I'm interested in hearing people's thoughts on veterans' disability claims. A little background: I enlisted in the Army in 2008 and separated in 2012. I deployed to AFG for 13 months as an intelligence collector. I spent the majority of my time on Bagram and luckily did not see combat. When I was going through out processing from the military, I attended a disability claims briefing. The speaker was urging everyone to be thorough in documenting their injuries, illnesses, etc so they could receive disability compensation. In her exact words"Just getting off the plane in AFG or IRAQ can earn you a 5% disability claim."
I find this attitude disgusting. I served alongside numerous honorable soldiers, but I also encountered many people, some of them friends, that I felt were abusing the system. A buddy of mine was received 15% disability for "complications" from a torn rotator cuff suffered while playing basketball on a weekend. I know another guy who is on disability for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome that was attributed to his typing and report writing. The problem is that they are not actually abusing the system, but that it's encouraged to seek disability claims for mundane injuries that happen to everyone and are not specific to their service. I'm hoping that my experience is unique and that others haven't witnessed this behavior to such a degree.
I always felt that a "disabled veteran" was someone who experiences difficulties based on extreme circumstances (i.e. combat, PTSD, etc) encountered while serving, not based on everyday activities. (Sleep Apnea is another common "disability"). I don't mean to offend anyone who is receiving disability, but I'm interested to hear other people's comments, opinions, and experiences on the topic.

primo... I agree with your view.

My mother worked at a large regional military medical center here in Texas for over 30 years as a civilian. She would tell me about the abuse of the system and how it was supported by command. Apparently prior to separating airmen and soldiers would be required to attend the class to aid them in completing their VA claims. At this point in time females are receiving 100% disability for routine hysterectomies if they are performed while the service member is still in service so women end up staying in long enough to have a hysterectomy and then separate.

My father was enlisted in the Navy for 20 years. He was the type of person that went to work even when he was sick or injured never went to sick call once. Served in Vietnam in the Mayaguez Incident as well as Operation Market Time. We know from what he had told us that he had to land in country to refuel several times and stepped foot on Vietnam. This should qualify him for 100% disability automatically. He was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer in 2012. This type of cancer is so rare that SAMC (BAMC) had only seen two other cases of it. We have come to the conclusion that it is service connected as the types of materials he was exposed to in not only Vietnam (munitions, agent orange, jet fuel) but also environmental as the hanger he worked in for a significant time of his navy career. That hanger (Hanger 1, Moffett NAS) was recently sold to Google by the government. The hanger is so toxic that it had its exterior completely removed and Google has to pay to have it refurbished as part of the sales contract. The VA knew my father was terminal and literally put his application on a shelf until after he passed and closed the claim.

My mother recently was able to gain power of attorney to have the VA reopen the claim to process it. If my father was still alive all that would be needed would be for him to say where he was and what he was doing in Vietnam. Unfortunately he never felt his service compared to the boots on the ground and never considered him self to be a 'veteran'. I have his military records and other than sentence fragments in his NCOERs and his DD214 there is no mention of any of his deployments to Vietnam. His duty stations we only listed as Barbers Point NAS, Cubi Point, NAS, and Thailand. We do know for a fact he was apart of several detachments that spanned to the Indian Ocean (Diego Garcia) as well as Iran.

I was able to reconnect with his shipmates recently to gain more information but its still a process we are working through.

Its shameful that a female gets 100% disability for a routine medical procedure where someone who served our country with honor such as my father is being left behind.

Also the abuse doesn't stop there. While my mom was at this facility she has seen cases where a dependent daughter would have a baby. Instead of coding the baby as a civilian trauma case and given a well baby check and limiting treatment to only the daughter. Other nurses would code the baby as a dependent of the daughter's sponsor. My mother would raise flags to command and would be shut down and told "be nice it doesn't hurt anyone"

another example is widow of a service-member KIA gives birth over a year after the service members death with a baby from her boy friend. the baby is again coded as a dependent of the dead service member.

and finally this occurred within the past two years. A Mexican national and her physician husband go shopping at the outlet malls in San Marcos starts feeling contractions. They drive over an hour and manage to get on post and admitted into the Military Hospital. They examine the woman and she is less than a cm dilated. They tell her they cant admit her to L&D and that she has to leave. Instead of leaving thy go down to the lobby and walk for 15 hours straight until she is fully dilated. She delivers the baby in the military hospital, the baby is given US citizen ship and access to medicare, and they do not have to pay the bill.

The military medical system including the VA is disgusting. It is full of corruption and abuse. It is a systemic problem and one that wont be fixed any time soon.

I just separated a few months ago from active duty army and was never told or even heard about the automatic disability for being in Afghansitan or Iraq.

(I'll add more when I get to a computer and get off work)

This is all too common. There is no lack of malingerers in the military.

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The speaker was urging everyone to be thorough in documenting their injuries, illnesses, etc so they could receive disability compensation.

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that is good advice.

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In her exact words"Just getting off the plane in AFG or IRAQ can earn you a 5% disability claim."

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This is incorrect-or at least incomplete. It may be true if the veteran stepped off the plane in an area the VA recognizes as containing cancer causing pollutants & the veteran later develops that type of cancer. Mere presence in the area may be enough to show service connection years after the fact.

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A buddy of mine was received 15% disability for "complications" from a torn rotator cuff suffered while playing basketball on a weekend.

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When determining if an injury is service connected, what matters is that the injury occurred during the person's service. It doesn't matter if the injury was incurred through voluntary actives like basketball. Imagine the administrative impossibility of determining whether a 20 year old injury was incurred during mandatory pt vs on the person's off-duty time.

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I know another guy who is on disability for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome that was attributed to his typing and report writing.

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Its not the most macho sounding injury, but if it was honestly incurred through his service to his nation it is no different than any other service-connected injury.

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The problem is that they are not actually abusing the system, but that it's encouraged to seek disability claims for mundane injuries that happen to everyone and are not specific to their service.

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This is how the system was designed to operate. You don't have to like it, but there is no dishonor in veterans using the system the government designed for them.

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I always felt that a "disabled veteran" was someone who experiences difficulties based on extreme circumstances (i.e. combat, PTSD, etc) encountered while serving, not based on everyday activities.

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Your belief if what a disabled veteran is is inconsistent with national policy.

If a veteran fabricates or exaggerates injuries then they should be prosecuted for fraud. The quotes I pulled out appear consistent with the way the system was designed to work.

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A Mexican national and her physician husband... drive over an hour and manage to get on post and admitted into the Military Hospital. They examine the woman and she is less than a cm dilated. They tell her they cant admit her to L&D and that she has to leave. Instead of leaving thy go down to the lobby and walk for 15 hours straight until she is fully dilated. She delivers the baby in the military hospital, the baby is given US citizen ship and access to medicare, and they do not have to pay the bill.

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This is a national issue, not a military one. It's called "birth tourism." Wealthy Chinese women will travel to the US before they give birth so their child has the benefit of US citizenship. This is a problem, but the Constitution confers citizenship to everyone born here so the military has nothing to do with it.

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The military medical system... is a systemic problem and one that wont be fixed any time soon.

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No argument here. The backlog of VA claims is sickening. The solution surely involves throwing a ton of money at it (to hire more claims examiners for instance) but politicians aren't willing to do it. It's shameful, because we've all heard the horror stories of injured vets whose claims languish. Our nation's leaders took us to war, but are apparently unprepared for the aftermath.

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This is a national issue, not a military one. It's called "birth tourism." Wealthy Chinese women will travel to the US before they give birth so their child has the benefit of US citizenship. This is a problem, but the Constitution confers citizenship to everyone born here so the military has nothing to do with it.

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The issue is why were they allowed on a military base to begin with. Why were they allowed in a major regional military hospital. Why weren't they transferred to University Hospital

Military healthcare resources should be reserved for treating active duty service members, veterans, retirees and eligible dependents.

I guess i get angry about this because of the poor care my father received in the last week of his life. He went in to the same hospital with a minor fungal infection and his meds weren't administered as prescribed and his condition deteriorated. The staff taking care of him didn't offer him any fluids for over 24 hours didn't change his sheets or get him up to exercise. He walked in and with a minor fungal infection and 4 days later had to be carried out of the hospital.

My mother who was a civilian employee raised concerns regarding his care to the command center and was ultimately fired for calling out the poor care. My mother was an exemplary employee and her concerns were met with hostility.

Hospitals aren't allowed to refuse treatment or transfer a patient in an emergency. The public policy reason is that we don't want to be a society where people die sitting outside hospitals (or outside the gates of a military installation. It certainly can lead to abuse though.

it wasn't an emergency... the lady was not in labor.

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I guess i get angry about this because of the poor care my father received in the last week of his life. He went in to the same hospital with a minor fungal infection and his meds weren't administered as prescribed and his condition deteriorated. The staff taking care of him didn't offer him any fluids for over 24 hours didn't change his sheets or get him up to exercise. He walked in and with a minor fungal infection and 4 days later had to be carried out of the hospital.

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Im sorry to hear about your father. You have every right to be angry. Assuming your father was retired (as opposed to still serving), there is an avenue available to his heirs. If the hospital violated the standard of care and this lead to his death, you can file a wrongful death claim. If the federal government fails to pay the claimed amount, you can sue for medical malpractice just as you could against a civilian hospital. Obviously that could never compensate you for the loss of your father, but since we're discussing the big picture of medical care it's important to note that medical malpractice happens everywhere and your family has the same legal protections as a civilian family in the same situation.

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My mother who was a civilian employee raised concerns regarding his care to the command center and was ultimately fired for calling out the poor care. My mother was an exemplary employee and her concerns were met with hostility.

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Firing a federal employee for alleging medical malpractice is absolutely, blatantly illegal. I don't know you, and I'm not in a position to question your story, but in my experience there is often more to this type of story than meets the eye.

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I just separated a few months ago from active duty army and was never told or even heard about the automatic disability for being in Afghansitan or Iraq.

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There rightly is no such thing.

My mother fought the termination and ultimately settled for early retirement. Also she wasn't fired for advocating for my father's care but there were false grievances filed by her nurse manager against her for various reasons. Again she fought it but ultimately didn't want to return to the hospital that treated my father poorly. The timing of the whole thing literally coincided with the grievances to the command center like within days...

As far as suing the hospital for malpractice.... have you tried finding an attorney that would take the case of malpractice of a terminally ill cancer patient at a military hospital? Literally no attorney would touch it. we requested to see the labs from the hospital from that week and they were "misplaced"

I know you question the validity of what i am saying but its the truth. I knew my father would die but SAMC only hastened the outcome. It's dishonorable and disgusting. We should be treating our vets better than that.

AgLaw,

I agree with most of your responses. I agree that veterans are within their rights to seek out compensation for "service connected injuries." I think the whole system should be revamped. In my opinion, and I know it's not consistent with national policy, veterans shouldn't receive special treatment for injuries that could be incurred in any line of work and aren't unique to serving your country. I feel like today's soldiers are reaping the benefits and being overly coddled in response to the mistreatment endured by Vietnam era veterans. Hopefully it will balance out in coming years.

AsdamsBQ06: I have no doubts your story is true. It makes sense now that you elaborated on it. Gig 'Em!

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AgLaw,

I agree with most of your responses. I agree that veterans are within their rights to seek out compensation for "service connected injuries." I think the whole system should be revamped. In my opinion, and I know it's not consistent with national policy, veterans shouldn't receive special treatment for injuries that could be incurred in any line of work and aren't unique to serving your country. I feel like today's soldiers are reaping the benefits and being overly coddled in response to the mistreatment endured by Vietnam era veterans. Hopefully it will balance out in coming years.

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They get those special benefits because when they enlisted or accepted their commission, they signed a blank check to the country for up to and including losing their life to defend the country. I think we can afford to take care of them. I also think that the VA needs a drastic overhaul in order to meet the continuing needs of our veterans. I served 11 years, never had to deploy, and hopefully, will never have need of the VA system, but I'm glad to know it's there and available to me if I do need it.

DevilD. I agree with one exception. While my mom was working in a military hospital some of her peers who were in the Air Force or army had pre-existing medical conditions that are considered automatic dis-qualifiers. They fraudulently kept these conditions hidden until they decided they wanted out. this typically happened around the same time that they received deployment orders. Instead of being discharged in many cases these individuals were given medical retirements.

Also my dad served 20 years and deployed multiple times. because he didn't claim any disabilities when he retired it slowed down the process incredibly when he did need the help.

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While my mom was working in a military hospital some of her peers who were in the Air Force or army had pre-existing medical conditions that are considered automatic dis-qualifiers. They fraudulently kept these conditions hidden until they decided they wanted out. this typically happened around the same time that they received deployment orders. Instead of being discharged in many cases these individuals were given medical retirements.

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The guys you described are criminals and should be prosecuted for fraud. If your mother witnessed criminal activity as you describe I hope she reported it. Otherwise she was part of the problem.

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Also my dad served 20 years and deployed multiple times. because he didn't claim any disabilities when he retired it slowed down the process incredibly when he did need the help.

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That's why guys who separate these days attend a disability brief. We want them to have the knowledge to avoid making the mistakes your father made.

AgLaw. I agree with your thought of educating service members after they end their military career. I dont think there was as much of a defined process for this in 89 as there is now.

As far as my mom... she was always quick to point out legal issues as well as patient care issues. This is part of the reason that she was labeled as a "bully" and her observations were met with hostility. She went as far in her career as contacting her congress member for some issues. At the end of the day she was forced out for being a squeaky wheel and replaced by younger nurses and made an example of so that other nurses wouldn't make waves.

who knows maybe one of these days she will write a book about her career as a civilian in a military hospital

Almost 40% of PTSD cases being paid are fraud and here are two example:

While serving with the reserves, every year one has to take a medical physical. The "new" annual physical is now called a "medical assessment". A few years ago, I was doing my assessment through a medical contract company. While taking the "physical", which is basically answering a questionnaire, listening to my heart and a minor blood draw, I got to speaking with the doctor, who was a medic in Vietnam and went to medical school afterward. We got to talking about Iraq in which I told him that I did receive a PH during a rocket attack. He then told me if I had PTSD and I told him no. He then proceeded to tell me that he was waiting on a complaint filed by a NGR NCO to his superiors. I asked him what was it about and he told me that a few months ago, he had an E-7 during her assessment brag to him that she was receiving a 40% disability for PTSD. He then asked her how much combat she saw and she answered none that she was stationed in Kuwait. Now, being that I served in Iraq, I know for a fact that Kuwait was a backwater, easy assignment. The doctor asked her how can she claim to have PTSD with no combat and she proceeded to tell him that the pressure of any possible attack and her family separation caused he an immense anxiety. The doctor went off on her calling her a disgrace to the uniform and the NCO Corps, which pisses her off.

The second case involved a immigration enforcement officer that prior was a Soldier assigned to the 82nd Airborne. During one of his visits to the VA, he complained to the doctor that a knee injury he received was getting worse and how he can increase his disability. The doctor told him that it would be impossible to prove that his knee was getting worse but he then stated that if he wanted his disability payment increased, to claim PTSD because it was his word against the VA and he would win. He refused to do that.

It is unfortunate that the VA is being bled by fraud because PTSD is hard to prove but it also robbing those individuals of time and money that truly have PTSD and need the help.

I do get 10% disability for hearing loss do to the rocket attack however, my other claims concerning arthritis is my knees and my wrists were denied because I did not have a "military" medical documentation and even though the VA acknowledges that these are probably service connected, I was denied disability for it. So this "story" about getting 5% "automatically" for just being in Iraq or Afghanistan is crap, just like the "automatic" 10% for having a PH.