The VA
I got stage 4 cancer in 2010. I applied for disability in 2010 and had to wait 1 year before i could qualify disability. I was approved in a week or two but they have/had a waiting period.
After 5 or 6 surgeries, chemo and radiation and waiting for a year to get disability i was living off of retirement and mutual funds. I do not know it a trach and feeding tubes would be a surgery or a procedure. LOL I had 5 major surgeries and a few minor.
My wife put in for VA care and we got a letter in the mail saying i made to much money to get VA benefits. At the time i was in bed with zero income. I was in bed a little over a year with cancer.
I did not want the VA for the surgeries or doctor visits because i went to the best doctors in the country for my cancer. However i was trying to get mt medicine through them and they refused.
So i know i would not qualify for hearing aids. I cant tell a lie and say that my hearing loss and tinnitus is from being an airplane mechanic. It could or not i have no idea.
With all the people that are returning from the middle east with problems i do not think it would be right to make them wait longer.
I guess im going to have to tighten up and stop buying tools and guns i do not need and save up for hearing aids.
I do know the pitch i am on now is driving me crazy and i have about all i could stand of it.
Thanks for the info.
After 5 or 6 surgeries, chemo and radiation and waiting for a year to get disability i was living off of retirement and mutual funds. I do not know it a trach and feeding tubes would be a surgery or a procedure. LOL I had 5 major surgeries and a few minor.
My wife put in for VA care and we got a letter in the mail saying i made to much money to get VA benefits. At the time i was in bed with zero income. I was in bed a little over a year with cancer.
I did not want the VA for the surgeries or doctor visits because i went to the best doctors in the country for my cancer. However i was trying to get mt medicine through them and they refused.
So i know i would not qualify for hearing aids. I cant tell a lie and say that my hearing loss and tinnitus is from being an airplane mechanic. It could or not i have no idea.
With all the people that are returning from the middle east with problems i do not think it would be right to make them wait longer.
I guess im going to have to tighten up and stop buying tools and guns i do not need and save up for hearing aids.
I do know the pitch i am on now is driving me crazy and i have about all i could stand of it.
Thanks for the info.
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The VA needs accountability. My recommendation would be to join the DAV if you are not already a member and let them help. They know the system and which belly buttons to push.
Consider myself lucky that we have a proactive congressman not a DEMOCRAT, who loves to take on the VA and make them do their job.0 -
I have no use for the VA. If they are helping some people -GREAT!
But they screwed me big time after my discharge. I was being treated for a service connected problem. They flew me in from SE Alaska to Anchorage on a regular basis. Since I was working for another government agency they asked me to treat the VA travel in exactly the same way as my business travel. I paid the bills from my personal travel account, (Airlines., motels, etc) then I submitted a voucher after the travel was completed.
This seemed to work well for me and them. Their reimbursement checks arrived promptly.
After about a year, they referred me to the Seattle Pain Clinic (U of W) and told me to submit the bills upon my return.
Long story short, I was evaluated by a panel of doctors and completed a battery of tests and sampled a myriad of treatments. They even interviewed my wife as part of the process. In the end they decided I did not need their help to manage my pain since I had a good job, was happily married and had a family.... GQB's!
Upon my return to Alaska my voucher was rejected because travel outside the state required pre-approval via a special procedure.
They said the guy that approved my travel and treatment did not have the authority to sign my travel orders and now he no longer worked for VA.
I had to pull several thousand dollars from my personal retirement account to pay my bills.
The VA can go to hell --- with a politician tucked under each arm!
I want nothing to do with the VA and if they are actually providing healthcare to a single veteran anywhere, I'm glad.
My motto is: If you don't expect much, when dealing with the government, you won't be disappointed.
Personally, I feel vets would be better served directly by the medical industry and the bill paid by the VA. Haha. If they can find the person with the authority to write the check.0 -
I have had nothing but great experiences with the VA. But Utah is a very military- and vet-friendly state. There's a huge hospital complex in Salt Lake City and several small clinics in other cities. The only difficulty I sometimes have with them is getting someone to answer the phone - likely because they are dealing with folks there. 0 -
gotta agree with Rocky, I have had nothing but good experience, had one nurse who was more interested in her phone than me, told her so and she turned out to be nice as could be. I heard all kinds of horror stories before I got my coverage but I credit them with saving my life twice. have had triple bypass, helicopter ride from massive pulmonary bloodclot/heart attack, multiple catherazations, stress tests, and more blood work/labs than could remember, have yet to wait more than 20 minutes past my appointment time, most times I get in/out earlier than my appointment time. 0 -
I use the VA hospital in Omaha, NE.
I have some kind of nerve damage in my left shoulder / elbow / hand. They are not sure, but are really trying hard to find the cause. I have been to physical therapy, neurology, and the neurosurgeon. They did medication for awhile, but I am not a ?better living through chemicals? kind of guy. We have agreed on the method of treatment.
Anyway, I was scheduled for an MRI at 4:30 PM on a Friday. (Who schedules and MRI at 4:30 PM on a Friday?) Oh well, my wife and I go to the appointment. She takes a copy of the Readers Digest to read while we wait. Naturally, I show up a little early ? maybe 4:15.
When I get there, they tell me they are ready now. OK. As we are doing the pre-screening, I mention to him that I have had steel in my eye a couple of times and I understand I am supposed to tell him about it. He wants to know, if it is still there. I don?t know, so he asks me if I know where X-Ray is. Of course, I do. I have been there a couple of times. He is typing on his computer keyboard and tells me they will be ready for me, when I get there.
We get on the elevator and go to X-Ray. When we arrive, I am greeted at the door and am told they are ready. The wife sits down to read her book and we go to the back. The technician takes about five shots and tells me they look good to her, but she has already sent them back down to the MRI for their review. I am supposed to go back to the MRI section. When I go out to the waiting room to get my wife, she hasn?t had time to read one article her book ? elapsed time seemed like maybe five minutes. Back down to the MRI.
He is looking at his computer and tells me they look fine to him, so it is off to the ?Tube?. I can now say that I have experienced an MRI ? kind of cool actually. Anyway, when we are done, it is time to leave.
We walked out at about 5:15 PM. Where can you get five X-Rays and an MRI done at a civilian hospital in an hour on a Friday afternoon?
I LOVE THE VA IN OMAHA!!!! THEY TAKE GREAT CARE OF ME.0 -
US Military Guy-
I'll tell you where- the VA in Sioux Falls SD. They do MRI on weekends day or night.
Nothing but excellent service from the VA in Sioux Falls SD. The care is better than the non VA and the wait times are less!0 -
I too have had excellent service from the VA hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I've been there for several tests including Xrays and MIR's, always prompt and hardly any wait time involved. Had sinus surgery and got eyeglasses there too.l Excellent results. 
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I have never been to the VA, (not one time) for anything since getting out in 84'.
I hope to retire in two years. I hope to utilize the VA for my Healthcare. The VA in Johnson City, TN. has a very good reputation.
Hearing aids will probably be on the agenda. At work, we get tested by an Audiologist to document hearing loss at work.
Before my first test about 5 years ago, I explained my background (Military/Army) and told them, my results would probably be fairly poor.
Yep. When my results came back, I was in the "Severe to Profound," hearing loss range.
One situation out of many - We were deployed in a simi-circular arrangement to the front of a "broke down" M60A1, providing "Security." Prone, on the ground about 20' out. The stupid idiot, fired off a round without saying squat to us. It literally lifted me off the ground several feet. Couldn't hear anything for days.
(That was while imbedded with the 4th Mechanized Infantry at Ft. Carson, CO. 1980.)0 -
If you are not retired or service connected you generally have to fall below the VA income range to get coverage and they look at household income not just yours.
I think it is like 35K a year for two people so you REALLY have to be low income, if you are a little over I think they might still cover you if you agree to pay co-pays which are fairly low.0 -
Yes depending on income there are co-pays. The co-pay amount are far less than any health ins. premiums!
The VA provides hearing aids to anyone who has been in the service. Hearing loss does not have to be service connected. Also due to rapid advancements in the technology of hearing aids, the VA likes to replace them about every 3 - 4 years.
The VA also provides eye glasses, exams and the glasses.
I'm on my 2nd pair of hearing aids and just got my 2nd pair of eye glasses.0 -
Also the co pay (for those who have it) is a daily limit.
Pay the same amount for 1 appointment per day as you day for 5 appointments the same day.0
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