Post by Jim on May 24, 2009 9:16:43 GMT -5
As the nation honors its fallen defenders this Memorial Day Weekend, one Jamestown veteran has a few other things on his mind.
He's out of work. His bank account is frozen and he has no access to his veterans benefits, his only source of income. He has to borrow money from his family just so he can get to a medical appointment in Buffalo to have stitches removed. He won't start getting checks for his benefits until later this summer, so somehow, he'll have to find a way to get by until then.
Meanwhile, a collections agency is going after him for thousands of dollars in medical bills that should have been paid for by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He hoped to refinance his home last summer and get a car loan to replace his 10-year-old clunker, but that's no longer possible because of the damage that's been done to his credit report.
His name is Jon, though he's known as J.J. to his friends. Immediately after graduating from Jamestown High School, he joined the U.S. Navy in defense of his country.
In 1986, he served as a second-class petty officer aboard the USS Robison, which was deployed to the Persian Gulf at the height of the war between Iran and Iraq. Jon's battle group was actually relieved by that of the USS Stark, which was struck by missile fire from an Iraqi fighter plane only a few days later, killing more than three dozen on board.
Because of his service, he is entitled to benefits and health care coverage from the VA, but he's been frustrated with the almost insurmountable task of navigating the bureaucratic waters in which he now has to tread.
"I've talked to veterans representatives here in Jamestown ... and several other veterans are having the same problems," said Jon, who requested that his last name be left out since his case is still pending on so many different fronts. "The VA system is not great to begin with. ... Now the system is being overworked even more."
BUREAUCRATIC MAZE
A few years ago, Jon went to WCA Hospital for a heart condition and had to be flown to Hamot Medical Center in Erie. The bill from WCA Hospital should have been sent to the VA, and the VA should have paid it, but that never happened. According to Jon, the VA claims it never received the bill, and after a while the hospital forwarded it over to a collections agency.
He isn't having this problem in Pennsylvania, though. His bills at Hamot Medical Center were paid without incident by the VA in Erie. Even the $5,000 helicopter flight was paid for, but not the bill from WCA.
Now he's trying to get the bill transferred back to WCA Hospital so it could be forwarded to the VA, but representatives from the collections agency are telling him they must first get additional information straight from the VA. Meanwhile, VA officials are telling him they can't give out that information because of privacy laws, according to Jon.
"Now, I'm just making the same loop over and over and over, and nothing is getting done," Jon said,
That would have been enough for him to deal with, but there's more. Jon had a knee injury and could no longer work as a state corrections officer, though he received additional VA benefits to replace his lost salary. At the same time, he was getting divorced, and he was surprised to find the amount he'd have to pay each month for child support was based on both his normal salary as a corrections officer plus the increased benefits, which in reality were supposed to replace the paycheck he was no longer receiving. He has made some headway in getting the payments reduced, but he still owes more than he should, and more than he can afford.
Because he is behind on child support payments, his bank account keeps getting frozen. In the past, he was notified in advance so he would have time to clear it all up. Veterans benefits were exempt from child support, he says, and that's his only source of income, so that fact alone was enough to keep his account open. All of a sudden, he was no longer given any notification, and he was out hundreds of dollars in fees before he could get his account re-opened.
And now, he has come to learn, veterans benefits are seemingly no longer exempt from child support, so he can't get his account unfrozen and has to wait until July until he can start receiving checks and once again have access to his benefits.
Now, Jon has to deal with the hospital, the collections agency and the VA to get his medical bills paid. He also has to deal with the bank, the child support collection units at the both state and county level, the courts and - again - the VA to try and figure out if his benefits are, in fact, exempt, as they've always been.
Meanwhile, he also has to find some way to buy groceries and keep current on his mortgage and his bills, and he can't help letting his frustration show through.
"The system is wrong," Jon said. "It's screwed up."
GETTING HELP
Jon has been working with veterans advocates in Jamestown to try and clear up the mess with the unpaid medical bills. He has also reached out several times to Chautauqua County's representatives at the state and federal level for help with mixed results.
At least as far as medical bills are concerned, there is a way for veterans like Jon to get some help negotiating the oftentimes complex health care arena, according to the VA.
"If a person has concerns, they should go to the contact person at the clinic first," said Evangeline Conley, a spokesperson for the VA's Western New York Health Care System. "If, in fact, the issue isn't resolved at that level ... from there, we have a patient advocate (in Buffalo) who could get involved with a review."
At the same time, Troy Smith, Chautauqua County Veterans Service Agency director, advises veterans like Jon to seek out the county's assistance in dealing with the VA, especially since the federal agency is behind on paperwork to the tune of hundreds of thousands of cases.
"Everything has slowed down tremendously," Smith said. "A lot of times, we can at least facilitate a lot of the issues veterans have."
In those cases, according to Smith, he personally could be able to work directly with everyone involved to get the matter resolved.
"The best place for them to come to, of course, is us," Smith said. "What's so important is getting everyone to understand when they're in this situation, don't try dealing directly with the VA."
According to U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-South Buffalo, the VA has been severely underfunded in recent years, which could have contributed to the backlog and the average 177-day wait for veterans to access their benefits. VA funding has been increased 40 percent since January 2007, though, which Higgins believes could help the agency catch up and become more efficient.
As hundreds of thousands of veterans return from the Middle-East and join the veterans system, though, Jon worries about them facing the same hurdles he has had to face.
"I really feel sorry for these people who are getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan. They're running into the same problems," Jon said.
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He's out of work. His bank account is frozen and he has no access to his veterans benefits, his only source of income. He has to borrow money from his family just so he can get to a medical appointment in Buffalo to have stitches removed. He won't start getting checks for his benefits until later this summer, so somehow, he'll have to find a way to get by until then.
Meanwhile, a collections agency is going after him for thousands of dollars in medical bills that should have been paid for by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He hoped to refinance his home last summer and get a car loan to replace his 10-year-old clunker, but that's no longer possible because of the damage that's been done to his credit report.
His name is Jon, though he's known as J.J. to his friends. Immediately after graduating from Jamestown High School, he joined the U.S. Navy in defense of his country.
In 1986, he served as a second-class petty officer aboard the USS Robison, which was deployed to the Persian Gulf at the height of the war between Iran and Iraq. Jon's battle group was actually relieved by that of the USS Stark, which was struck by missile fire from an Iraqi fighter plane only a few days later, killing more than three dozen on board.
Because of his service, he is entitled to benefits and health care coverage from the VA, but he's been frustrated with the almost insurmountable task of navigating the bureaucratic waters in which he now has to tread.
"I've talked to veterans representatives here in Jamestown ... and several other veterans are having the same problems," said Jon, who requested that his last name be left out since his case is still pending on so many different fronts. "The VA system is not great to begin with. ... Now the system is being overworked even more."
BUREAUCRATIC MAZE
A few years ago, Jon went to WCA Hospital for a heart condition and had to be flown to Hamot Medical Center in Erie. The bill from WCA Hospital should have been sent to the VA, and the VA should have paid it, but that never happened. According to Jon, the VA claims it never received the bill, and after a while the hospital forwarded it over to a collections agency.
He isn't having this problem in Pennsylvania, though. His bills at Hamot Medical Center were paid without incident by the VA in Erie. Even the $5,000 helicopter flight was paid for, but not the bill from WCA.
Now he's trying to get the bill transferred back to WCA Hospital so it could be forwarded to the VA, but representatives from the collections agency are telling him they must first get additional information straight from the VA. Meanwhile, VA officials are telling him they can't give out that information because of privacy laws, according to Jon.
"Now, I'm just making the same loop over and over and over, and nothing is getting done," Jon said,
That would have been enough for him to deal with, but there's more. Jon had a knee injury and could no longer work as a state corrections officer, though he received additional VA benefits to replace his lost salary. At the same time, he was getting divorced, and he was surprised to find the amount he'd have to pay each month for child support was based on both his normal salary as a corrections officer plus the increased benefits, which in reality were supposed to replace the paycheck he was no longer receiving. He has made some headway in getting the payments reduced, but he still owes more than he should, and more than he can afford.
Because he is behind on child support payments, his bank account keeps getting frozen. In the past, he was notified in advance so he would have time to clear it all up. Veterans benefits were exempt from child support, he says, and that's his only source of income, so that fact alone was enough to keep his account open. All of a sudden, he was no longer given any notification, and he was out hundreds of dollars in fees before he could get his account re-opened.
And now, he has come to learn, veterans benefits are seemingly no longer exempt from child support, so he can't get his account unfrozen and has to wait until July until he can start receiving checks and once again have access to his benefits.
Now, Jon has to deal with the hospital, the collections agency and the VA to get his medical bills paid. He also has to deal with the bank, the child support collection units at the both state and county level, the courts and - again - the VA to try and figure out if his benefits are, in fact, exempt, as they've always been.
Meanwhile, he also has to find some way to buy groceries and keep current on his mortgage and his bills, and he can't help letting his frustration show through.
"The system is wrong," Jon said. "It's screwed up."
GETTING HELP
Jon has been working with veterans advocates in Jamestown to try and clear up the mess with the unpaid medical bills. He has also reached out several times to Chautauqua County's representatives at the state and federal level for help with mixed results.
At least as far as medical bills are concerned, there is a way for veterans like Jon to get some help negotiating the oftentimes complex health care arena, according to the VA.
"If a person has concerns, they should go to the contact person at the clinic first," said Evangeline Conley, a spokesperson for the VA's Western New York Health Care System. "If, in fact, the issue isn't resolved at that level ... from there, we have a patient advocate (in Buffalo) who could get involved with a review."
At the same time, Troy Smith, Chautauqua County Veterans Service Agency director, advises veterans like Jon to seek out the county's assistance in dealing with the VA, especially since the federal agency is behind on paperwork to the tune of hundreds of thousands of cases.
"Everything has slowed down tremendously," Smith said. "A lot of times, we can at least facilitate a lot of the issues veterans have."
In those cases, according to Smith, he personally could be able to work directly with everyone involved to get the matter resolved.
"The best place for them to come to, of course, is us," Smith said. "What's so important is getting everyone to understand when they're in this situation, don't try dealing directly with the VA."
According to U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-South Buffalo, the VA has been severely underfunded in recent years, which could have contributed to the backlog and the average 177-day wait for veterans to access their benefits. VA funding has been increased 40 percent since January 2007, though, which Higgins believes could help the agency catch up and become more efficient.
As hundreds of thousands of veterans return from the Middle-East and join the veterans system, though, Jon worries about them facing the same hurdles he has had to face.
"I really feel sorry for these people who are getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan. They're running into the same problems," Jon said.
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