V A medical benefits

[Don Kennon]

How many of you vets cannot receive your promised V A medical benefits because you &/or your spouse make too much money?
I'm one of those!
There should be something that can be done to correct this injustice.
Any ideas?

[rakkc]

Do you have anymore details? such as how does the VA know what your income status is? or a reference document that says what the threshold is for making too much money? Thanks.

[bruce']

Its a crying shame. The way some are treated. I was told the same thing. Two tours in the far east. First was on a merchant marine ship loaded with agent orange. Go talk to your county or state rep. Watch how fast things change.

[Chopper]

I believe the number is $42,000.00. Meaning that if you make more than $42,000.00 per year, you do not qualify for VA benefits. There are some exceptions though. For instance, if you served in Vietnam, you are exempt. The VA website list all the exceptions. You may have to pay a copay if your service is on the exception list but they waive your income restrictions.

If you are what's called a blue water sailor during the Vietnam war, Congress just passed a law giving you Agent Orange benefits under certain conditions. If you were exposed to AO, this site might help you understand if you might be included in the new law. https://www.facebook.com/groups/Blue...vyAssociation/

[Ben Danbleume]

Retired AF, no disability, due to never going to the hospital for injuries. My status wasn't high enough to get care at my local VA clinic, money wasn't the problem.

[1stindoor]

https://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/ap...iscalYear=2019
Eligibility

Based on Income Year 2018
Veteran with:	VA National Income Threshold	VA Priority Group 8 Relaxation Threshold	VA Housebound Threshold	VA Pension with Aid and Attendance Threshold	VA Pension Threshold	Medical Expense Deductible
0 dependents	$33,632 or less	$36,995 or less	$16,540	$22,577	$13,535 or less	$658
1 dependents	$40,359 or less	$44,395 or less	$20,731	$26,766	$17,724 or less	$862
2 dependents	$42,672 or less	$46,939 or less	$23,044	$29,079	$20,037 or less	$975
3 dependents	$44,985 or less	$49,484 or less	$25,357	$31,392	$22,350 or less	$1,087
4 dependents	$47,298 or less	$52,028 or less	$27,670	$33,705	$24,663 or less	$1,200
For each additional dependent add:	$2,313	$2,313	$2,313	$2,313	$2,313	5% of the maximum allowable pension rate from the previous year
Child Earned Income Exclusion: $12,200 For certain Veterans the VA National Income Threshold (based on previous year’s gross household income) and/or net worth, is used to determine eligibility for Priority Group 5 assignment and cost-free VA health care. Applicable VA pension income thresholds are used to determine eligibility for cost-free medications and/or beneficiary travel benefits. For Geographic-Based financial assessment (means test) information refer to https://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/resources/gmt Note: Unreimbursed Medical expenses (what you paid out of pocket after medical insurance pays) may be deducted from your total gross household income. Unreimbursed medical expenses include: travel expenses, cost of a long term care institution or assisted living, health related insurance premiums (including Medicare premiums), diabetic supplies, private caregivers, incontinence supplies, prescriptions and dialysis not covered by any other health plan. Only the portion of the unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 5% of the basic pension may be deducted (see Medical Expense Deductible). Additional information is available at https://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/cost/financial_assessment.asp

https://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/apps/explorer/

[n2ratfishin]

My DAV Rep gave me a form years ago telling the VA I would not tell them our household income. There was not a doc that accepted Tri-Care Prime at that time where we lived. That changed my tier, not a biggie since I was paying co-pays at that time anyway.

https://www.va.gov/health-care/eligi...iority-groups/

It wasn't that the VA wouldn't see me at the time. I just had to wait months on end for appointments. Even paying co-pays I waited 9 months for my initial appointment when I moved here.

My advice would be to go find your local Veterans Service Organization.

I DO AGREE that we should not be put into these tiers, essentially punished for doing well post military. Your other option is seeing if you can get 30% or better rating. I went from being a tier 8 to a tier 2 by not disclosing my income.

If you want a real travesty, me an millions like me have had our disability checks deducted from our 20 year military pensions. We essentially pay our own disability payments. Why in sam hell so many want the government in charge of healthcare is beyond me.

[1stindoor]

If you want a real travesty, me an millions like me have had our disability checks deducted from our 20 year military pensions. We essentially pay our own disability payments. Why in sam hell so many want the government in charge of healthcare is beyond me.

That would change if you can get your VA rating to 50% or higher. Then you'll receive both your VA money and your 20+ year retirement money concurrently.

[n2ratfishin]

That would change if you can get your VA rating to 50% or higher. Then you'll receive both your VA money and your 20+ year retirement money concurrently.

The key word is IF. The travesty is I have to play the VA Rating Game to not pay for my service connect disabilities. I'd love to hear GW's explanation on the 50% for us 20 year guys and gals. Being sick of the travasties I've seen over the past 20 years post military is the main reason I continue to help out part time with those separating.

To my knowledge there is not another group of Americans that have their disability pay deducted from a pension.

FWIW I have one disability alone that should have been 50%. The Air Force tried to med board me out for it. I am not rated at 50% because I was GSU and have no proof that I took the meds they sent me from Walter Reed and Wright Patt for my last eight years. I still take the meds today, at least they cover the meds at no cost now.

[1stindoor]

^^You're right. IF is the key word. And having worked with transitioning Service Members (retiring, medically retiring, separating, and medically separating) over the past 6 years, I've learned quite a bit about the injustices that are rolled into the system. The organization I work for does everything it can to help educate the masses on their benefits in hopes that we can turn that trend around.

Personally, I would keep at it. It's only paperwork, and it's not like you need to pay to get the process going. But on that note...an organization, I normally do not advocate for because they charge a percentage of your new income (i.e. your ratings went from 20% to 50%...they would take a portion of the difference for X number of months), called Veterans Guardian (https://vetsguardian.com/) has had tremendous success in getting Veteran's award percentages increased.

[n2ratfishin]

Thanks for the heads up on Guardian!

[1stindoor]

You're welcome. Good luck. Like I said, their marketing runs counter to what I believe in terms of charging...but I can't argue with their success rate.

[1stindoor]

All,
Got this from a VA rep within our organization:

https://www.va.gov/communitycare/pro...rgent_Care.asp

https://vaurgentcarelocator.triwest.com

In a nutshell, If one is a veteran, and is enrolled in the VA (VHA) Healthcare system and has been seen within the last twenty-four (24) months, one is authorized three (3) visit per CY to outside urgent care, NO CHARGE.


The Websites listed above can be used to find a like-type walk-in clinic or urgent care clinic. The veteran can use only the urgent care/walk-in facility that are contracted with the VA.

Please review and share…again, the basic eligibility is:

1. Be a veteran
2. Enrolled into the VA Healthcare system
3. Been seen at a VA Healthcare facility within the last 24 months
4. Use a contracted/approved outside (other than VA facility) urgent care\walk-in facility