Copies Of Your Own Records!

[spike]

I went to the VA Hospital and wanted to request a copy of my health records from date of 2002 EAS to now.....for my SSD attorney basically and for me to copy and put on DVD/CD for records. When did the VA start charging Veterans for their records as they said (to disencourage Veterans to lose, or to have duplicate records available to them) The Correspondence clerk said I had to pay .75 pp.......at 294-300 pages I had to pay almost 187.00 for records....What a crock....when asked where does that money go, NOBODY could answer me...not the Advocate, the Correspondence, not the Supervisor.....its just a bill that the Vet has to pay.....Has this been a topic of discussion for a while? Has this happened to anyone and how did you deal with it.

[Guest RickB54]

I went to the VA Hospital and wanted to request a copy of my health records from date of 2002 EAS to now.....for my SSD attorney basically and for me to copy and put on DVD/CD for records. When did the VA start charging Veterans for their records as they said (to disencourage Veterans to lose, or to have duplicate records available to them) The Correspondence clerk said I had to pay .75 pp.......at 294-300 pages I had to pay almost 187.00 for records....What a crock....when asked where does that money go, NOBODY could answer me...not the Advocate, the Correspondence, not the Supervisor.....its just a bill that the Vet has to pay.....Has this been a topic of discussion for a while? Has this happened to anyone and how did you deal with it.

Spike the first copy is free, after that they always charge.

[Chuck75]

ODD! I requested a copy by letter, citing the privacy act, foia, and the VA's obligation to help in "perfecting" my claim. With a couple of phone calls, it took about 6 weeks. No fee asked or charged.

I went to the VA Hospital and wanted to request a copy of my health records from date of 2002 EAS to now.....for my SSD attorney basically and for me to copy and put on DVD/CD for records. When did the VA start charging Veterans for their records as they said (to disencourage Veterans to lose, or to have duplicate records available to them) The Correspondence clerk said I had to pay .75 pp.......at 294-300 pages I had to pay almost 187.00 for records....What a crock....when asked where does that money go, NOBODY could answer me...not the Advocate, the Correspondence, not the Supervisor.....its just a bill that the Vet has to pay.....Has this been a topic of discussion for a while? Has this happened to anyone and how did you deal with it.

[Philip Rogers]

You get one free copy and any updates from the previous free request is free. Any additional copies, after the free copy are usually 10-15 cents a page.

pr

[spike]

its changed va is charging .75 cents at least in buffalo

[jbasser]

You may be able to get your state Department of Veterans Affairs to get the copies for you. The State of KY does not charge vets for documents.

Edited April 14, 2007 by jbasser

[free_spirit_etc]

Another option is looking through the records and only getting copies of relevant documments. Especially if you were in the hospital. They have pages and pages of check off sheets that don't tell you anything. The attorney would probably only need the reports.

Free