Printer Friendly Page
VA BENEFITS: DO YOU JUST NEED THEM, OR DO YOU
REALLY DESERVE THEM? -- Veterans' Advocate Jim
Strickland explores the difference between needing
VA benefits and
actually deserving them -- "Unable
to hold a steady job,
he was living off of his wife's
work and needed some money from the VA."
Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland provides
regular columns for VA Watchdog dot Org.
If you would like to contact Jim about his
columns, you can email him here...
The archive of Jim's articles
is here...
-------------------------------------------
The sun hadn't quite come up when I stepped out
of my motel room. I was already running late and had some 30 miles to
drive through mountain roads for a breakfast meeting with old friends.
My neighbor about 3 rooms down was already outside too. He was pacing
and smoking cigarettes, much the same as I'd watched him doing the night
before.
I had heard him before I saw him. He was angry, yelling at his wife
about something. He had a rasping, hacking cough, the kind of cough that
starts deep in a big man's lungs and lasts long enough that you begin to
wonder if he'll catch his breath or if 911 should be called. He'd finish
gasping for breath, spit on the parking lot, take a deep drag on his
cigarette and the coughing fit would begin again.
I didn't have time to get into making new friends but I nodded a quick
“Good morning” in his direction just to be polite. As I knew he would,
he started to walk over for a chat. Riding a motorcycle is an invitation
to others to talk and it's one of the many reasons I love the sport.
People of all ages and from all walks of life bond with bikers. In most
instances I'll talk forever with anyone I meet...I'm not known to be
shy.
This morning though, I was hurried and I had that feeling...this fellow
had a story to tell.
He saw my leathers with my Army unit patches, my other patches declaring
my status as a Vietnam Era Vet and the two American flags and the
POW/MIA flag I often fly from my bike. He looked at and then ignored the
large patch I wear that says, “I'm A Dysfunctional Veteran - Leave Me
Alone”.
He coughed some more, yelled at his wife to bring him some coffee and
lit another smoke off the butt of the one he had in his fingers. Then he
began to talk.
He was a Veteran too, he told me. Before I could say anything he began
to tell me how he was being screwed by the F'in VA. They wouldn't give
him his disability benefits and they kept messing him around and his
life was ruined because of his military service.
His wife brought him his coffee but it wasn't to his liking so after
telling her exactly how he felt about her womanly abilities and general
level of intelligence, he sent her back to get it right. He lit another
generic cigarette, wheezed and coughed some more and continued his
story. By now he was following me into my room as I grabbed luggage to
strap on to my bike and he was getting louder and more animated as his
tale progressed.
I was obligated to pay attention. If he is a Vet, he is my Brother and I
will advocate for him. My breakfast is less important than his benefits
issue.
He had injured his back in the Army, it would seem. He was of that era
of soldiers between Vietnam and our other, more recent combat operations
and had never left CONUS. In the telling of his history he rambled but
it seemed that he worked in a motor pool and sprained his back and his
sergeant would never allow him to go to sick call for it. It wasn't
treated while he was on active duty so no record existed.
He told me of some vague problems of substance abuse that led to a
general discharge. It was clear to him the charges against him were
overblown and trumped up and he hadn't been treated fairly. He had been
discharged as an E-1 after almost 3 years of service.
A general discharge is “other than dishonorable” and therefore he is
qualified to apply for and receive deserved disability benefits. I asked
him if he had applied for some help through a State or County Veterans
Service Officer and if he was able to receive any VHA health care?
He exploded with anger and the air turned blue with his colorful
descriptions of his opinions of the VA system. By now his wife had
delivered his second coffee and it was more to his liking. I could smell
the difference in this cup...it had a healthy dose of bourbon in it. He
took a few sips, fired up another smoke and kept talking.
He had applied for benefits a year or so ago. Unable to hold a steady
job, he was living off of his wife's work as a waitress and since she
wasn't much good at that (or anything else in his view) he needed some
money from the VA. He knew other guys who got money from the VA and he
wanted his share of the loot.
I couldn't help myself and I asked him what VA had done for him so far?
He told me that a VSO had completed an application and applied for
benefits for his claimed back injury. His telling of all this was
convoluted and it didn't help when his wife refreshed his morning
eye-opener. I found out that his application had been received and he'd
been scheduled for a Compensation & Pension (C&P) examination at a
nearby VAMC. So far, so good. The system was working for him.
It seems that when he arrived for his C&P, he didn't much care for the
examiner. The VA had insulted him by assigning him a “Towel Head” who
didn't know anything about back injuries. The examiner had asked him
some questions that had nothing to do with his back injury. The doc then
handed him a slip of paper instructing him to go to have some blood
drawn for lab work.
My new friend seemed to have little patience with these un-American type
doctors who don't know nothin' 'bout medicine. He explained to me that
everyone knows that lab work don't tell anythin' 'bout a back problem,
it takes a x-ray to do that. As the story unwound, it turns out that he
had also explained the differences in diagnostic methodologies to the
C&P examiner who then had the gall to ask him how much he'd been
drinking that morning.
The story sort of folds up at a point where hospital security intervened
in his C&P exam and he was escorted away with the explanation he'd get a
letter rescheduling his C&P at a future time.
As I put on my helmet to make my departure away from this guy, he
proudly told me that he'd showed them VA guys who was the boss. He
wasn't going to be taking orders from no foreigner and next time, VA
would give him more respect. I hit the ignition, he lit his 10th
cigarette of the morning and as I drove away, he went for another
refreshing cup.
I'm back from my trip. For a few days I was away from email, now I'm
trying to get caught up. I carry a laptop but being the technical wizard
and knowing it all, I had failed to properly reinstall some necessary
software to enable wireless access. If you're addicted to the Internet
as I am, you know that almost every McDonald's and Starbucks in America
offer free connectivity via WiFi. You have the choice of a 99 cent menu
or a $4.50 cup of coffee as you catch up on your office, but if you
didn't come prepared, you do as I did and just sit there feeling silly.
I opened my mail today and read this missive from a faithful reader;
“Jim, I am so distressed over how I was treated yesterday at the CBOC. I
have attached a letter to the VA Director.”
He complains that when he went to an appointment, his wait time was
excessive. When he complained to the staff and his doctor, he says he
was then treated rudely and that his care was incomplete. In his letter
to his VISN's health care director as well as the state medical board,
he explains; “The bottom line is that (the doctor) retaliated against me
and withheld medical care and lab work because I complained to his staff
about the excessive wait during my appointment.”
As I dug further into this my reader confessed, “Yes, it is true I have
mental health issues (but the doctor) could have handled the situation
quite differently than forcing me out of the clinic and saying I was
acting hostile.” Later he said, “I am also on pain medication that has
affected me some...” and finally he reveals, “Yes, I wish in hindsight
things were done a little different. I know my shortcomings and that my
interpersonal relationship ~ people skills are poor.”
Another reader has written a series of letters to me with infinite
details of his quest for benefits. He tells me of , “multiple...'Freedom
of Information Act' requests for guidelines, regulations or other
documentation by which they make the determination of what is or isn’t
combat related causes in their interpretation of a veterans
disabilities...” and “documentation from the...State Department of
Taxation staff attorneys” as well as, “I have yet to be contacted by any
VA IT person regarding the CPRS system in use at VA outpatient clinics.”
In the hundreds of words he's written he never actually describes to me
what disability he claims or why he deserves it. He confesses that, “The
president of the (local) DAV has called me personally to ask that I not
press my case as it was distracting resources away from other matters.”
In his last note to me he writes, “I need 100% to get a waiver of
property tax and extra education benefits for my daughter. After I got
the last 10% it added 0.592569 points bring me to 94.66688% still
short!”
The Compensation and Benefits sector of the Veterans Benefits
Administration is far behind in its obligation to provide timely and
fair adjudication of claims for deserved disability benefits.
There are many reasons for this lag that just keeps getting worse. No
matter who is arguing the reasons with me, I remain convinced that the
entire system is grossly underfunded. I'm a businessman and I understand
that throwing money at a problem rarely fixes it. I also know that if a
business unit isn't properly funded that all the good intentions in the
world won't help.
The way that the Department of Veterans Affairs must be rebudgeted each
year is absurd. VA must compete against every piece of pork barrel, back
door spending in Washington and often gives up real dollars that are
spent to build bridges to nowhere.
I know that VBA staff need better training and supervision. The need for
an integrated, system wide computer system to enable rapid access to
Veterans records and files speaks for itself. There are dozens of other
fixes that I could name that would speed up the process of fairly
adjudicating your legitimate claim.
I also know that I get way too much mail from Veterans who are applying
for their benefits because they need them. Stick with me a minute before
you start writing me angry letters. Think about the difference between
“need” and “deserve”.
A Veteran earns benefits through honorable service to our country.
That's been softened to say, “other than dishonorable” service to
America. If you serve in uniform and don't make such a mess of it that
you get kicked out with a dishonorable discharge, you'll get great home
loans, education benefits, some life insurance perks, preferences for
government jobs and a slew of other nice things will come your way.
You'll even get health care benefits if you meet certain rules that fit
you into ever-changing categories.
Even though you may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, if you pay
attention and work hard at your job it's likely that you'll come away
from the military with leadership skills and good technical training.
You'll have hands on job experience that will get you a better position
in the civilian world.
You won't spend 2, 3 or 4 years in any other job anywhere and walk away
with those kinds of benefits.
You may receive an award of disability benefits if your military service
caused or contributed to a condition, whether temporary or permanent,
that leaves you with a degree of disability that restricts your
potential to earn a living. This also applies if a pre-existing
condition was aggravated by military service. You are very likely to
receive appropriate deserved benefits in less than one year if your
original submission of application and evidence is complete and properly
prepared.
Far too many Vets are coming to the conclusion that they should be
awarded disability benefits because they need them. There is no law, no
rule, no regulation that enables the VBA to favorably adjudicate a
disability claim based on your financial distress. If you've lost your
job, gotten divorced, fallen behind on the rent and the child support
and you can't pay those high interest credit card bills...the VBA can
not and will not take any of that into consideration when you file your
claim for service connected disability benefits.
If you deserve a disability benefit award, if your claimed condition is
well documented and contains the appropriate verbiage that a ratings
officer needs to determine that you are disabled and to what
degree...you will win your award.
If you're in a financial bind and suddenly recall a knee injury that
happened in 1965 and it hurts today but you don't have a record of
treatments over the years...but you need that disability money
ASAP...you're going to be denied.
The more I become involved with the VBA system, the more I become
convinced that it's really pretty simple to get through. The first steps
are critical. If you do those initial bits of paperwork in a detailed
fashion and you are deserving of an award, you will get it. If you write
to the VBA and tell them, “I need 100% to get a waiver of property tax
and extra education benefits for my daughter.”, your cause is lost
before you begin.
You're also tying up the system for the Veterans who are deserving. No
matter that your application is obviously a loser, contrived to get you
some money because you heard it was available, the VBA must give every
word that you write serious consideration for as long as it takes. While
they are spending hour after hour calculating your 0.592569 points that
get you to 94.66688% in hopes that you may get a waiver of property tax
and extra education benefits for your daughter, a deserving Veteran's
file sits and waits.
That you're a Veteran does not give you the right to go off on VA
employees. I see a lot of that in my work as a VA hospital volunteer and
while I'm waiting in line as a patient. It's always some tough guy who
talks the most and the loudest about how crappy the system is. If your
appointment is running late and things aren't to your satisfaction,
writing a letter to the director may be a sensible thing to do. Arguing
with the staff right then and there is about as smart as telling a cop
why you disagree with the ticket he's handing you and then letting him
know where he can shove it. You aren't going to win either of those
disagreements and you're likely to make your own situation much worse
than it already is.
Being a Veteran gives you many rights. The right to be belligerent and
show what a jerk you are isn't one of them. The right to get free money
just because isn't one either.
A word or two on winning benefits; If you're scheduled for a C&P exam
and your examiner has a different color skin than you or an accent
that's foreign to you, relax and learn a little from this multicultural
experience.
Consider that this person from another country has had some 18 or 20
years of formal schooling plus some grueling internship or residency
specialty training. Much of that schooling was likely in America and all
of their testing and certification must meet American and high VA
quality standards. He or she probably speaks 3 languages and can read
and write fluently in at least 2. It's probable that they have worked
very hard to bring their family with them to America to escape grinding
poverty or political and religious persecution and they are making a
major contribution to our society.
You don't know more about medicine than they do. Follow their
instructions and let the system work for you.
By the way... the First Rule of the VA Benefits Club: Don't show up
drunk and stupid for a C&P exam. You're standing on real estate that's
needed for a deserving Vet.
-------------------------------------------
Larry Scott
