Help? Trying To Figure Out Right Page To Post This / Va Withholding From My Disability Pmts

[TexasPI]

To answer the above: Yes it is an 1151 for "as service connected" by means of injury inflicted by medical care at a Va facility.

Yes, I've contacted lawyers, about an FTCA and even filed a form 95 myself, the attorneys love a case where it is very easy to see the VA amputated the wrong body part, they however (are pickers of the lower fruit) and do not like cases like mine where they will have to spend several thousand dollars for an expert witness. It is appearent that the VA provides them with a quite ample supply of mistakes which are so easy to prove there is no work involved! In my case - they severed the nerve to my left diaphram which renders my left lung ineffective - a major problem with this is that even thought they have diagnosed me as stage III COPD following the surgery, you cannot look at me and tell anything. This appears to be a big hang up for the hot shot lawyers, because I look OK and live a very reduced but somewhat normal life (aside from breathing), I'm not missing the wrong limb or anything like that. It's been a very educational and painful journey over the past five years.

I had filled out means test, however (and a heads up for you other vets out here) after losing my businesses, home and having to relocate 5 hours away and in another VAMC region - I was never informed - YOU MUST FILE A MEANS TEST AT EACH AND EVERY MEDICAL PROVIDER IN THE VA SYSTEM ! Since I had not done so, thinking that if they could transfer all of my entire medical records, and pay records to the new system along with my file, I was never aware of the need to do this.

Under the VA laws, if the payment is beyond 180 days past the service or prescription, it goes into default and CANNOT be appealled. And I have challenged and appealled these withholding twice - I lost both times. Even though I currently do not even have to ever fill out a means test again!

I was on an expedited appeal and processing due to financial hardship - do not waste your time! First of all when I relocated they automatically closed the financial hardship expedite and did not even inform me. When on the phone with them about three months ago this is what I was told: Well I see they wrongly closed out the expedited claim, do you have a place to live and are you stable now?

My answer, if you mean do I have a roof over my head and do I eat, yes! I'm living on 40% disability and Social Security disability.

Fine then: you are no longer eligible for hardship consideration!

I'm very stressed to read on here yesterday that my appeal two weeks ago, may take a full year before I even get the results of a hearing which lasted at most 30 minutes! This is the most convaluted system I've ever seen. And when I watch these Judges on the Supreme court making ruling on federal cases which have begun, been heard and been appealled all the way up to the supreme court in lest time than my VA claim has taken - SMDH!