Mandatory Verification of dependents

[broncovet]

I received a letter from VA with a "mandatory verification of dependents".  (Form 21-0538).  A couple years ago, I received a "proposed reduction" (to remove my spouse).  

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Has anyone else been harassed by VA repeatd  RE verification of dependents?  

A year or so before that, I also received a proposed reduction to remove my spouse as a dependent.  

I have been married since 2006, never seperated, always living with my spouse.  This is the THIRD TIME VA insists on Verifying my spouse, when for 18 years, I have continiously been married.  

EACH time I wrote VA a letter, and had my spouse do likewise, that we continue to be married.  

I feel like Im being "targeted" by VA, when I have done nothing wrong.   Worse, it sounds like VA is "making an assumption" that all Vietnam Era Vets are drug addicts or alcoholics, and/or spouse abusers who dont care about their spouse/family and abandon them.  

As someone once said, 

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Are you being paranoid if VA "really is" spying on you, or following you?  

I dont really believe, however, VA is following me, because, if they were, they would likely find my wife by my side and would stop this BS.  

ONE possibility:  A few weeks ago, I was at the VA and they had a table set up to VOTE on whether you wanted to continue receiving care at the VA or be able to get care in the community.  

I voted "in the community" because, at least some of the time, private health care is superior to that offered by VA.  Im quite sure VA does not like this, they would rather Veterans "not have a choice" in their health care, mainly because Veterans who opt to get their health care "in the community" vs VAMC health care would direct funding (aka money) away from VA.  

"IF" VA health care is so much better than private care, like they often boast, why would it trouble VA that we were given the choice?  Isnt it true that many go to VA because they dont have a choice?  Is the VA health care system a "prison" where we have no choice?    I think we should be able to choose our health care options, and not have a VA administrator in Washington make those choices for us.  

[broncovet]

Its a problem to get good information to make good choices, but I doubt that politician knows any more about my health care than I do, and I dont want them making choices for me, based upon their own biases and opinions.  I have enough trouble making good choices, WITHOUT being forced by a politician to make the choice that one or more politicians think we are somehow not able to make good choices, and that we need them to make those decisions for us.   

 

While certainly not every Veteran makes good health care choices, they are their choices to make, not mine.  If they walked a mile in my shoes, they would probably make the same choices I make anyway.  

[Lemuel]

Even worse if you are trying to make a choice and do not realize that the politicians have paid an insurance company to make that choice for you when if you had known, you would have stuffed the insurance card and paid with a credit card to get the service you needed.

And that is what we have to recognize is the choice we are being given if we cannot see the caregiver we want to see.  Sorry poor veterans who do not have that credit card to take up the slack when needed.

[broncovet]

Corruption in our government is a reality and there is no good evidence that "making government bigger" by giving Veterans fewer health care choices will help that.  Indeed, the bigger the government is, the easier it is to hide that stolen money.  It would be pretty difficult to hide a 64, 000 pound elephant in a 8foot by 10 foot room, but much easier  to hide that same elephant "somewhere" in Alaska (Americas largest state.  

And, you are somewhat correct that "we can not see the caregiver" the first time, but, after we have gone there a while "provided we have a choice" then we can choose better caregivers, from among our options.  Right now, we have few, if any, choices, be it does not help us by giving us a choice of "1".  

In economics there is a principal called "economies of scale".  (EoS) 

They explain that a "mom and pop" business does not start out real efficient..bigger companies can buy lots of products cheaper than "mom and pop" because who wants to give a volume discount to someone who

buys almost nothing.  As the business grows, the efficiency steadily increases..job positions can be hired with specialists in the field.  

As an example a new business owner often knows very little about filing taxes, so he likely makes mistakes.  However, bigger companies can hire trained accountants well versed in accounting and minimizing the tax burden.  

When the business grows "too large" it becomes inefficient again.  People get on the payroll who do almost nothing and the owner,

who has thousands of employees, just cant notice this.  

Most of the time, a business runs at max efficiency at somewhere between 100 employees to 500 employees.  

Our government is way way larger than all of those scales and runs very very inefficiently.  A doctors office with 25 employees runs much much more efficient and often produces a much better product at a lower price, which would ultimately benefit both the Veteran and the taxpayer.  

As you pointed out there is corruption siphoning off taxpayer money, but that happens regardless of whether the Veteran has choices or not.  

[Rattler]

On 5/9/2024 at 8:42 AM, broncovet said:

I have been married since 2006, never seperated, always living with my spouse.  This is the THIRD TIME VA insists on Verifying my spouse, when for 18 years, I have continiously been married.  

 

I got you beat by a year, August 2005. it will be 19 years.  There is 21 1/2 years difference in the age. She is 43 now I keep threatening to trade her in on 2 20 year old's.