Arrrrgh.....I Just Want To Complain & Whine About VA

[Blaine]

I was divorced in 1996. VA thinks I'm still married. Ex married a retired Service member in 2012. I got to show she's not my spouse. Should be simple, but when dealing with the VA simple solutions to simple problems are not allowed. I got to whip this or get scalded when the VA starts taking back money.....

[AJMD429]

Ahhh.....bureaucracy at its finest....

[J Miller]

Blaine,

Wait, you don't have to prove anything.

A: VA thinks you are still married to her. In reverse, that she's still married to you.

B: She has remarried.

C: Refer to A.

D: That means to the VA she's a polygamist. That's illegal, right?

E: So rather than get arrested for polygamy, she'll have to prove she isn't married to you.

F: You just need to orchestrate the show.


Joe

[Blaine]

Blaine,

Wait, you don't have to prove anything.

A: VA thinks you are still married to her. In reverse, that she's still married to you.

B: She has remarried.

C: Refer to A.

D: That means to the VA she's a polygamist. That's illegal, right?

E: So rather than get arrested for polygamy, she'll have to prove she isn't married to you.

F: You just need to orchestrate the show.


Joe

I don't want to pitch any pelosi in the matter. Just get it straightened out.
Evidently, there is a small difference in "married" VA bennies, and "single" bennies, so it looks like I'll lose some $$ each month. Probably have to pay back a bunch....

[FWiedner]

I've elected never to deal with the VA on any issue.

They don't provide anything that's worth their brand of PIA.

[Pete44ru]

Evidently, there is a small difference in "married" VA bennies, and "single" bennies, so it looks like I'll lose some $$ each month.

That's news to me, but I only joined the VA in 2004, when I retired & needed (almost) free medical coverage.

The only "hassle" the VA ever gave me is when they demanded proof of income (W-2's, 1040's, etc) in 2008 for 2004, 05, 06 & 07.

I easily qualified, but it WAS a PITA to comply.

.

[Blaine]

Evidently, there is a small difference in "married" VA bennies, and "single" bennies, so it looks like I'll lose some $$ each month.

That's news to me, but I only joined the VA in 2004, when I retired & needed (almost) free medical coverage.

The only "hassle" the VA ever gave me is when they demanded proof of income (W-2's, 1040's, etc) in 2008 for 2004, 05, 06 & 07.

I easily qualified, but it WAS a PITA to comply.

.

I was just thinking about this: As a 20 year military retiree, VA doesn't "give me" pelosi. It comes right off the top of my military retirement. In other words, if I have a 50% disability, they take 50% of my retirement pay, and call it VA Disability. Ain't that some "pelosi". How the heck can they dock me for my own dang money? Grrrrrrrr.....There is nothing too "messed" up for our Vets, evidently.

[JohndeFresno]

Here in California, we have Veterans Service Officers at county offices. I guess that is ONE thing good about this state.

Do you have one there? If so, and if you get a good one like I have, they are a tremendous help in dealing with the red tape, personalities, and technical stuff that one would otherwise endure.

My paperwork got stalled, then lost. But my VSO got me a permanent disability rating (and premium, of course) for exposure to Agent Orange and its consequences. And a good thing I can say about our Fresno VA is that they provided me with an excellent set of hearing aids (an increasing disability dating from when I worked directly in front of artillery in VN and some other stuff).

If you have some government sources set up to help the Vets in your state, give them a try. And the American Legion or VFW are excellent sources of information, if you attend a meeting and meet with those good folks. They are your comrades - fellow vets - whose collective experience is impressive.

[Blaine]

Here in California, we have Veterans Service Officers at county offices. I guess that is ONE thing good about this state.

Do you have one there? If so, and if you get a good one like I have, they are a tremendous help in dealing with the red tape, personalities, and technical stuff that one would otherwise endure.

My paperwork got stalled, then lost. But my VSO got me a permanent disability rating (and premium, of course) for exposure to Agent Orange and its consequences. And a good thing I can say about our Fresno VA is that they provided me with an excellent set of hearing aids (an increasing disability dating from when I worked directly in front of artillery in VN and some other stuff).

If you have some government sources set up to help the Vets in your state, give them a try. And the American Legion or VFW are excellent sources of information, if you attend a meeting and meet with those good folks. They are your comrades - fellow vets - whose collective experience is impressive.

Yep....I go thru a local DAV (I'm a life member of DAV) They are great help in such matters. I'll hit them up next week for advice in submitting the forms I was provided.

[Ben_Rumson]

I’ll tell you a VA PITA Nightmare… The stupid b-a-s-t-a-r-d-s got me banned for life of firearms ownership. All my guns were lost except a couple of antiques. It took me 3 years of battle with them and a day in state court to get the ban lifted all because I screwed up and accepted alcohol abuse counseling at my initial VA intake eval… Over time things came to a head with my drinking so my counselor decided to have me locked up in a VA hospital to dry out. He told me he could send me w/o my permission I said no , I have my right as a citizen to refuse medical attention.. Cops were called mainly because I cussed him up one side & down the other loudly with fervor (but with no physical threats) proclaiming my citizen’s rights… However I didn’t resist as 6 cops strapped me down and wheeled me out the back door of my local VA…The law was on his side… Upon entering the regional VA facility one of zealots in white informed the state I had been CERTIFIED to be held for two weeks of treatment. This invoked an Automatic Federal Lifetime Ban.. That fool zealot informed the state BEFORE I had a Certification Review Hearing to determine whether I should be held for treatment . The Hearings are conducted by a roving Circuit Judge from the state.. He found in my favor that I needed no treatment and I was released with no restrictions… All it took to get the ban lifted was a letter from the VA to the Feds admitting the VA screwed up for the above mentioned reasons… Need I say they were reluctant… It went all the way to the top of the VA in the state of CA. to get it done. But now VA policy in the state is fixed.

[Blaine]

I’ll tell you a VA PITA Nightmare… The stupid b-a-s-t-a-r-d-s got me banned for life of firearms ownership. All my guns were lost except a couple of antiques. It took me 3 years of battle with them and a day in state court to get the ban lifted all because I screwed up and accepted alcohol abuse counseling at my initial VA intake eval… Over time things came to a head with my drinking so my counselor decided to have me locked up in a VA hospital to dry out. He told me he could send me w/o my permission I said no , I have my right as a citizen to refuse medical attention.. Cops were called mainly because I cussed him up one side & down the other loudly with fervor (but with no physical threats) proclaiming my citizen’s rights… However I didn’t resist as 6 cops strapped me down and wheeled me out the back door of my local VA…The law was on his side… Upon entering the regional VA facility one of zealots in white informed the state I had been CERTIFIED to be held for two weeks of treatment. This invoked an Automatic Federal Lifetime Ban.. That fool zealot informed the state BEFORE I had a Certification Review Hearing to determine whether I should be held for treatment . The Hearings are conducted by a roving Circuit Judge from the state.. He found in my favor that I needed no treatment and I was released with no restrictions… All it took to get the ban lifted was a letter from the VA to the Feds admitting the VA screwed up for the above mentioned reasons… Need I say they were reluctant… It went all the way to the top of the VA in the state of CA. to get it done. But now VA policy in the state is fixed.

Losing it with the VA is sort of like giving Cops a load of pelosi....you just don't do it. You can be firm, insistent, and goal oriented, but yelling, cursing or otherwise acting a fool can get you a load of trouble. They are, after all, Federal employees.....

[Ysabel Kid]

It really just burns me up that someone serves his country in uniform and the thanks they get is sheer incompetence to deal with every day!!!

[Hawkeye2]

Not to hijack this thread but every man, woman and child in this country will be faced with the same or even worse issues once socialized medicine is firmly entrenched and it's highly unlikely there will be any organizations out there to help.

[Ben_Rumson]

I wish I had of given the cops a ration of pelosi… Then I’d have only gone to jail for 3 days instead of the “help” I got from the VA .


Take heed Vets.. Don’t be a fool… Be Intimidated

[Blaine]

I wish I had of given the cops a ration of pelosi… Then I’d have only gone to jail for 3 days instead of the “help” I got from the VA .


Take heed Vets.. Don’t be a fool… Be Intimidated

I don't have the wherewithal to gamble with my mostly-free healthcare (such as it is ). If I were a well off person, I'd surely do MediCare and purchase the very best side insurance. I don't consider that "foolish"....YMMV

[piller]

I worked at the VA in Dallas for a year. The bureaucrats were mostly people who wanted Government jobs for the power it gave them. Or, in my experience it was that way. Most of the people working there were good people, and a lot of them were veterans. I saw the old adage about getting promoted to the limit of one's incompetence proven there by the bureaucrats, time and again. But, the non bureacrats were mostly good people. That is the VA where the man who was put in charge of the mail order pharmacy was fired for getting several of the female employees pregnant. He was one of the bureaucrats.

[Blaine]

I worked at the VA in Dallas for a year. The bureaucrats were mostly people who wanted Government jobs for the power it gave them. Or, in my experience it was that way. Most of the people working there were good people, and a lot of them were veterans. I saw the old adage about getting promoted to the limit of one's incompetence proven there by the bureaucrats, time and again. But, the non bureacrats were mostly good people. That is the VA where the man who was put in charge of the mail order pharmacy was fired for getting several of the female employees pregnant. He was one of the bureaucrats.

Most of the people involved with actually treating patients are good people. You don't have to go too far up the office ladder to find the bungholes that hide behind VA Guidelines, and don't want to rock the boat.