last year, my out of pocket expenses have increased. I can only make an application to see whether or not my needs exceed my income, for this year at least.

Rockhound Rider ;)