SwiftVets.com

four-niner delta · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 4:48 am Post subject: Lost My VA Benefits Today!

Well, I found out how the liberals in the senate and congress will cut the budget today! In August 2002, I applied for VA benefits related to diabetes because of exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. The VA approved the benefits in December 2002 and I received benefits retroactive to July 2001 when the Clinton administration approved the addition of diabetes to those diseases caused by A.O. Today I received a letter that my benefits have been stopped because I have Type I diabetes(I was diagnosed in 1974) not Type II. When I applied it was just "diabetes, not I or II. The VA approved and now it takes it away. Unbelievable! I guess they will start to balance this budget on the backs of veterans. My son just returned from Iraq two weeks ago. I shudder to think what his VA benefits will be.
_________________
Gary Armitstead
Burbank, CA
U.S. Army Vietnam 1966-67 Mekong Delta
Mobile Riverine Force
A Co. 3/60 9th INF DIV

DLI78 · PO3 Joined: 10 Nov 2004 Posts: 273

GenrXr · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:16 am Post subject: Re: Lost My VA Benefits Today!

Rdtf · CNO Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 2209 Location: BUSHville

This sounds like another case of them not making themselves clear to you. They might have upset you needlessly, give the VA a call and make sure. I'll also help you research it if you'd like.

four-niner delta · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 1:48 pm Post subject:

Here's the story. In 1980, the Vietnam Veterans of America, sent out flyers to those who had served in areas of Vietnam where Agent Orange had been used extensively. Even the news media at that time covered it because many diseases were starting to show in those vets who had served in-country. The VVA(Vietnam Veterans Of America) then sent me a map showing the specific areas that they had discovered the use of the dioxin(AO). Mind you, the government or the VA wasn't admitting to anything. I then called the VA to find out if any of this was true. Their statement was that there was NO correlation between ANY siseases and A.O. I didn't persue it any further. Then the Clinton administration and the secretary of Veterans Affairs decided to add diabetes to those diseases already included like some cancers and birth defects in children(spina bifida). None of this was published widely in the MSM. I NEVER heard about it.

Then in August 2002, my bro-in-law, a navy veteran, happened to comment to me that his neighbor was receiving benefits from the VA for diabetes related to A.O. I then looked up the website and found that the VA WAS actually paying benefits to vets retroactive to 1999, when the bill was passed to include diabetes. The website DID say that it was Type II diabetes mellitus(known as adult-onset). The other diabetes NOT included was Type I diabetes mellitus(known as juvenile-onset). I was not a juvenile when it was diagnosed at age 31 AND AFTER my tour in Vietnam. I called the Vietnam Veterans Affairs office here at Sepulveda VA hospital and was TOLD that it didn't mater-type I or II-and that I should apply. I did and went through ALL the screening through VA doctors and all the tests and forms. Three months later, the claim was approved and I received retroactive payments back to one year before I filed the claim! When I lost the sight in my right eye due to complications of the disease, I applied for a change in status. Before this change, I was considered 60% disabled when I could STILL SEE. I was forced to retire because of the sight loss. Six months of waiting for an increase, I receive a letter yesterday that my claim was rejected because NOW they will ONLY accept Type II diabetes. So now I have lost ALL payments. I can appeal, of course, but it looks as though things have changed in the last year or so, with so many vets applying due to diabetes. I think I'll just have to fight one more battle-it never ends. We were screwed during the war and they continue to stick it to us!

I don't know if some of you are aware of the fact that reservists who fight in Iraq do NOT receive the same medical benefits as full-time soldiers who fight in Iraq. Reservist or regular, you still die or get wounded. I have backed Bush through all of this, but I have also heard rumors about these VA cutbacks. Believe me, these are not rumors and veterans are going to have to fight for their rights!

This is my rant and venting for the day. We need to fight for veterans rights because the anti-war crowd in Washington is not going to.
_________________
Gary Armitstead
Burbank, CA
U.S. Army Vietnam 1966-67 Mekong Delta
Mobile Riverine Force
A Co. 3/60 9th INF DIV

GenrXr · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 3:06 pm Post subject:

four-niner delta · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:19 pm Post subject:

GenrXr

I just got off the phone with Congressman Adam Schiff(D-Calif) and he told me that reservists in Iraq DO NOT get the same medical benefits as regular troops. He also said that those reservists killed DO NOT get the same death benefits as regular troops.

Also, he is working on my problem and has no idea why they have cancelled my claim after 2 1/2 years.
_________________
Gary Armitstead
Burbank, CA
U.S. Army Vietnam 1966-67 Mekong Delta
Mobile Riverine Force
A Co. 3/60 9th INF DIV

Rdtf · CNO Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 2209 Location: BUSHville

GenrXr · Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 12:20 am Post subject:

DLI78 · PO3 Joined: 10 Nov 2004 Posts: 273

Four-niner delta,

You can also try contacting Feinstein. It's surprising, but she responds to letters/emails from conservatives in her state. It can't hurt.

Forget about Boxer. No use at all.
_________________
DLI 78
Army Linguist
1978-1986

four-niner delta · Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:32 pm Post subject:

All veterans need to read this article from the Disabled American Veterans. I am hearing more and more stories of veterans losing their benefits or being turned away.

As a Bush supporter, I find it really troubling that the administration and the buracracy in this administration find it appropriate to cut back on budgets on the backs of those who have fought for freedom for this country.

PLEASE READ:
http://www.dav.org/news/documents/news_20050208.pdf
_________________
Gary Armitstead
Burbank, CA
U.S. Army Vietnam 1966-67 Mekong Delta
Mobile Riverine Force
A Co. 3/60 9th INF DIV

Slednfool · Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2005 5:01 am Post subject:

What does "Agent Orange" have to do with diabetes?

You need to read Stolen Valor by B.G. Burkett, "Agent Orange" is a lie.

four-niner delta · Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2005 6:14 am Post subject:

Slednfool

Agent Orange is a dioxin that attacks various organs including the reproductive system, the pancreas(diabetes and pancreatic cancer and lymphoma. There is a Agent Orange site on the internet that gives a pretty good explanation.

I saw the results of this stuff throughout the area we were fought in.
_________________
Gary Armitstead
Burbank, CA
U.S. Army Vietnam 1966-67 Mekong Delta
Mobile Riverine Force
A Co. 3/60 9th INF DIV

d19thdoc · Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2005 6:22 am Post subject:

Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, and was previously known as juvenile diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin.

These are two related but different medical conditions: no insulin production (Type 1) versus not enough insulin production (Type 2). The age at which one gets the disease has nothing to do with determining which type it is. Type 1 is merely more common among juveniles and was, therefore, once know as “juvenile diabetes.”

If you have Type 2 and were in Vietnam, you are entitled to compensation, because extensive scientific studies have demonstrated that one of the consequences of exposure to Agent Orange is Type 2 diabetes, and the VA no longer even bothers to dispute whether or not an in-country Vietnam veteran was exposed to Agent Orange. Its use was so extensive that they just presume that we were all exposed.

Instead of pointlessly castigating the VA and seeking irrelevant political intervention, you need to confirm your diagnoses as to type of diabetes. It would not hurt to get second medical opinion from outside of VA as part of your dispute process.

If your diabetes is truly type 1, you are apparently out of luck – their mistake would have been in granting compensation in the first place – either that or their diagnosis was incorrect then or is incorrect now.

VA only compensates for Type 2 because the extensive and years-long studies they do to associate any disease or condition with Agent Orange exposure so far only makes the association for one, but not both, of the two types of diabetes.
_________________
For The Honor of the Fifty-Eight Thousand.
"He Can Lose, But He Can Not Hide"

four-niner delta · Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2005 6:33 am Post subject:

My diabetes is type 2, insulin dependent. I already have spoken with the doctor about this. The VA's contention is that the VA person who made out the claim just had diabetes-no type. The VA doctors who examined me during the process verified it was type 2 and that I was on an insulin pump. This went through the system and I received my benefits for over two and a half years. Since Bush is looking for cutbacks in VA benefits, they are going through records again. That's how they discovered the problem with the claim. Totally internal screw-up with the VA. Now I have to re-submit the records from my doctor. Having been a diabetic for over 31 years, i have a pretty fair knowledge of my disease.
_________________
Gary Armitstead
Burbank, CA
U.S. Army Vietnam 1966-67 Mekong Delta
Mobile Riverine Force
A Co. 3/60 9th INF DIV