When non-service connected is connected in reality, veterans suffer

For years people have doubted what I've been saying about non-service connected veterans paying out of pocket for their treatment at the VA even though they could have been told by a VA doctor, it was caused by service to this nation. Now maybe, just maybe you'll believe me.


When non-service connected is connected in reality, veterans suffer because they know their medical need has been caused by service to this country but they have to pay for it. A claim is considered "non-service connected" until the VA approves the claim. It's as simple as that. What congress did with this ruling to allow the VA to collect funds for "non-service connected" treatment, was to make veterans suffer while their claims are moving through the backlog.

It happened to us.

For six years we fought the VA to have my husband's PTSD treated at the VA. We had private health insurance we thought would cover his treatment until his claim was approved once we were told we'd have to pay. The insurance company said they didn't have to cover the treatment because the VA doctor diagnosed it connected to Vietnam. In other words, it was the government's responsibility to pay for it, not their's. The VA said his claim was not approved so in their eyes, it was not service connected and he'd have to pay them for treating him. His claim was finally approved but we went through hell to get to that point.

Whenever I talk about this and how it's harming veterans making them pay for care until their claim finally gets approved, no one seems to understand exactly how wrong this is and they doubt I'm telling the truth because they never hear this discussed anywhere else. Now maybe they'll believe me with this.

Congressman Filner Bill Allows Elderly Veterans to Use Earned Medicare for VA Health Care
Written by Imperial Valley News
Wednesday, 05 August 2009
Washington, DC - Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Bob Filner introduced H.R. 3365 to allow veterans to use their earned Medicare benefits to receive health care and services from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Under current law, VA has the authority to bill enrolled veterans and their private health care insurers for the treatment of veterans’ non-service-connected conditions.
Current law, however, prohibits the billing of Medicare, barring elderly veterans from using their earned Medicare benefits at VA health care facilities. H.R. 3365, the Medicare Reimbursement Act of 2009, would require VA to develop a program that would allow VA to bill Medicare for services rendered to veterans enrolled in Medicare Part A or B.
read more here
Elderly Veterans to Use Earned Medicare for VA Health Care

Again, "non-service connected" only means they have an approved claim and not that whatever they need care for was not connected to their service. This is wrong and this needs to be changed.

Under this rule, the VA billed my husband for serving and ending up with PTSD because his claim was not approved. Once it finally was, they cannot do enough for him and treat him with great care but how many others have to go through the same hell we did? How many others end up feeling forced out of care because they cannot afford to pay for it? We couldn't afford it. We were paying for private health insurance every month but they wouldn't cover anything dealing with mental health after the VA diagnosis. The VA attached our tax refund to pay for his care! We got most of the money back but this was after years of having to borrow money to pay the bills and the mortgage and then more hell trying to make sure my husband didn't give up. Which he did and he dropped out of treatment. I kept fighting because I had the ear of his doctors and a great relationship with his DAV Service Officer. If it had gone on much longer, I doubt he'd still be alive today.

We know the claims waiting to be approved are approaching a million but we don't talk about the lives involved or what is happening to them while they are waiting. Even more appalling is that no one is talking about the fact they have to pay for their care until they get to that point. This is an outrage!