What I'm Thinkin';
Veterans have a tough time being serve by the VA.
As you may or may not know I am a Disabled Veteran. My injury was such that I was Honorably Discharged. At the time the doctors told me go go as long as I could with my injury and when the day comes and it is not tolerable I should go to the VA and get it fixed. It is my right knee. I tore it up pretty good and I have been tolerating it for over 30 years now.
Well, last summer it started giving me more problems than ever before. For example when I sleep it slips out of the joint and locks. Then it starts aching and wakes me up. It is quite a chore to get the thing back in place.
So I think, okay time to get something done. I go to the VA and find out I need to apply for medical treatment even though I already have a 10 percent disability from the VA.
Not a problem. I took the application home and filled it out. I sent it in.
I need to mention that when I went to the VA it looked like a "cattle call".
The room was way over crowded and there was every color, sex, and disability standing, sitting, and in wheelchairs. Some without an arm.... you get the picture.
I felt small in comparison to what I saw.
So... I send the application to the VA. That was back about the 1st or 2nd week of September. It is now the 11th of December and I have not heard a word.
I started investigating the VA to find out what happened, why is it taking so long? I have discovered that the VA has, the day before Veterans Day this year, had 2 lawsuits filed against it for taking so long to process applications for claims. Initial claims take 182 days and appeals take 4 1/2 years!
"The 90-day and 180-day standards sought by the lawsuit are the groups’ estimates of what is reasonable. Federal law does not include any specific requirement about how long claims processing can take".
Holy Moly!! We need a Federal Law to realize this is unacceptable!
Maybe this is why we have so many laws..... that would be another blog. Common sense is just not so common anymore.
What I'm Thinkin'.
Sincerely,
Timohty James Maki
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2 comments:
Interesting idea. However, what you really need for the VA department is more money. I guarantee that the department is woefully underfunded and the seemingly endless backlog of requests has created a mountain of work that the VA in its current form is likely ill equipped to handle.
A law requiring swift action will not help, unfortunately. When there are no resources, there are no resources and all of the deadlines and laws in the world will not help. An unfortunate reality.
Also, it should come as no surprise that the VA was not developed as a forward looking agency, much like other government programs (e.g. Social Security) and the crush of veterans in need of assistance today was simply not considered years ago.
Is it sad? Yes. Can it be remedied? Hopefully.
I love your comments, but now to add to it, here's what I'm thinkin!
The VA program needs A LOT of work for sure. I was married to a Vietnam Vet. One can only begin to imagine what veterans of any war go through! They went through a living hell in a war, then come home to another one.
This man fought in a war, and came home and had to fight for his disabilitly! The first time around it was denied, then YEARS later he finally got it. In my books, he should have been compensated for the years he fought to get it. I think he should have fought for that too, but he was tired of fighting.
Isn't it a bit on the stupid side, that the disabled vets have to go to a VA facility to be treated,(which usually involves a three hour drive) but their spouses can go to a local health care provider and be treated 100% !!!!! Something is wrong with this picure! The spouses didn't give their life for anything. Sure it's a great perk,,,, but it just isn't right!!!
If it is a life threatening emergency, the veteran can go to the local health care center and and the va will take care of the expence. This is if THEY, the VA that is, consider it life threatening. The time his lips and mouth were swelling up because of a reaction to a new heart medicine he started didn't count. I guess we should have waited for his throat to swell up too. They would have probably paid for his military funeral then.
Enough said. Yes, there needs to be a big overhaul on the care our veterans get.
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