Texas Veterans! Do You Have Benefits Questions? Need Peer Support? Ask Questions Now!
You can ask questions to the following people:
» BG Mike Eastman - Advisor, ETS Sponsorship
» SGT Arlene Perez - Peer Services Manager, Texas Veterans Commission (MVPN)
» SFC Gregory Morton - Peer Services Coordinator, Texas Veterans Commission (MVPN)
» SFC James Schaale - Peer Services Coordinator, Texas Veterans Commission (MVPN)
» PO2 Elizabeth Saunders - Operations Associate, Team Rubicon
» Coleton Whitaker - Director of Programs, Elizabeth Dole Foundation
» Staci H. - Senior Manager of Volunteers and Partnerships, Blue Star Families
» Melissa Comeau - Director, American Red Cross Military Veteran Caregiver Network
» Jeanette Gilles - Deputy Director of Community Integration, Americas Warrior Partnership
» Justin Monk - VP of Government Affairs, Student Veterans of America
» SPC Lori Coffman - VBA Homeless Veterans Outreach Specialist, Claims Support
Student Veterans of America:
Student Veterans of America is a Chapter-based organization with about 1,500 locations on college campuses nationwide. We represent about 800,000 student veterans and work on personal and professional development, leadership training, and advocacy at the federal level.
Military Veteran Peer Network (MVPN):
The MVPN provides services including direct peer-to-peer support, training on suicide prevention and military cultural competency, coordination of mental health first aid, and warm-handoffs to local resources based on the individual needs of the veteran and family.
VA.gov Home | Veterans Affairs
Apply for and manage the VA benefits and services you’ve earned as a Veteran, Servicemember, or family member—like health care, disability, education, and more.
Once you got to AIT and it was noted that your records were lost, did you receive any treatment for your back, neck and knees there? Were any subsequent records created at all for these conditions. Did you go to any private doctor for these conditions during or after service? You can also have a doctor write a statement stating that the current severity of your disability is "as least as likely" as not related to your military service that started years ago. We will review that along with all other evidence in making our determination. Were you active duty, National Guard? You can also go to http://www.VA.gov/vso/ in order to find an accredited representative who can also assist you if you do not have one already.
Apply for and manage the VA benefits and services youâve earned as a Veteran, Servicemember, or family memberâlike health care, disability, education, and more.
Tragedy Assistance Program For Survivors (TAPS) Is Here For You!
TAPS provides comfort, care and resources to all those grieving the death of a military loved one.
Q -after I depart, will my wife get any part of this ?
Thanks
VA benefits for spouses, dependents, survivors, and family caregivers | Veterans Affairs
Learn about VA benefits for spouses, dependents, survivors, and family caregivers of Veterans and service members.
1) When will we get qualified (and quality) doctors at the Charles Wilson Outpatient Clinic in Lufkin?
Don't get me wrong, the Nurse Practicioners I've been working with are simply great, and I greatly respect and trust them.
However, over the couple decades working with the clinic, the MH departemnt can't ever seem to keep any qualified doctors - they last a year or so, and leave. And have always been very shorthanded. Now my Primary Care doctor has retired as well, and they can't seem to ever find any replacements.
Budgeting? Internal issues that keep driving them away? (rhetorical, I suppose)
2) What must I do as a Veteran to get timely Care in the Community appointments?
I've been fighting (yes, it certainly feels like a protracted war) with the VA since March to obtain care for neck issues (spinal). It's been dragged out, delayed, with many an excuse. And no few instances of outright incompetance. I'm always told I MUST drive the 3 hours to Houston (and 5-7 to get home, due to traffic) to see the specialists. And that the Care in the Community department has 3 weeks to process any claim (which they use every day of). Appointments are made 2 hours away in other cities, requireng that to be contested (adding another 3 weeks), only to find out months later that all the doctors and clinics I requested to be sent to are already in the 'approved' VA database and 'in network'.
Phones that ring for 30 minutes (timed), with no answer.
Messages left, with never a call back.
Hospitals call for over a week, requesting forms to process requests for further care (therapy, pain management), and cannot get anyone to answer the phone or return their calls, either.
I asked the question of one of the Care in the Community Managers of "if the point was to speed up appointment times over 30 days, and drive times over 60 miles, what good does it do if YOU take up 21 days of that time, plus additional time for the doctor I'm to see? And if you schedule appointments 2-3 hours away from where I live?"
Again, perhaps a rhetorical question, which she also seemed unable to answer.
You would need to contact the Appeals Management Center at [login to see] .