http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_veterans_021505,00.html?ESRC=dod.nl 

Hog

It's this kind of crap that pisses me off to no end..

We give billions in aid to other countries....
Millions to study why a racoon's pecker is bent...
But fail miserably to take care of our vets & families.

Today, a friend, who served in Vietnam at the same time I did spoke to me of his recent visit to the V.A. outpatient clinics. He was with the 9th Infantry and now is having hearing problems. He's been on the waiting list for hearing aids for almost two years. On Friday, he was told by his V.A. primary care physician that after a two year wait, they're going to try and expedite getting him his hearing aids.

Why now?

The off-the-record explanation. The injured coming home from Iraq were mostly injured by bombs, not bullets. The cost of rehabilitation and prosthetics is going to be far beyond what the Bush Administration has allocated for Veterans' health care. These men will, however, get first priority for treatment. Older veterans needing continuing care will slide far down on the priority list. Hearing aids, dentures, and rehabilitative aids for veterans who have been out of the military for years will have the lowest priority.

I know first hand how shameful our government has treated it's injured veterans. My b/f is a 20% disabled Viet Nam veteran. He's had tintinitus since he returned in '72 and has never received any disability for it. In fact, just last year he was told that at his age, there's no proof it came from his time served. However, his discharge papers note it and he's received an amplified telephone and several sets of hearing aids from the VA. Go figure...

Trish, the standard answer the V.A. provides is, "This appears to have been a prior condition that cannot be verified as having been caused by Mr. X's military service."

I have been through a very similar situation with the V.A. It's a crime against the American serviceman. There is no appeal to the civilian authority, and it's the only situation in the American system where there is no appeal to civil courts. If a person is denied service or compensation by any other governmental agency, they may take their appeal to the civil courts for adjudication. Appeals of V.A. decisions are only heard by the V.A., itself.

The situation will only get worse. The V.A. health care system is currently funded as though Iraq doesn't exist.