Applying for VA medical

[redman1]

I got mad at them and told them they just hope we give up or die before we get help.
That said there's allot of good people that work there also
Just remember how active duty was be sure to dot all your eyes and always keep a copy of your paper work.
Semper Fi Redman

[redman1]

Joe see what you started your are going to help allot of Marines.
Semper Fi Redman

[gelliott]

Thank you
I will start going through the list first thing in the morning.
Prescriptions are being mailed to us.. We have already started receiving them.
I have asked for the Registry exam with our local VA rep, the nurse at the VA hosp, the doc my husband was assigned to at the VA hosp, and social worker at the VA hosp... They sent us to a desk jockey who told us it would be part of his C&P exam IF the VA required him to have one.
He is not yet service connected.
AND no one mentioned there was travel pay!!
A Patient Advocate will be hearing from me!
YOU ALL ARE AWESOME!!!!
Thank You!

[sscjoe]

I glad this helped others. I have been putting off going to the VA for a while now because I didn't want to deal with the potential of running in circles. It's shameful that the VA makes it such a stressful thing, put that's for the political forum. Thanks again everyone for your advice

[gelliott]

I glad this helped others. I have been putting off going to the VA for a while now because I didn't want to deal with the potential of running in circles. It's shameful that the VA makes it such a stressful thing, put that's for the political forum. Thanks again everyone for your advice

Thank You!!! I am so glad I saw your post!!
Good Luck
Candie

[HereandThere]

I've been in the Va system since 1999 about the same time I went in for a agent orange screening and comparing the system then to now is like comparing apples and oranges.Back then the system was well funded,plenty of specialist for almost any condition and you had the ability to get an appointment pretty damn quick,although you could always just show up at the clinic and wait your turn.But slowly the system disinergrated due to lack of funding,poor employee moral and a serious lack of doctors. It's been getting better the last couple of years but as more than one doctor told me the system is being rebuilt,as you may have noticed by all the advertisments on TV recruiting health care professional for the VA.
I drove for the DAV for about 5 years and have a little more insight than the average Veteran about whats going on with the VA and right now the system is overwhelmed.When I enrolled WW2,Korea and Vietnam veterans were being treated.Now Gulf War,Iraq and Afganistan have been added,but what I noticed recentley is the very large number of unemployed Vets who either were enrolled but never used the system or who have recentley enrolled and are using the system for primary care because they no longer have insurance.
My own experience would be funny if it wasn't so sad.I've been waiting for neck surgury since 4/1/09 and that was after I was treated for over a year by a VA neurologist who said she couldn't read my MRI because the resolution was bad but who never ordered a second MRI she could read.Then the nerve in my neck became completly compressed and knocked me on my butt for 3 months after which I was sent to Manhattan VA hospital for a neurosurgeon consult.He said I needed a operation to free the nerve and put me on the list,but while I was waiting the Va reorganized and Vets from Pa no longer go to Manhattan and now go to Hershey or Philly.Unfortunely for me I was not put on the new list so here I sit.
That was the final straw for me,about a year ago I bought a medigap policy for about 190/mo(late enrollee) and am now being treated by a orthopedic group with pain managment, physical therepy and drugs not available through the VA. I fell much better and if this treatment doesn't do the trick I will have the operation performed by doctors who went to Cornell and Harvard and not The university of Bombay.
The only advise I can give anyone is to take nothing for granted and check and double check that your case is being handled properly and that you have actuslly been refered to the specialist that they said you were.And don't be afraid to contact your congressman if you feel your case is not being handled properly.It's amazing how people start doing their jobs when the people who fund the program start to call.
As for me I may continue to see my primary care doctor for my service connected issues and for some of my meds,although it's a damn shame that I can get some of them cheaper at Wal Mart.Good Luck

[clansman5]

Hey Joe,
Are you going to Castle Point? I had Dr. Kim as my doctor. He was very good. I had my DD214 and my last earnings statement.

[sscjoe]

Walden Ny, hey neighbor, I'll be going to Castle Point VA. Thanks for the heads up.

[redman1]

I have another question
I was just thinking when I was on active duty I received glasses and have never had glasses from the military again. Since I had glasses on active duty can I get glasses now from the VA for free? Only thing I have as service related so far is diabetes and I'm still waiting.
Semper Fi Redman

[Phantom Blooper]

http://www1.va.gov/vhapublications/V...sp?pub_ID=1789

http://www4.va.gov/healtheligibility...alBenefits.asp

Buddy,

Read the 2nd URL 1st.

It explains what you can do and what % your have to be directly from the jackazzs mouths.

[redman1]

Thanks and I'll check it out
Semper Fi Redman

[HereandThere]

Shinseki said he's often questioned why 40 years after the Vietnam war and nearly two decades after the Gulf War his agency is still trying to resolve issues related to those veterans' illnesses.
Vietnam veterans with B-cell leukemias, Parkinson's diseases and ischemic heart disease no longer have to prove their illness are the result of their military service. Shinseki determined after reviewing a study by the Institute of Medicine that the illnesses should be presumed to have come from the veteran's war service, making it easier for them to receive financial compensation. The VA currently presumes that twelve other illnesses are linked to Agent Orange are exposure.
Shinseki said he's looking ahead to make sure Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries don't have similar problems getting financial compensation.

This is a statement from the Veteran Affairs Secretary.