Veterans Scamming the System?

OhHelpMe wrote:

Michael Webster, an attorney in Florida and former naval aviator, complained to the House Veterans Affairs Committee last year of widespread abuse in sleep apnea claims. He called the boom in payments a scam perpetuated mostly by retirees coached toward an easy 50 percent rating. If they snore, he said, they order a sleep study.

OK, there's a lot left out here.

A physician has to fill out VA Form 21-0960L-2:

http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-21-0960L-2-ARE.pdf

Now, I ain't the VA Claims Reviewer, but "IMHO", if the claim is justified, then you pay the guy (gal).

If somebody's lying on the submission of data, then that's not a "scam", that's "fraud", and both physician and applicant get prosecuted.

Now what they could do is link treatment compliance to CPAP (Section II, 2C). If you comply but are still disabled, then you get the coin.

If you fail to comply, benefits are revoked.

PR Encore Anywhere, ResMed EasyCareOnline, takes 60 seconds.

apw5746 wrote: Pat - Vietnam 1965-1967

PS: Administrators - lock this thread, it should have never made it this far.

Thanks for defending our right to free speech.

Hang Fire wrote:

apw5746 wrote: Pat - Vietnam 1965-1967

PS: Administrators - lock this thread, it should have never made it this far.

Thanks for defending our right to free speech.

Free speech has never included libel or slander or lies.

As a vet, I would like to reply to this. I have had sleep apnea since I was very young. I couldn't even get a sleep study until I was over 30, since they said I was too young. After that, I was told I didn't have sleep apnea because it was mostly hypopneas. A few years after that, the data came out that morbidity and heart disease are the same regardless of hypopneas or apneas, so I was given the diagnosis, finally. I was treated for 7 years while still active duty and have yet to get the therapy to actually overcome my problem. As I stated on this forum many times, my nasal/sinus problems have made it impossible to sleep with a nasal mask at least 30 percent of the time. And FF masks never worked for me for some reason. I would snore and choke and never sleep. Eventually, just last week I found a way to treat that via ASV. I've been posting about it every day.

So it is NOT 100% true that apnea is treatable to such a degree that it solves the problem. I've been sleep-deprived for as long as I can remember and it is most definitely DISABLING!

Next, it is not possible to a vet to "scam" the system. When you retire, you submit your medical records to to VA for possible disability. We are not "coached" to go get a sleep study if we snore." That is complete and utter bunk! And any medical issues that are potentially eligible for disability are tagged and you are scheduled for a battery of 3rd-party examinations by NON-MILITARY doctors to evaluate each and every claim. If you do not actually have sleep apnea, you do not receive disability for it. You can't just decide to "go get a sleep study." You have to evaluated by that 3rd party and confirmed as actually having it.

Most are not given disability! those that are get very little. Yes, sleep apnea used to be an automatic 50% (which doesn't mean what you think it means, BTW, but that's another story), but that has not been true for at least 7 years. Each case is evaluated individually. My case had been so thoroughly documented for almost 10 years before I retired that I did receive a 50% disability rating for sleep apnea. But let me tell you - it is extremely and utterly debilitating in my case.

One last thing. People often misunderstand the whole "disability" thing. If you have served in the military, then the Veterans Administration provides a service to help you when you get out. The US government takes on responsibility for its military members. If a medical condition arises during their time in the military (does not have to have been CAUSED by the military), the Veterans administration carries on providing care to help that individual after retirement/separation. Like I said, most people don't get much, if any disability. It is not an easy process. And heaven knows, there are enough other people out there writing about how the VA does NOT take care of veterans. So which is it? Does the VA not care? OR do they care too much?

Big fat heavy sigh. I wish people would not just read an article , likely written by someone with an agenda, and make sweeping judgements about the honor and integrity of people who have served in our nation's armed forces.

Ken

Your point being? The damage has already been done.

We're blasted when times are good, and asked where we been when times are bad.

Did you make your comments known as the article suggested are the end? To comment, write Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, or email milupdate@aol.com or twitter: Tom Philpott @Military_Update

Let's use this forum for its intended purpose, understanding sleep apnea and how to live with it, etc., instead of it being a political sounding board

KenTheriot wrote:As a vet, I would like to reply to this. I have had sleep apnea since I was very young. I couldn't even get a sleep study until I was over 30, since they said I was too young. After that, I was told I didn't have sleep apnea because it was mostly hypopneas. A few years after that, the data came out that morbidity and heart disease are the same regardless of hypopneas or apneas, so I was given the diagnosis, finally. I was treated for 7 years while still active duty and have yet to get the therapy to actually overcome my problem. As I stated on this forum many times, my nasal/sinus problems have made it impossible to sleep with a nasal mask at least 30 percent of the time. And FF masks never worked for me for some reason. I would snore and choke and never sleep. Eventually, just last week I found a way to treat that via ASV. I've been posting about it every day.

So it is NOT 100% true that apnea is treatable to such a degree that it solves the problem. I've been sleep-deprived for as long as I can remember and it is most definitely DISABLING!

Next, it is not possible to a vet to "scam" the system. When you retire, you submit your medical records to to VA for possible disability. We are not "coached" to go get a sleep study if we snore." That is complete and utter bunk! And any medical issues that are potentially eligible for disability are tagged and you are scheduled for a battery of 3rd-party examinations by NON-MILITARY doctors to evaluate each and every claim. If you do not actually have sleep apnea, you do not receive disability for it. You can't just decide to "go get a sleep study." You have to evaluated by that 3rd party and confirmed as actually having it.

Most are not given disability! those that are get very little. Yes, sleep apnea used to be an automatic 50% (which doesn't mean what you think it means, BTW, but that's another story), but that has not been true for at least 7 years. Each case is evaluated individually. My case had been so thoroughly documented for almost 10 years before I retired that I did receive a 50% disability rating for sleep apnea. But let me tell you - it is extremely and utterly debilitating in my case.

One last thing. People often misunderstand the whole "disability" thing. If you have served in the military, then the Veterans Administration provides a service to help you when you get out. The US government takes on responsibility for its military members. If a medical condition arises during their time in the military (does not have to have been CAUSED by the military), the Veterans administration carries on providing care to help that individual after retirement/separation. Like I said, most people don't get much, if any disability. It is not an easy process. And heaven knows, there are enough other people out there writing about how the VA does NOT take care of veterans. So which is it? Does the VA not care? OR do they care too much?

Big fat heavy sigh. I wish people would not just read an article , likely written by someone with an agenda, and make sweeping judgements about the honor and integrity of people who have served in our nation's armed forces.

Ken

Well said.

This is at least the 3rd time that article has been brought up on the forum and the discussion has always got ugly.
It's one of the few times I wish we had some sort of rule about OT political crap threads being somewhere but here.
Last time it was brought up I pointed to the prior same discussion and got blasted so I elected not to do it this time hoping that the comments wouldn't become what I thought they would become....but it didn't happen.

People blasting service men for getting a 50% disability rating for ANYTHING...need to go read up on what all it means in the military. It isn't the same as for us in the general population.
It's the way the government and military has deemed they want to address any conditions that service men have when leaving the service. The disability rating system in the military is just different.

My step dad got a 25% disability rating for having a piece of shrapnel in his back left over from WWII...He got a grand total of $37 a month for that.

KenTheriot...what you said..ditto..right on....people need to educate themselves about something they don't know much (if anything) about before going on the "scamming" band wagon.

Wife of Vietnam vet with trashed knees from jumping out of airplanes...who refuses to get any help from VA for it.

Let's put this post to rest