Veterans and Travel Pay

[straightshooter]

I have recently started a new job at the VA hospital moving from the Human Resource Dept into Travel section for Veterans. As my training progresses I will be able to help and assist any one with travel questions C& P reimbursements etc. I am hearing lately, that some of you do not realize that you can be seen at any VA and that you may be entitled to Free travel pay for visits and how all of that is established. As you get out of the military, the VA may not be openly presenting these benefits to vetrans as they should be. If any one has questions about getting reimbursed for travel, or needs assistance to get to a hospital for treatment, I may be able to help find these answers for you and explain how some of it works. Please inquire on this thread or I am happy to take your PM messages on anything that I can help with through the VA hospital in reference to either employment issues/benefits and or Travel expenses/reimbursements/ who's eligible for treatment and how it pertains to you as a veteran. You as a veteran earned these bennies.

[Spartan]

Can I make arrangements to visit the VA Hospital in Honolulu?

[Vee]

I want to know how to get to the VA Hospital that SS works at

I-25 North to Buffalo, merge left onto I-90 West. Go 35 miles to the third Sheridan Exit. You can see the Hospital from the Interstate :D

[straightshooter]

Seriously,

Here's some information for any veteran looking. I am not sure how other VA's do this but I am almost sure that regulation makes it apply straight across the board.
If you are at least 30% disabled, you qualify for Travel to other VA's for medical treatment. This means that if the VA closest to you can't give you or provide the treatment or care that you need thay will fly you or whatever to the nearest specialized facility that can provide it. An example is as the veteran gets older, they start to have more medical symptoms for example, alot of times we fly cancer patients to Denver or Salt Lake City and even reimburse their cab fare.
If, you are not service connected and are a veteran that may be on let's say Social Security and don't have a high recorded income, you may also be eligible for the same benefits. An example of this would be lets say you were injured after the military bad enough that you couldn't hold a job the past year and had no medical coverage but found out you had to have surgery, then what you would do is go to the VA hospital and get a referring consult froom the doctor there done, then you would get with your local VA Rep social worker and have them request travel be paid to the facility that the referring Doctor was sending you to for treatment. Then, your entire expenses could then be authorized and it wouldn't cost the veteran anything for travel. See even though the VA cannot deny treatment to the veteran, alot of times the veteran is still required to pay the travel to the destination that the treatment is coming from. There are ways around that however if you need to use them. That is the job of the social workers at the VA near you to work on. They are there for you.

[Looon]

What are some of the specific conditions they treat at your hospital only? I will go get myself one of those conditions.

[straightshooter]

What are some of the specific conditions they treat at your hospital only? I will go get myself one of those conditions.

Are you sure about that? It's mainly a physchiatric based facility with a nursing home But on amore serious note, We get a bunch of patients for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. They have a wonderful program here for that. They are also acknowledging more of that then they ever had. Sad part is that I have seen some pretty young people coming through the doors lately since Iraq.

[Steadfast]

A few years ago, a buddy of mine was hurt while on vacation in Mexico during a dive. His wife called our Hootch # and I picked up the phone. I recognized who she was calling about and got her in touch with the medical staff that could help her & him. I saw him again about 8 months or so later. He told me the V.A. paid to have him medically transported back to the U.S., back to NY. He was treated at our Hospital and he made a full recovery. This is one of the fine instances you never hear about. So listen to SS. She is talking good shit!

[Bell]

Could ya give some more info? They just closed critical care beds here in Kerrville at the VA hospital. Now the Vets have to travel to San Antonio, 65 miles away. Some of the older Vets have already stated, "Fuck it. I ain't gonna drive that far."

They should have added beds here, not take them away. Go figger.

RLTW
Bell

[Looon]

What are some of the specific conditions they treat at your hospital only? I will go get myself one of those conditions.

Are you sure about that? It's mainly a physchiatric based facility with a nursing home.

I was diagnosed with PTSD 11 or 12 yrs ago. It sounds like I am G2G. I could always use a nurse. I like the outfits.

[Steadfast]

What are some of the specific conditions they treat at your hospital only? I will go get myself one of those conditions.

Are you sure about that? It's mainly a physchiatric based facility with a nursing home.

I was diagnosed with PTSD 11 or 12 yrs ago. It sounds like I am G2G. I could always use a nurse. I like the outfits.

eeeeeeeww, you got that PT Sex Disease?

[straightshooter]

Could ya give some more info? They just closed critical care beds here in Kerrville at the VA hospital. Now the Vets have to travel to San Antonio, 65 miles away. Some of the older Vets have already stated, "Fuck it. I ain't gonna drive that far."

They should have added beds here, not take them away. Go figger.

RLTW
Bell

Ranger Bell,
I am not sure totally what you are asking. If I don't answer this or don't have a good answer I could sure find out with more specifics for you about that area.

In Wyoming we only have 2 VA hospitals, one is in Cheyenne and they do some surgical procedures and then ours here in Sheridan that doesn't have any surgical capabilities, but deals mainly with mental issues PTSD etc, plus the nursing home for elderly vets and vets who can't take care of themselves for what ever reason. Using this as an example, we have different small CBOC's (Community Based Outpatient Clinic's.) in different parts of the state. The veteran can go to the nearest one and get a consult to be referred to the closest hospital that can treat that veteran for his condition. If there isn't a vet facility close by and the veteran is ill, then he/she can go to the hospital (even if it's public) have that attending physician call the Main VA that the veteran is closest to and obtain authorization to be seen there and to be referred on to where further treatment can be obtained to benefit that veteran. An example of this was this last year, I was out of town and had to go to the emergency room. I had no private insurance at all and I felt it was an emergency to be seen. A public hospital treated me, and I reported to the TLC hotline that I was needing to be seen. The doctor did a consult stating that I needed more treatment. So after I was treated by a regular hospital because I wasn't near a VA I got a follow up appointment later with that VA at a CBOC. (which they paid travel for) Based upon what they found at the private hospital, I was able to use that info to get me in a VA hospital for surgery to fix my problem. So, it can be a tedious process, but if you need treatment, you can get treatment. I submitted my bills for the emergency room visit that was non VA and they accepted them and paid them. Also, the VA paid my travel expenses to the closest VA which was Cheyenne to get the surgery done. Now, if you do not like the facility that they are sending you to, you can request to be sent elsewhere, and may have a good chance in getting it. I was once flown from Wyoming clear out to tocoma where I insisted a certain Military doctor do my surgery, and The VA reluctantly did it. Believe it or not, they want the veteran to get the best care, because it would add up financially against them in the end if the veteran is not happy or had received it in the first place. We send patients out locally into the private sector everyday for MRI's etc, and the VA picks up the tab. So, if these vets are in a critical care setting, I would think that they would have definate alternative travel methods or would provide some kind of support for the veteran.
Another example is if we have a vet who is VA pension, service connected, meets the criteria financially for travel benefits, we have been known to charter flights with attendants from our hospital to other hospitals that could provide that care. If they are healthy enough to travel on their own but cannot drive themselves we usually fly them commercially. If they are close enough to another facility but are too weak to drive or what ever we send out what we call an non emergent ambulance. We have been known to pay for ambulance trips from 200 miles away It is common for our small hospital to do $17,000 a month in just ambulance trips. We give cab vouchers, bus tickets, and even pay mileage (Which isn't very much only .11/mile) to those driving themselves.
It is too bad that the older Vets have to travel further now for assistance, but they may depending on their situaion may be able to get a private doctor contracted through the VA to handle their treatment so that the veteran doesn't have to make so many trips back and forth. That is where the VA Unit coordinators and Social Workers need to be utilized. If the veteran is being seen regularly for treatment, he/sure needs to go see one of them and have them plead their case to get the approval to be seen locally. If they see a need the VA will make exceptions for those Veterans on a case by case situation. It doesn't ever hurt to request what you want. You may get heard easier than what you think. Also, if you disagree, they work on chain of command just like military and the veterans case will get heard by someone.

[Dmason]

Now the Vets have to travel to San Antonio, 65 miles away. Some of the older Vets have already stated, "Fuck it. I ain't gonna drive that far."

Hey Bell, up here in Montana I have to drive 45 miles to visit my VA clinic, and 150 miles to the nearest VA hospital. For those vets who cannot drive, there is a DAV van network in the state to get these old guys where they are suppose to be.
The VA system works pretty good for me. At last count I've had 28 surgeries since November 1992, so I know a little bit about the Army and VA medical systems.

[Bell]

Thanks for the info.

It's sad here because the critical beds have been removed. The family can't visit the patient if they move to San Antonio. My dad was in the VA here in Kerrville for almost a year until he died. Mom got to see him every day. If he'd been in San Antonio she wouldn't have been able to get over there but every couple of weeks or once a month.

Sucks.

RLTW
Bell