Question VA Medical Benefits

[FL-JOE]

With the new PACT Act going into effect high blood pressure is now considered a presumptive condition if you served in Viet Nam. I went online and applied and it was very easy. I had just had an office visit with my cardio Doctor so I was able to upload that documentation on my VA application.

They are reviewing these apps in the order that they receive them so I would encourage anyone out there who qualifies to get your application in right away. If your disability is approved by the VA then they will give you back pay clear back to when the bill was signed, which I think was around 8-10-2022.

I am certainly glad now that Trajectory Medical didn't want to mess with my claim because I may have been paying them over $1,000 for something I did online in less than an hour.

 

[Lab00Rat]

Thought I'd provide an update as the time passes.
I used Trajector Medical for assistance in navigating the VA.
I would recommend their use if you are like me and have no clue what to do first or second when navigating the VA.
I would not recommend them if you are fine learning how to navigate the VA, and advocating for yourself.

I learned A LOT about navigating the VA from youtube and watching lawyer videos from Hill and Ponton. Basically, I wanted to understand the process. (https://www.youtube.com/@HillAndPonton)

There are many other plain-speaking video coaches on how, and what you need to do to navigate the VA successfully.
(https://www.youtube.com/@CombatCraig)

Unfortunately, all of them want money from you somehow if you use or sign up for their service. Although, youTube is still free, and there is a lot of useful information without having to pay up-front.

If you need to have a medical opinion or Nexus letter, I'd recommend using an advocate. Trying to get my non-VA doctors to provide an opinion or nexus letter was worse than pulling teeth from a duck. Fortunately, Trajector Medical did provide a medial opinion that I needed for one of my claims.

As I stand now, I've gone from 20% to 90% with two outstanding claims (still...) that "should" get me to 100%. My only take on looking back is that I should have done this a long time ago. My health has been sliding down for a long time, and not acting on the changes cost me time and $$.

I also learned that a lower rating from the VA puts you in a lower priority category for medical treatment. I'm sure someone will argue that it's not true, but I've experienced it first hand. If you have a deteriorating condition that you feel is not rated correctly, get it challenged or changed! Push for medical treatment from outside VA doctors if you feel that the VA is only treating your symptoms and not treating a diagnosis. VA doctors do not give diagnosis, they only treat symptoms. As in my case, it can cause many additional problems as the years go by from improperly treating a symptom and not the root cause.

 

[Neal]

Ask for it to be retroactive, that's how they handled mine. Nice chunk of change from that.

 

[MaraZen]

A lot has changed with the VA over the years. I received a letter just yesterday outlining a few new conditions that are now covered. I qualify for 100% medical coverage but I don’t use it. The closest VA is about an hour away, and I choose to pay the copays on my Tricare coverage and stay close to home.

I am a combat veteran and use the Houston VA and the Conroe VA and they are about the same distance an hour and twenty minutes either VA to my house... So I do the Myhealthevet "Travel reimbursement" online to get travel mileage and food reimbursement/ when you eat at the chow hall there in the big VA's they usually have one, keep receipt then put the amount it cost for your meal while there for your appointments... I put round trip... It ends up in my checking account within 30 plus days. Very simple to fill out. Most veterans do not know about it. You can call travel reimbursement pay Department at the VA and they will walk you through it.

 

[Holdmybeer]

At.the VA in Shreveport the doctor gives the patient a travel scrip which they take down to a pay window where a clerk sittiing behind glass doles out cash. There's usually 20 or 30 people in line all day, every day. No telling how much cash flows out of there daily. No telling how much of it is fraud, as well.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

I use the VA in Nashville - a 50 mile trip each way. As soon as I get home after each trip I go online and file for reimbursement - 100 miles round trip results in just over $40 being deposited in my bank account.

 

[BGMAC]

I use the VA in Nashville - a 50 mile trip each way. As soon as I get home after each trip I go online and file for reimbursement - 100 miles round trip results in just over $40 being deposited in my bank account.

You’re close to where my youngest daughter lives. Chapel Hill!

You know, all the years I’ve been retired from the Air Force (1995) I’ve never been to a VA clinic or hospital. I’ve always used Tricare and now Tricare for Life.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

You’re close to where my youngest daughter lives. Chapel Hill!

We're actually a few miles south of Chapel Hill: about a mile south of Henry Horton State Park!

 

[BGMAC]

We're actually a few miles south of Chapel Hill: about a mile south of Henry Horton State Park!

I just sent you a PM.