Cheryl always thought, 'Why should I pay when I can go to the VA' but she doesn't think that way after having gone through three ankle surgeries, all because a VA doctor denied her Aid and Attendance (A&A) application.
"On April 12, 1996 I had a seizure (I've had seizures since my car accident in 1989--I get clammy and dizzy and black out)," says Cheryl. "I was alone at the time and when I came to, I couldn't get up. I crawled to the phone and called 911, got to the hospital by ambulance and they told me I needed surgery—I had broken my ankle when I fell down.I had been taken to a private hospital and they had to call the VA for approval (my VA hospital was 250 miles away and legally you can go to a private hospital if it is an emergency and a VA hospital is more than 200 miles away.) The orthopedic surgeon got permission from the VA to do surgery and afterward he told me, under no circumstance, can I walk on my foot for six weeks.
I followed up with my VA rep and she said I had to apply for A&A – the VA tops up your pension to have a caregiver in your home and you pay the caregiver. I'm a single mum and at that time my youngest son was only 5 and my other son had moved out so I had nobody to help—I really needed to get A&A approved.
My primary doctor at the Billings Clinic in Montana had to approve A&A but he refused. I had no idea why he reached that decision-- I was in a wheelchair! I took this issue all the way to the director of the VA hospital in Fort Harrison but because my primary doctor said no, I had no recourse. I had to walk on my foot and wound up having three more surgeries in a private hospital. They fused some bones in my ankle and now I don't have a calf or an ankle—it is swollen and deformed. If the VA doctor had approved my A&A application, this would never have happened.
Consequently, I have been an invalid since 1996. Fortunately my son Jonathan—who is now 18—takes care of me; sometimes I can't even walk to the bathroom. I can't drive because my foot hurts so much; I have to rely on Jonathan to take me anywhere.
I tried to sue the VA: I filed a Tort Claim against them but I lost the case—I didn't file the proper papers, the case didn't come up and I didn't get my day in court. However I was given a 'house-bound pension' by the VA which was only $1350 per month—I lost my home, I lost everything. Then I filled out the Federal Form 95: It was sent to Philadelphia last December but they sent it back to me last month, saying that I had to send it to Montana. Why did they have it for all that time? They don't care.
Here is the rub: I got my A&A approved two years ago. The VA sent me for a Compensation and Pension (C&P) exam, the doctor saw me for five minutes and approved it. Now I have someone who takes care of me while Jonathan is in school: I pay her about $1250 per month from this pension, which totals $1843, so there isn't much left over.
Because I was approved immediately by this doctor, it drives home the fact that I should have been given A&A more than 12 years ago.
READ MORE VETERAN MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LEGAL NEWS
On its website, the US Department of Veterans Affairs states the following:
- Aid and Attendance (A&A) is a benefit paid in addition to monthly pension. This benefit may not be paid without eligibility to pension. A veteran may be eligible for A&A when:
- The veteran requires the aid of another person in order to perform personal functions required in everyday living, such as bathing, feeding, dressing, attending to the wants of nature, adjusting prosthetic devices, or protecting himself/herself from the hazards of his/her daily environment…