Compensation claim when cancelling enrollment from VA services.

[penny.alcoba]

Hi all, thank you all for maintaining this forum. I have a question that I would hopefully like to know the answer to so I know what is in store for me in the future. I am rated at 100% Permanent & Total  through the VA for a service  connected disability since  august 2016, after what they called a schedular review. If I disenroll from the Veteran's Affairs healthcare system using the method described on this webpage: https://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/apply/veterans.asp, will this affect my compensation rating in the order of it also making me ineligible for continued compensation?

 

Edited June 9, 2017 by penny.alcoba

[bleggett29]

penny.alcoba,

You do not need to be enrolled in VHA to submit claims for compensation. Nor do you need to be enrolled to collect compensation. I would, however, reconsider dis-enrolling from VHA. There is nothing gained from dis-enrolling. Being enrolled will not affect any other healthcare you are currently enrolled in or may be enrolled in in the future negatively. Even if you don't use VHA, it could be a handy backup, if the need arises.

 

[penny.alcoba.12]

On 6/9/2017 at 2:07 PM, bleggett29 said:

penny.alcoba,

You do not need to be enrolled in VHA to submit claims for compensation. Nor do you need to be enrolled to collect compensation. I would, however, reconsider dis-enrolling from VHA. There is nothing gained from dis-enrolling. Being enrolled will not affect any other healthcare you are currently enrolled in or may be enrolled in in the future negatively. Even if you don't use VHA, it could be a handy backup, if the need arises.

 

I apologize for the significant amount of time that has elapsed between communications. I have been pursuing my attempts to rectify my physical health in conjunction with fixing the diagnostic errors on my medical record that the Veteran's Affairs have saddled me with since 2014. Also I apologize to the admins on this site. I am the original penny.alcoba. The email I used to create my account has been hacked and security compromised for an indeterminate amount of time; that email has since been taken down and attempts to minimize information security damage taken. I felt this matter about my inquiry on this forum about ending my time and association with the Veterans Affairs Medical services and possibly compensation should not be left open in this matter; I believe other veteran's in a similar position to me  can afford to learn from my experience with the Veteran's Affair so I feel I should report a better represented picture  of my situation that I face with the veteran's affair thus far.

I definitely do sincerely appreciate all the personal insight and advice the members present in this thread that have responded to me have to offer by the way.  Thank you guys for existing on the net to provide insight to veteran's seeking answers.

To you mr blegget29, I agree with your assessment and your wisdom in what you write is quite true. Indeed it was the Veteran's Affairs (and therefore the taxpayers, thank you) that footed the bill when I incurred a center mass gunshot wound by a .38special in early of 2014. If it was not for me being enrolled in the Veteran's Affairs, I would have footed quite a significant medical bill though by all accounts the actual medical procedures performed on me were quite menial and trivial. The price of medicine and assurance one will live with a life threatening injury I guess. It is worth the cost I did not pay, and I am grateful for the taxpayers who footed the bill.

However when I joined the Army and signed the proverbial dotted line, I did so with the understanding of the fact that I would be taken care of physically and mentally for any damages to my body that I incurred as a result of service connected conditions. I suffer from many physical service connected conditions related to my deployment. I am not here to speak about them nor do I desire to. It is just a fact they do exist and if any of the medical professionals I spoke with to in the veteran's affairs sat down to listen to my explanation in earnest, they would have understood. At least I believe so because I believe what I present is understandable to any reasonable average adult; that is what I see myself as. 

Back to the point, early  in 2014 I originally contacted the local veteran's affairs health location seeking aid for my ailing back and knees. As a young eager soldier trying to push forth my best effort and learn what I could in the Army, I did not think of nor plan around the ways bureacratic red tape would impede my attempts at medical aid in the future were I to remain stoic in the presence of physical discomfort during my time in active duty.  On top of this bad luck cost me a significant amount of my medical records shortly after I ETS'd from active duty. Its not that procuring them would have made a difference in any manner though; I never reported to sick call during my time in active duty but for my ETS physical and the time I was forced by my chain of command.  Still, the fact remains is if any of my medical professionals would have listened to my explanations that they do not have the whole picture, they would have noticed a sizable chunk of my medical records were missing from service time. If that was the case, maybe they can at least look at my service records and garner clues as to the physical nature of my job  as to why I do indeed seek treatment and I am not making things up in my head. If this was all too time consuming to be done, I feel the honest method would have been to inform me they (medical professionals at the veteran's affairs) for whatever reason do not have the resources available to adequately treat me and advise me to seek treatment and healthcare on my own, as I was left to figure out to resort to anyways. I do not feel happy with the lack of sincere communication I faced during my interactions with the veteran's health affairs. I say all this knowing I full well acted with individuals, and I do not mean to broadly label all individuals who are employed by the veteran's affairs as representative of my experience.

Instead the medical professionals at the veteran's affairs diagnosed  me - with probable well intentions - with a fake diagnosis that I have been consistently adamant does not trouble or apply to me. My pain is attributed to mental and psychiatric causes as being the main factor with this fake diagnosis being used as large contributing reason as well. It is infuriating to say the least. This fake diagnosis continues to plague me in every attempt I turn to seek relief for my back and knees, even in the private sector when I seek unrelated healthcare treatment. I wish not to describe the manner on how it affects me due to brevity concerns.

This explanation is the reason why I am seeking to separate my name from the Veteran's Affairs. I hope if I fail to at least remove my fake (I say this in venting and meaning it does not apply to me, not actual belief this medical diagnosis is not indeed real) diagnosis through diplomacy and reason with certain key individuals at the veteran's affairs, I can attempt a purely bureaucratic method to separate myself from this diagnosis. I must seek relief for my back and knees  without being dishonest and saying I do not have healthcare (because I have the taxpayer veteran's affairs provided) and dealing with the social fallout I may perceive (rightfully or wrongully) when I tell people I do not have insurance and prefer to pay out of pocket. The whole act of being dishonest to people makes me feel uneasy, and I tire of maintaining a false charade just to seek treatment.

Medical professionals in the field where this supposed diagnosis reside have written me letters affirming that I do not suffer from this affliction the Veteran's Health professionals diagnosed me with.  I had to pay money with my husbands well worked for income for the expert's time and expertise to reaffirm my beliefs in myself and learn I am indeed not crazy. Not all veteran's are this lucky to have someone supporting them like I have. That this fake diagnosis had me questioning reality, to say the least; is mentally distressing.  This is on top of the mental distress I face everyday as I begin to understand what it is to look into the eyes of the abyss and have the monsters stare back at me. I have to live the rest of my life living with what I have done to the emotional lives and development of individuals. That is a wartime related trauma I am only beginning to live the rest of my life digesting and regretting. The veteran's affairs medical professionals have only compounded distress upon distress when I seek relief, all with the best intentions. I state this in not a derisive manner or tone, but in a fact to point out despite how benevolent and helpful they truly may be, they are hurting me.  I would rather walk away from all the things I have benefited from through the Veteran's affairs  so that I may attempt to seek relief unfettered by the fake diagnosis.

The question about the loss of compensation is merely a planning consideration that maybe I or any future veteran who finds themselves in my same frustration may stumble upon in their seek for relief from their war connected injuries. In this regard I am glad to learn I will not have to find a source of interactive labor to sustain my efforts to seek medical relief. I am truly thankful for the taxpayers and everyone responsible for this boon. My status with seeking removal of my false diagnosis is unresolved and needs and will be settled one way or another. I will not leave my physical health in this state any longer because I am tired of suffering while I wait on my mental health to allow me to proceed with my self care; attempts at seeking outside healthcare are so far inadequate due to the factors relating to the diagnosis put upon me by the veterans affairs.

I am fortunate to have my spouse facilitate and help my way through the bureaucracy of human resources at the Veteran's Affairs office I work with. There is much (hundreds if not thousands) of corrections to be made and going through each one is a small trauma for me in of its own right due to the memories I have attached to them. I will have to take my time before I finish my corrections and turn it in for revision on my records with the Veteran's Affairs. In the past I have attempted this route but bureaucracy (that could of been more and easily efficiently handled with easy to apply procedural fixes) failed and added to my near insurmountable frustration with the bloated system of my continuing experience with the Veteran's Affairs medical system. No matter what the outcome of my final attempt fails to fix my records the veterans affairs results in, I will report back on this forum/blog (I am hazy of the actual terminology at this moment). If my attempts at recourse fails I will have no choice but to seek to quit the Veteran's affairs system in an attempt to separate myself from this diagnosis. I do not have the patience nor the desire to face a legal battle with a behemoth of a system when I just merely want to treat my body and mind.

Thank you for any and all who maintain this blog as an area of knowledge for those seeking.

Penny

 

edited: clarity, formatting, poor planning and piss poor proofreading. I apologize for the original disjointed nature of my first post. I am in a rush and acted hastily due to my perceived lack of time. Had I proofread and spent a bit more to read over, none of this would havehappened and I would have had less edits and caused less confusion.

 

one final note: to the moderators: is there anyway to change my username of my old account and this account so that it obfuscates my identity? I was not being wise nor employing thoughtful digital security measures on the internet before I was hacked. I truly believed I was not interesting enough to be hacked by anyone; now I realize it truly can happen to anyone and I want to fix my name. if not it is okay and I accept my dumb decision. 

Edited December 5, 2017 by penny.alcoba.12
edited: clarity, formatting, poor planning and piss poor proofreading