Surprising Speed of VA Claims

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renowb

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May 27, 2009
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I can't believe the speed of the VA claim system now. I was drafted in 71 during Vietnam. My MOS was 11D, which is cavalry scout. My job was on Sheridan tanks, 113 APCs and 114's. The firing for 2 years inside the Sheridan just screwed my ears up. I have had hearing loss and tinnitus ever since. People said I should file for disability but never did. So, in 92, I decided to give it a shot. They gave me hearing tests, etc. Of course, they turned the claim down, everybody says they do that the first time.
So, I let it go again. Last December, while at a VA doctor's visit , my wife said I should try again. So, why not. I talked to a VSO and he put my paperwork in. Again, I had a hearing test and seen other Dr's. Mind you, this was December 2015. I just rec'd a back pay check for Jan 16 to May and a letter stating they approved it and will get 30% disability. That was fast!
Anyone else have any stories, good or bad about the VA?
 
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dogcatcher

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Jul 4, 2007
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I have been under the VA system since 1969, I have been treated at the VA hospitals in Big Spring, Temple, Waco, Albuquerque, Dallas. Also have been to the local clinics in Abilene and San Angelo. The service is equal to or better than what I get from my private Doctors and the local hospitals.

The one thing I found out about the VA is their medical professionals are more up to date on my issues than the civilian counterparts. I have had to explain Agent Orange to almost every civilian Doctor I have ever visited with.

When I go to the local VA clinic, I am in with the Doctor withing in 5 minutes of my appointment, wish I could say the same for my civilian Doctor. With the civilian Doc, I am lucky if it I am in withing 45 minutes of the appointment time.

Is the system perfect, no, but no system is perfect.
 

nativewooder

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The easiest way to get a positive response from a bureaucrat is to light a fire under his/her behind! And Congress is lighting lots of fires, hoping they can save their own behinds!
 

studioseven

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May 6, 2014
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Tony,
I don't know the Texas laws regarding workman's comp. However in Wisconsin, hearing loss is a compensated injury. It doesn't matter when or where the loss occurred. The last employer is responsible for the compensation. There is a formula where you enter your hearing test data and the amount of compensation can be determined. It may pay dividends for you to talk to an attorney specializing in WC in Texas.

Seven
 

TonyL

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Mar 9, 2014
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Georgia
WC

Tony,
I don't know the Texas laws regarding workman's comp. However in Wisconsin, hearing loss is a compensated injury. It doesn't matter when or where the loss occurred. The last employer is responsible for the compensation. There is a formula where you enter your hearing test data and the amount of compensation can be determined. It may pay dividends for you to talk to an attorney specializing in WC in Texas.

Seven

That (vicarious liability doctrine) applies for all states. In general, the origin of the illness, impairment, etc, does not have to occur while working for your current employer. However, each state's worker's compensation statutes regarding eligibility and benefits can differ among the states. As long as you are not an independent contractor, and your pre-existing condition is worsened on the job to the point where you cannot perform the work you were hired to do; you are likely eligible for wc benefits per that employer's state's eligibility requirements and statuary benefits schedule. Unless one dies, each state can mitigate the payment of benefits by asking you to find work that you are able to perform, etc..
 
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This is an interesting discussion. While I am a veteran, I served from 1960 to 1964 and have a Vietnam veteran status... I was separated from the Navy on Aug 13, 1964 which is just 8 days after it was declared "an official police action". I've never been treated by the VA though. From 1965 until 1976 I worked for a major airlines, now defunct, and spent most of my shifts working on the ramp, plane side... as a result I have about 20% hearing loss, at the high and low spectrum and have had a ringing in my ears for over 40 years. Since I'm now retired and drawing social security, not sure I would benefit from any workman's comp or disability.
 

TonyL

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If you consult your state WC office, you will see what you may be eligible for. I do not know if there are statutes of limitations on placing a claim. Your state workers compensation board would know.

BTW, I was born in 63. Last year I watched this and while I was always a supporter of military personnel, this really added greater depth and appreciation for your service:

Vietnam in HD Full Episodes, Video & More | HISTORY

You lived it; I could barely watch it.

I also watched this about WWII and it really affected me deeply:

THE WAR . About the Series | PBS
 
Joined
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Tellico Plains, Tennessee, USA.
Tony,
I'll have to watch those...I was stationed on Guam from Aug 1961 to Jan 1962 when Vietnam was just beginning to ramp up. The Air Force was flying a few sorties out of Anderson AFB on Guam. My job was running a relay message center in the bowels of the communication building at the CommSta, Agana, Guam for the first six or 8 months I was there, then a stint in the hospital with blood in my urine, then down to the Naval station at the harbor where I was watch supervisor.
At the Comsta, I saw a lot of sitrep and messages detailing the personnel losses and such. At that time, we were still advisors and not supposed to be involved in the fighting, but were losing 6-8 men per day. After Guam I was stationed back in the states at San Francisco where I was again a watch supervisor on a radar picket ship as part of the air early warning system. My ship was dispatched to 'nam in late '64, but after I was separated, so I never actually was in Vietnam.
My stepfather at the time took a civilian job with an aircraft maintenance company and went over in '69 or '70.... he stayed two days and turned down the job... he was a very sensitive man and on the first day there saw a child get hit by an army truck and that was about all he could stand. I think he stayed 2 days because he couldn't get out on the first day.
 

Jim Smith

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Like others, I spent a number of years in the US Military (including USMC, US Army National Guard and US Air Force reserves). My time included lots of weapons firing in the USMC (1970 through 1974) 3 years on 155 Howitzers (which didn't do great things for my hearing) and 3 years on the flightline. Like TellicoTurning, from the military, I went to work for a major airline (still in business) and worked a number of positions where I was exposed to loud noise. I finished my career in senior management where, to be honest with you, many of us had poor hearing. I recently broke down and purchased hearing aids and let me tell you, they ain't cheap. It was all out of pocket expense that totaled around $6500. This is to say, check every avenue you have available to you for support on this and keep pushing to get what you can to offset this costs. Medicare won't pay a nickel for them so you're either on your own or if you're fortunate, you can get an employer to chip in to at least help out.
 

dogcatcher

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For hearing aids through the VA, you almost have to have served in combat. The ear plugs that you are supposed to use or have used in training were and I believe still considered enough. The combat situation removes the requirement of having to wear safety ear plugs, you cannot "play war" in a firefight with ear plugs or other hearing safety devices.

For those with flight line, aircraft etc., noise that caused hearing problems, you will first have to convince the VA examiners as to why you did not wear the required. I knew one man that was in the USAF fire service for 25 years, The VA told him he was furnished the hearing safety gear and denied his claim It was appealed and he won his claim, since he proved he could not direct his firefighters if he and they could not hear each other. In all of my years he was the only exception I have seen, but I have not seen a flight line or flight crew person ever get past the appeal level. As one VSO explained it to me, failure to use furnished safety equipment is considered self inflicted.
 
Joined
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Tellico Plains, Tennessee, USA.
The airlines issued me ear plugs that were supposed to fit in my ear... but evidently my ear channels are too small and they wouldn't fit, so I got a set of ear muffs that were supposed to be sound suppressing.. a lot like the ear muffs for shooting... they help little, but as a line supervisor, if and when we had to load a late bag or something after the engines were started, rule was that a supervisor walked the fuselage along with the ramp loader and stood buy in case of an emergency... it seemed that it was a regular thing that we would have a late bag, so I walked along the fuselage many many times.... also had the speaker from my radio wired into one of the muffs, so there was that noise also... and I've been told by two or three different doctors, there's no cure for tendinitis... I've just learned to turn off the noise in my head and ignore it...
 
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