ARRGH!! I have been to the VA two times. I just got the statements.

[alfredo]

My insurance did not cover one red cent. I don't know if I will be liable for the $500 in doctor bills. They told me that I would only have to pay $25 for a doctor visit, and $50 for a specialist. I hope they were right. I am already in up to my ears with my wife's bills. Insurance didn't cover her MRI or her breast exam. Luckily the hospital said I can pay $100 a month.

This sucks. I am on SSI, and I am disabled.

[Submariner]

1. I need to spend $4000 for a lithotripsy

procedure to break up a kidney stone stuck in my left kidney. The VA laughed me out the door last week. I didn't know until my VA visit that my guaranteed for life VA health care benefits from 1969 were now gone thanks to our draft-dodging junta in the WH.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. SICKO is right. Meanwhile, insurance co. CEOs are living better than ever.

This country has become even more pathetic.

[alfredo]

3. It's going to be a hard candy Christmas.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

14. Yeah, if you violated YOUR end of the

enlistment "contract" you would be in Levenworth still.

However, their end of it seems to be, well, flexible.

[Elwood P Dowd]

4. What in hell is going on Alfredo?

I haven't used the VA since the 90s, but now I have no health insurance. When did they start charging?

[alfredo]

5. I'm going to call. Maybe they first try to recover through insurance

companies to cut costs. I really don't know.

[Elwood P Dowd]

6. I haven't used them since the 90s when I had no insurance.

Then I had a few years with insurance, so I have not been back. Now I am again without insurance. I haven't made any money the past two years, except for a few thousand selling stuff on eBay, so I would fall below their income threshold. However, I do own some land that is worth some money. Wonder how that would affect me? Man, these bastards are lower than whale shit. When are our Dems in Congress going to get off their ass and tell the world what these bastards are doing?

[alfredo]

8. I own my home and that makes no difference. You just have to

take last years earnings. Maybe a copy of your tax return might be needed. Ask them what you will need to bring.

[Elwood P Dowd]

10. You're in Louisville, Kentucky

I went through basic training at Ft Knox in 1970. Haven't been anywhere near that place since then. Is the Patton Club still there? What about all the whore houses and clip joints in Louisville?

[alfredo]

11. I haven't lived in Louisville for a long time. I am in Lexington.

I did my basic in Ft Jackson, ATI at Devens.

[Elwood P Dowd]

13. Sorry

Thought I read you were in Louisville. I did basic and AIT at Knox and then spent the rest of my time in Washington, DC.

[alfredo]

15. I was raised in Shively. That could be why I am not in the

area anymore. I love Louisville, but I felt it better to break my ties with the whole region. I have no friends or family in Shively, so there is no reason to remain in that blighted area.

Lexington is a good place to live. We have some committed activist here, and an active arts community. There's also a lot of fine restaurants, libraries, and bookstores. The immigrant community attracted by the University has had a positive effect on the community. All, from the Mexican laborer to the Libyan professor have added so much to our town.

Back in my high school days we used to go down to Ft Knox for the daughters of the soldiers stationed there. We'd take them dancing, dining, and with a bit of luck, we'd end up out on Brandenburg road for some heavy breathing.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. I've been lucky with the VA...

just signed up with a new center since I moved, and almost immediately got an appointment with the opthamologist and will shortly be scheduled for cataract surgery and a few other things.

Still waiting for Lyme disease and diabetic testing and another colonoscopy, but back in Joisey such things were fairly routine, if not necessarily timely, so I don't see much of a problem. It's been less than a month.

I don't have any other coverage and I'm under the income guidelines, so everything is free-- so far.

[alfredo]

9. I'm going to call them. I haven't received a bill yet, so I could

be worried for nothing. I think they billed two of the charges incorrectly.

[happyslug]

12. Some comments on your case.

Remember the following, if someone is on SSI, SSI can NOT be attached by the Sheriff to pay off a Judgment, even a Judgment from a Hospital Bill.

Second, once you are in a Hospital, and it is receiving Federal Funds, they can NOT refuse service to you.

Furthermore if you are on SSI, you are eligible for Federally funded Medical Coverage via your State's Department of Public Welfare (And the state generally wants you to be on it for the Feds funds such Medical Coverage 100% i.e. the state pays nothing).

[alfredo]

16. I will pursue all avenues. I am not adverse to fighting the long fight.

I fought for three years to get disability, I fought the IRS for two years, and my insurance company for two years. I don't fight to lose.

[alfredo]

17. Bingo! It's all free. I only have to pay for my scripts. GRIN!

I called and straightened every out.

[Elwood P Dowd]

18. Good for you.

I've downloaded the 10-10EZR form from the VA, made copies of my DD214, and I'm starting the process of getting back in the system. The last correspondence I have from the VA dates back to 1999. One of those letters mentions that I have to drive to my VA facility and get a ID card. Is that still true? It's 120 miles round trip for me, and I just do not want to spend the money and time. I'm hoping I can handle all of this through the mail or on the internet.

[alfredo]

19. Talk to them about the hardship of the drive, but you still have to go there

to see the doctors.



My last contact with them was in the early 70's.