are you a U.S. Military Veteran?

[queenlives]

are you - or someone you know - an honorably discharged U.S. Military Veteran? if so, you/they may be eligible for VA Health Care benefits **even if** your service:

* was "only" for a regular service / enlistment period and not a career / retirement benefit period.

* did not result in a combat or service-related illness.

you're welcome to pm me with any basic questions you have, otherwise the best place that i know to begin your research is http://va.gov.

best,
hal

 

[NSXrebel]

For life?

I'm already receiving 5 yrs of medical benefits "automatically" for being an OIF/OEF veteran, and I didn't suffer any combat injuries. One had to served in either of those AOR's to receive the 5 yrs of coverage.

 

[queenlives]

For life?

I'm already receiving 5 yrs of medical benefits "automatically" for being an OIF/OEF veteran, and I didn't suffer any combat injuries. One had to served in either of those AOR's to receive the 5 yrs of coverage.

pm sent.

 

[kwinkler]

One of the first things I did during my separation process.

 

[itrsteve]

Interesting, I knew I had something from being an OIF vet but I've always had private coverage since separated.

 

[deedubb]

PM Sent

 

[queenlives]

kwinkler, good for you - you earned it!

itr, it wouldn't hurt / cost anything to determine your earned benefits and enroll if eligible.

deedub, you have pm

 

[HIJACKER]

US Marine Corps Veteran here - PM sent.

 

[queenlives]

US Marine Corps Veteran here - PM sent.

you have pm.

 

[queenlives]

Interesting, I knew I had something from being an OIF vet but I've always had private coverage since separated.

pm sent.

 

[queenlives]

folks,

i recently registered for health care with the VA and following enrollment and discovered i had been exposed to Agent Orange during my tour in southeast asia. as a result, i have been enrolled into the VA AO illness program. if you know a vet who served served in vietnam / southeast asia during the vietnam era, please direct them to the link @ the bottom of this post and encourage them to review the details to determine their risk / coverage. a couple of things to keep in mind:

1) the VA is reactive on this so it's up to the vet to contact the VA to determine their exposure / eligibility / enrollment in the AO program.

2) AO-related illnesses are **still** being identified and added to coverage - a specific type of heart disease as well as lou gehrig's disease were recently added - so just because an illness isn't on the covered list today doesn't mean it won't be in the future.

3) DNA damage may be passed down through the vet's biological descendants and at least one serious illness / affliction is already presumed to be the result of the vet / parent's exposure to AO.

4) the VA will provide AO-related illness medical care to exposed vets and their biological descendants ONLY if the vet registers and is accepted into the AO program.

here is the basic VA AO information page you can use for a starting point.

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/treatment.asp

best,
hal

 

[Nukem]

I am a vet of OEF and my dad was exposed to Agent Orange during Vietnam...I know he had to fight and fight to get 100% disability benefits.

 

[queenlives]

i've read about the difficulties some have had getting AO disability benefits - glad to hear his were awarded.