Snowbirds plucked from VA Healthcare in Florida

Received an email from a friend living halftime in Florida and halftime in Massachusetts.

This is happening to me at Bay Pines. If I switch, I can lose all my Massachusetts veterans benefits. For over 10 years I have been seen by a Doctor at both Bay Pines and Bedford VA's. who both order blood tests that monitor drug treatment levels. I am not the only one. They are discouraging all snowbird disabled vets not to us the VA.

Bay pines says"

Service connection does not come into play when duel primary care provider is decided. It is based on medical necessasity. For your medical needs your are followed by coumadin clinic here as well as Mass. and your follow up appointments can be scheduled appropiatly timed when you are up in Mass.

You will be seen here for urgent matters.

You do not have to choose a different primary every time you go to a VA. You can only have 1 primary Doctor and 1 primary VA and you need to decide what facilty you want as your primary VA.

When you go to a different VA each VA has what is called an urgent care unit sort of like a walk in clinic. We have many Vets who get seen here but they have primary care providers at their main VA it is up to you who you want to stay with as your Primary care physician.

You can be seen here for the coumadin clinic like you have been but if you need to see a doctor when you are sick then you go to our MOD A
1: Choose what VA your want as permanant VA Bedford or Baypines
2: You will be seen here in the coumadin clinic
3: If you get sick you can go to MOD A
Vets are never refused care no matter where they go

Here is part of a news report from last year

Snowbird veteran denied VA clinic care
Highlands Today
March 11, 2013

A disabled veteran from Michigan said Tuesday that as a snowbird living in Sebring six months out of the year, he was recently denied care at the local VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic, when they had cared for him in years gone by.

Vietnam veteran Gary L. Johnson said he served 19 months in the U.S. Army and was honorably discharged as a sergeant with the 25th Infantry Command Group.

He earned two Bronze Stars, a National Defense Service Medal, a Vietnam Service Medal, a Combat Infantry Badge, a Good Conduct Medal and a Vietnam Campaign Medal.

He has a two-bedroom home in Whisper Lake.

Johnson is 100 percent disabled. Some of his illness is linked to exposure to Agent Orange, he said. He also suffers with post traumatic stress disorder.

"I've been coming down here for quite a few years," he said. "I started going to the Sebring VA clinic approximately five years ago. I've always been taken care of. This year I went there and they said they couldn't treat me, that I had to go over to Bay Pines (in St. Petersburg).

"So that's 100 miles each way, which is kind of asinine to me when they have a place this close where they can do it as they've done in the past. This is the first time that it's happened. They give fantastic care at the Sebring VA clinic. I even bought them pizza and pop last year before I went back home."

This whole situation has made him feel like he's just another number to the government he served.

"I served my country," he said. "I served it well. I'm paying for it now."
read more here