Nothing is easy when you deal with government

[Clipper]

The Vietnam Veteran's service agency is working with me to get a higher rating for my Veteran's Disability Pension. The VA uses an entity called Veteran's Evaluation Services. It is a contractor.

In order to get a higher rating for my exposure to agent orange and PTSD I have to jump through the usual VA hoops. It took me years just to GET a disability rating and pension.

I am glad I am retired and have time on my hands. They must be using the lowest priced providers to evaluate the veterans. I saw a doctor here for him to evaluate my neuropathy in my feet and to play 900 questions. Now I have a MRI scheduled in Greeneville Tn. 55 miles from here. There are several MRI machines within a 15 minute drive but they use a vendor 55 miles away. They also need labs and an EKG. My heart doctor is 2 miles up the road at the CVA Heart Institute but they scheduled me for an EKG about 25 miles away in Abingdon Va. They also have to make me an appointment with a local Shrink to evaluate my PTSD rating. I have already filed a ream of paperwork and sent copies of my DD214 and some medical documentation to a couple of places.

Heck if I do get a higher rating I guess I will certainly have plenty of hours expended doing paperwork and wandering Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia to far flung appointments, haha. I have no problem with the traveling around to the appointments. When I go to Greeneville we will stop and have a meal at an Amish restaurant that serves family style and the Amish Store next door to it for sausage, Limburger, pretzels, and some of Kathy's canning supplies. Top it off with a 2 scoop waffle cone of their home made ice cream.

The good news is that if I am approved I will get back pay back to October when I first filed

[BHU]

I noticed in your poat that the VA uses a contractor to do your evaluation. More then likely someone greased the palms of Washington politicians so the contract to do these evaluations was awarded to that outfit. I hope you get approved. Viet Nam vets like you have been getting screwed over for decades & it's high time those wrongs were righted.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

See if you can charge them for all the time and work you put in for this.

This reminds me of my father. He was WW2. Had health issues related to WW2. After many many years through a friend he signed up for Veteran benefits disability. They gave him a very insulting cash payment ear month for 5 years. He dies at the end. Week later my Mom gets some letter saying she had to return the money he got because of a mistake in their past. I won't tell ya what she did when returning a check to whomever!!!!