Anyone who has been with the caregivers the last few years, have you been getting kicked out??

[prostheticsnow515]

I am caregiver for the my husband, the last few years, he is rated 80 percent with PT and Iu so he is getting disability at 100 percent, i have heard they are reassessing, now and kicking people off the caregiver program when it comes to  PTSD stuff,

 

I am hoping now, I take care of him and the kids and cant leave them to go back to work, i left work to take care of him , not sure what to do, because that is what is going to happen if they boot us from the program.

[Berta]

This October 2021 statement from VA the VA Secretary indicates that the program is alive and well-with an expansion to the program:

https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/96666/caregivers-have-been-overlooked-those-days-are-over-va-secretary-says/

However I am sure the Caregiver program has also been critisized for good cause, and probably many caregivers have been "overlooked".

Where did you hear this news from, that people are getting kicked off the program?

I was a caregiver for two veteran husbands and I know it is not easy at all. In those days all I had was a few hours of 'respite' every week when the VA van took my husband to VA Day Care.He was dealing with a 1151 stroke but his 100% P & T PTSD made everything more difficult. I raised livestock  and had to sell my animals because he could not be left alone in the house, and livestock farmers need to spend a lot of time in a barn and in the fields.It was a full time job.

Does your family get SSDI benefits?

https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/disability/family.html

 

[broncovet]

You posted:

Quote

i have heard they are reassessing, now and kicking people off the caregiver program when it comes to  PTSD stuff,

I always "cringe" when Vets state, "I heard" or "I was told".......

Its not suprising..there is so much stuff on the internet which is not true.  Its difficult to sort out the truth.  

This is where hadit comes in.  "Its peer reviewed".  If someone posts something, and its disputed, we often post the differing opinion, and, usually, because of great knowledge on hadit, come to a consensus.  (find the truth).  

    Now, to answer your question.  Its my opinion, that, ONLY if the medical records show "actual improvement under ordinary conditions of life",  are you subject to a reduction in benefits, to include caregiver benefits.  

 There are many (legal) protections for Veterans written in to the regulations.  I shall provide a link which demonstrates those protections.  I will even give a short summary, as the regulations are not particulary easy to read and understand:

1.  To reduce your benefits, if you are P and T, its actually hard for the VA to reduce you.  First, your "so called improvement" has to be under ordinary conditions of life, not due to rest and relaxation.  Generally, this means if you have "not" gone back to work, then your improvement is "not" under ordinary conditions of life.  If you have gone back to work, then you would be subject to reduction.

2.  The VA not only has to have medical evidence of improvement, but that improvement is sustained.  Most all of us have good days and bad days.  So, you go to the VA on a day you feel great, and the doc makes notes in your chart and reduces you?  Not so fast.  Again, it has to be sustained improvement "under ordinary conditions of life" and, the exam which the VA bases your reduction has to be "at least as thorough" as the exam to which you were awarded benefits. 

This means if the doc took x rays, maybe an MRI, and made an opinion:  That leg is incapacitated based on these tests.

Now, for a reduction, they would ALSo have to have x rays, and an MRI, along, often times with 2 exams, where the doc said,

"yep, that leg is all healed..nothing on the xray, nothing on the MRI".  to reduce your benefits.  Highly unlikely.  

But, read those regulations yourself.  Now, just because there are protective regulations does not mean the VA fully complies with them 100 percent of the time.  Nope.  They often try to reduce you even when you dont meet the criteria.  But, upon appeal, usually you can beat the reductions, at least those where VA did not fully comply with this regulation:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/3.344

Dont let the VA try to take stuff away, if they do, post it on hadit and often we can help you beat it, unless your permanent disability "went away" permanently.  

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2021 by broncovet

[prostheticsnow515]

Sorry for the delay, the reduce in Benefits would come in the form of the Caregiver program that i am receiving   on behalf of taking care of my husband, not sure if anyone has been taken off it lately in this forum.

[jamescripps2]

Sorry Broncovet, you are out of touch with the caregiver program, (PCAFC). The Pcafc program is adjudicated by the VHA, not the VBA. They do not follow the same rules and regulations that you and I are accustomed to. They can and are kicking people out of the program with no reason or basis required. There are no exams required to oust you from the program. We have no defense against this situation and the appeals process is a farce as the appeals are also adjudicated by the VHA. True, one can request a revue by the BVA, but the Secretary has told the Board not to hear those kind of cases at this time. Can you imagine how this situation is going to inflate the BVA backlog who are already working 200,000 cases behind?

[john999]

I think the caregiver program is a hoax. You  have to be bedridden to get the program.  I tried to get it for my wife and the program people were hostile and dismissive.  Me and the wife can be pretty ornery at times.  We both felt insulted.

[Usetacould]

My wife is being kicked off. It’s apparently paused for now though. Who knows what will happen. We have been scrambling to readjust our expenses to cover lost income.