Posted on 05/31/2010 4:17:41 PM PDT by Steve Newton
Ok my friends, I need some help here. I am preparing to send testimony to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and I have run out of ideas.
Feel up to a few questions?
Concurrent Receipt Eligibility
To qualify for concurrent receipt you must:
Be a Military Retiree with 20 or more years of service, including:
Chapter 61 Medical Retirees with 20 years or more.
National Guard and Reserve with 20 or more good years. (Once they turn 60 and begin drawing a retirement check)
Temporary Early Retirement Authority (TERA) Retirees may also be eligible.
Have a Service Related VA disability rating of 50% or higher.
http://www.military.com/benefits/military-pay/retired-pay/retired-concurrent-receipt-overview
Okay...it must be Traumatic BRAIN injury. I have worked in medicine for years, but seeing an acronym out of context (for me) occasionally throws me.
When I was a student years ago, we were huddled around our teacher who had just performed a brain death study on a car accident victim. We were young, and this was the first exposure to this aspect of the job many of us had. There was a young man in the other room, around our age, normal, looking to us, but..unresponsive.
The tech came out, put the films up, and we looked at them. Our teacher looked at the films, and said something like “Looks like D.E.D. to me.”
We were all new and learning new acronyms with each day, but for the life of me, couldn’t figure out “DED”
Was it Di-Encephlatic Dysfunction? How about “Dendritic something or other...”
I was lost in thought, putting together various combinations embarrassed I didn’t know what it was, when one of my fellow students asked “What is D.E.D?”
The teacher said in a flat tone...”Dead”.
We were all horrified, but I look at it now, and it seems to me that was just one more mechanism people use to cope with things.
TBI
Traumatic Brain Injury
And expensive?
Indeed
BUT
I wonder if in the end it might actually save money by being able to prove or disprove a claim or injury
Mercy
What can I say to that?
Sigh
God bless our troops
Perhaps.
But let’s say it costs $1000 for each MRI, which getting one for every new recruit would be a cost of 200 million dollars.
That is $200 million each year.
And I could be wrong on this (since I am not currently involved in imaging) but MRI imaging is not a slam-dunk diagnostic tool for diagnosing PST, even if you have a baseline to compare it to. So it is possible to spend all the this time, resources and money, and still end up with soldiers being denied benefits for PST out of hand because the MRI didn’t indicate it. (Note to selves: Socialized Health Care will operate this way as well)
I just think it is a huge amount of time and money, with a minimal payback.
Yes. God Bless them and watch over them. Regardless of our differences here on this subject, I think we can both agree that no matter what is done, we can always do more and better for these folks, and should.
Ok
I am gone for tonight to revise my testimony taking your suggestions.
Please continue
I have one week left to submit and you have all been very helpful.
God bless
And may He continue to bless our troops
You could be right Sir.
But I would imagine if you were in charge you could come up with a cost saving idea.
Amen my dear friend
And
Thank you!
Our troops volunteer to risk their lives to defend the country they love and to preserve our alleged FREEDOMS. Many of our wounded have arrived at Walter Reed hanging on by the grace of God. They have lost body parts and have permanent damage to other organs. They have strange parasites and never before seen conditions that they and their top notch medical team are trying to diagnose and treat. They have been exposed to WMD – YES, I said WMD! – and many also have to deal with the rejection of their loved ones. Some have come home to a house that has been stripped bare, along with their bank account. Do you honestly think these guys give a tinker’s damn about smoking a cigarette?
Driving around WR past the back side of the hospital and seeing our wounded warriors being wheeled out in wheelchairs or hospital beds with IVs attached and piled with blankets in the middle of the winter just to have a cigarette is, or should be, a national disgrace. It is despicable to treat our heroes this way. They are not out there smoking crack for crying out loud! Meanwhile, back inside they are given every drug known to mankind and many still experimental with no documentation on the long term effects of said drugs.
When I first started visiting Walter Reed in 2005 you were permitted to smoke outside and in the breezeway at The Mologne House. If you are not familiar, the breezeway is a rather large covered walk through from one part of the building to the other. Yes, it is cold in the winter and hotter than hell in the summer, but you are out of the elements in terms of rain, snow and the beating sun. There were tables and chairs and it was the favorite hangout spot for many of our troops and their care giving family members to smoke, enjoy stimulating conversation, play cards or music and simply relax and have a good time. There was a sense of camaraderie and belonging in those days. All races and nationalities were as one as they joked and talked and SMOKED!
Then the "NO SMOKING" signs began to appear. The guys would tear them down and light up. Gradually things got worse and all ashtrays etc. were removed and formal plaques were screwed to the walls everywhere. There was a feeling of mistrust and few congregated anywhere. Many became more reclusive and uncommunicative. This only deepened the anxiety and symptoms of PTSD, IMHO. Nothing speaks fascism like walking up and seeing a double amputee, from the pelvis down, sitting in a wheelchair in the pouring down rain trying to smoke a cigarette. This man was on his third tour of duty in Iraq and they finally got him and this is how he is treated when he returns home? This is an abominable way to treat our men and women in uniform! It must end!
Very Well said
I had a V.A. hospital Administrator tell me one time that they had to stop the smoking to keep their hospital certification.
When I contact that “certifying organization” they told me that was no so. They only required that the smoking area be away from other folks.
Very much agree
Thank you
I retired from the Navy on 20 years of active service and receive a monthly retirement. I only have a 10% VA disability. Minor, but still a disability. I receive $xxx.xx monthly from the VA and removed from my retired monthly pay is that same amount of $xxx.xx. It just doesn’t seem fair to me that a retired military and veteran can’t receive what a veteran that is a civilian can recieve. (I received my first VA check today.)
Thank you for your service
And good question
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.