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Vent about VA going civilian

Comfygirl

Bronze Contributor
Member For 3 Years
Ugh... I'm pretty much not in favor of the direction in which the VA is going with regards to sending us out to civilian doctors. Back in NJ I was sent to a private doctor (shrink) because the VA was booked too solidly for months. I went to a private doctor and when I learned I was moving to Texas, I cancelled my remaining appointments but somehow... I guess they still billed me for 2 missed appointments even though I called to cancel them. I moved to Texas. Now I'm in collections for those missed appointments and I'm stupid broke. I'm in collections for missing an appointment.
I even wrote to the collections company explaining my situation and begged them to forgive the debt. ($90.00)
AND to make it worse, when I told them I couldn't pay the whole thing all at once, they put me on a payment plan. I get it but still... I think it's pretty shitty and it's not the only time similar situations have happened. I had to fight with Tricare to pay my spinal surgery incidentals which ended up costing me in the thousands... which is why I'm broke and not in physical therapy like I should be (the VA says I don't require any)
Unless the privatization of the VA really won't end up in situations like this... I can't see it working.
 

MEENMAN83

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
You need to get with American Legion they should be able to foot the bill for you. As for it going civilian, it sucks however it's like Tricare you can almost doctor shop for one that is good but bad too. The issue with Tricare/VA approved doctors/surgeons is either they're really bad ass or really shitty. This is because Tricare/VA only pay up to 20% what the actual bill will be.

Don't try to let it overwhelm you, remember we are all going to make it. I don't know how PMs work here but shoot me one I might have a "holistic" approach that might work if its PTSD (no its not the green stuff too)
 

Comfygirl

Bronze Contributor
Member For 3 Years
You need to get with American Legion they should be able to foot the bill for you. As for it going civilian, it sucks however it's like Tricare you can almost doctor shop for one that is good but bad too. The issue with Tricare/VA approved doctors/surgeons is either they're really bad ass or really shitty. This is because Tricare/VA only pay up to 20% what the actual bill will be.

Don't try to let it overwhelm you, remember we are all going to make it. I don't know how PMs work here but shoot me one I might have a "holistic" approach that might work if its PTSD (no its not the green stuff too)
I can pay my bills, and will. That's not the purpose of this vent. I merely wanted to state that going to a civilian doctor is sort of like taking your car in to a mechanic... you may think you're getting a simple oil change but when you go to pay, there are a thousand "add-ons" that you weren't anticipating paying and that I have been diligent about keeping up with these bills but when you get thrown into collections for a "missed appointment fee" that hits you a year later-it sucks AND it affects your credit rating.

So I suppose my vent was not only a vent but a cautionary tale for others...and to ponder if going private is really the right direction for the VA...

And believe me MEENMAN... I'm all for the green stuff. In fact, since my nightmare experiences at the VA, I've taken myself off ALL my medications (I was taking 17 different medications) from the VA and am only take the green stuff which has helped me TREMENDOUSLY! It's helped me with my pain, my anxiety and my PTSD. I'm almost back to my normal self.
 

BigNasty

Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
I see the VA to civvie doc as a good and bad thing.
good thing.
Ease of getting vets seen, better dr.s than the lifer mil docs that could not cut private sector and who barely graduated.

Bad thing.
civvie docs treating vets like second class citizens if they will see them at all. Once they find out you are a vet then even if you have private insurance they try and dump you off on the va.
 

Comfygirl

Bronze Contributor
Member For 3 Years
I see the VA to civvie doc as a good and bad thing.
good thing.
Ease of getting vets seen, better dr.s than the lifer mil docs that could not cut private sector and who barely graduated.

Bad thing.
civvie docs treating vets like second class citizens if they will see them at all. Once they find out you are a vet then even if you have private insurance they try and dump you off on the va.
I'm not going to lie... it's very nice to go to a nice office and see real doctors. However, Tricare does like to fuck up and not pay bills, and the civilian doctors WILL get their money. My neurosurgeons office sent me a bill (one of MANY) and I called Tricare and they said they paid it. The DR Office said they didn't. Neither would actually call eachother on the phone to figure it out. Who ended up paying? Me... When this happens more than once... more like 5 or 10 times? I tend to shy away from doctors because of that.

And lets face it... doctors these days are really only interested in MEDICATING illness or disease, not curing them. Why don't we just send med students to the University of Pfizer where all they have to learn is what pills to prescribe... It's INSANE how much is prescribed! We are prescribing pills to help with the side effects of other pills and that's insane.
 

BigNasty

Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ECF Refugee
I'm not going to lie... it's very nice to go to a nice office and see real doctors. However, Tricare does like to fuck up and not pay bills, and the civilian doctors WILL get their money. My neurosurgeons office sent me a bill (one of MANY) and I called Tricare and they said they paid it. The DR Office said they didn't. Neither would actually call eachother on the phone to figure it out. Who ended up paying? Me... When this happens more than once... more like 5 or 10 times? I tend to shy away from doctors because of that.

And lets face it... doctors these days are really only interested in MEDICATING illness or disease, not curing them. Why don't we just send med students to the University of Pfizer where all they have to learn is what pills to prescribe... It's INSANE how much is prescribed! We are prescribing pills to help with the side effects of other pills and that's insane.
My hospital stay last winter when they found I was a vet they tried to get me transported to the va. I had to raise a stink since I never went to the va for treatment or filed up there let alone know off the top of my head where my dd214 was to do so, and the delay it would have caused I would be dead. I was treated like less than an illegal alien, convicted goat raping pedophile or drug seeker.
Thank god that shit got put to an end when one of the admins came down and mom and I both overheard the patient care advocate say " He is a Vet the Va should be doing this not us" That went over like a lead balloon.

They would have left me writhing on the floor in pain if it was not for one nurse that kept me medicated heavy and comfy and the chief of staff tearing off giant chunks of ass from the er on down.
 

Comfygirl

Bronze Contributor
Member For 3 Years
My hospital stay last winter when they found I was a vet they tried to get me transported to the va. I had to raise a stink since I never went to the va for treatment or filed up there let alone know off the top of my head where my dd214 was to do so, and the delay it would have caused I would be dead. I was treated like less than an illegal alien, convicted goat raping pedophile or drug seeker.
Thank god that shit got put to an end when one of the admins came down and mom and I both overheard the patient care advocate say " He is a Vet the Va should be doing this not us" That went over like a lead balloon.

They would have left me writhing on the floor in pain if it was not for one nurse that kept me medicated heavy and comfy and the chief of staff tearing off giant chunks of ass from the er on down.

That sounds awful...
 
Like most things there are different views. When I first retired I was fortunate to have a VA hospital near my home, maybe a mile away. It was great and I was extremely fortunate to have found a great primary doctor, eventually. The level of care was top-notch. I was talking to other vets I knew in various places with different levels of satisfaction. I was naive a bit thinking that most of the VAs were like then one I was using. Even so, the hospital I was using had its detractors too. I even ventured outside for a neurologist. He was supposed to be the best in the area, he'd been "the guy" for probably 30 years, maybe even 40. In the end, he messed me up. In part it's my own fault. I didn't do whatever was required to have my docs from the VA clued in. So when the "great" civilian doctor put me on an oh by the way "benign" cholesterol medication that I ended up being allergic to the VA wasn't to blame,. Never had an allergic reaction to a med before and I was 45 at the time. So when I started having full body cramping, but more severe in my legs, I could feel every strand of muscle in my legs. I never knew there were muscles in my shin. I panicked and went to my VA doc. She ran me through the wringer. The whole time I was seeing the civilian neurologist, telling him too of what was happening. Not once did he mention that statins have a similar side-effect to what I was going through. I lost probably a third of my muscle in my thighs. 10 years later the cramping is nightly, probably more due to neuropathy, but I can't help think the great civilian doc shares some blame. I took that med for nearly a year and saw him numerous times. The person who saved me was my wife. For some reason she never went with before to get my meds refilled and heard me refilling a statin for the first time. My VA doc put me on, in, inside me, me inside it, below, machine the VA had to find what was causing my pain. We did discover a couple of other troubling things in the search so it was not all wasted effort. I've since moved and my current VA isn't close and traffic can turn a 70 mile trip into three hours, even more. So here I welcome whenever the civilian option is offered. Now I'm just going to be sure that I keep my doc at the VA better informed.
 

The Cromwell

I am a BOT
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
A crappy deal for vets.
But this makes the economy grow by routing tax dollars to private businesses.
 

pulsevape

Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
" He is a Vet the Va should be doing this not us" ............
Yeah I see....it's not like the whole country owes a deb of gratitude to the Veterans.....or that we all made a collective agreement to provide for them.
 

The Cromwell

I am a BOT
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Been going on for quite a while.
I recall Bob Doyle and Madeline Albright? heading up a Blue Ribbon commission back during the Bush II years and pledging to 'fix' the VA.
It seems that they failed.
 

sultan

VU Donator
Member For 4 Years
My biggest concern will be those telling civilian doctors their medical issues from the VA only to find their medical or life insurance rates going up. I check all the boxes No or N/A and I have instructed my wife to never reveal my VA medical issues unless it is life/death.
 

DrDetroit

Member For 4 Years
Reddit Exile
I'm not sure how it works, or how some people qualify, or some don't, but, I have never had a co-pay, or had to pay a penny for any treatment, appointment, or prescription since I started using the VA in 2011.
I was getting ready to go to Truck Driving School to get my CDL, and my career counselor saw that I served in the Navy. She said, "If you can get me your DD-214, I can get the VA to pay for your schooling." I didn't have a copy, so I ordered it from Kansas City. It came 3 weeks later, and I didn't pay anything for my CDL. My career counselor then said, "You should go to the VA and find out what kind of benefits you qualify for. I went to "Eligibility" and sat down, and asked what I qualify for. I was told I qualify for "everything". Well, everything except Eyeglass and Dental. Since then, I have been diagnosed with Asbestos poisoning, COPD, Congestive Heart Failure and Irregular heartbeat. I've never paid a penny or been billed in 7 years. And I go quite frequently as they are concerned about the irregular heartbeat and think I could have a heart attack at any minute. They are scheduling heart surgery for me in the coming weeks. I can't imagine what I'd have to pay if I ever got a bill. Probably in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that's not including the 15 pills a day I take, the CPAP machine, the heart monitor, the home blood pressure kit, the "TENS" unit for my severe back pain. That machinery they sent me home with isn't cheap. Now I use a cane that graduated to a walker. All I have to do is go to my doctor and she sends a referral and I go home with machines, or meds, and have never seen a bill.
Like my VA doctor told me once, "It's not how long you were in, or where you served, but WHEN you served that dictates your care and what you pay, if anything".
I just don't understand how I can get away with not being billed for anything, yet some guys who served during War (I was in during the Cold War Era) get billed or have a co-pay.
Not sure entirely how that all works.
 

DOAUSMC0331

Member For 4 Years
Ya know I really think it depends on where your at in the US because here in Colorado it's pretty good in my opinion if the VA can't get me in a timely manner then they out source it which is good. I also think out in the civilian feild the Doctors seem to care more than the ones at the VA. I have heard a lot of people not liking the VA and when I ask them how active they are in their health care there really not. I have seen and experienced that if your patient and proactive the system is ok. But just like anywhere there are it's hang ups. Just my $.02 worth.
 

dm450

Member For 1 Year
I'd have to totally agree with you DOAUSMC0331, I think it really depends on where you are located. I've been in the Choice program now for almost two years for a lower back injury and it's been good. It's over a 2 hour drive for me to get to a regional VA hospital and only an hour drive to the civilian place they send me to now. The VA recently cancelled contract with (health net??) basically they cut out the middle man and the VA now does their own outsourcing for the Choice program. I have heard LOTS of horror stories from fellow vets about the VA but so far aside from having to make lots of phone calls making sure things are getting done, it's been good.
 

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