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anglia64

Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2012
Posts
6
Location
Kyle, TX
Hi, my name is Katie, and my husband Jim is a 100% disabled veteran.  I currently work full time, but am planning on retiring within the next 12 months.  We are really in the beginning planning stages of preparing to buy a motorhome, and travel full-time.  We've looked everywhere to find information on veterans needs while moving around the country.  Since he is disabled, he needs to see a VA for check-ups periodically. Since we've always lived in one place, he's been established with a primary care physician in his resident state - originally in Washington State, and now in Texas.  Because of the need to get "medicine checks", can anyone tell me how that works?  There's a lot of info on discounts, rv parks, etc., for vets - I just can't find information on the basic stuff - like is he required to establish a "home base" and visit there when required to maintain his medication?

This site is great, and I've learned a bunch of stuff already - thanks!  :)
 
Your best bet is to talk to the VA about how to handle travel and medical needs.  Most likely you will have to carry a copy of his medical records with you as not all VA hosp/clinics are tied into a computerized system.  They are working on it, but it takes time and dollars.
 
Here's a story from a 50% disabled vet and his experience this year while traveling. The vet is Mike, my husband. As 50%, he's entitled to full coverage, same as 100%. The VA tells you that it's all computerized nationwide and so there's no problems. Wrong. Mike's primary care doc is in Durango, Colorado, which is associated with the Albuquerque, New Mexico, VMAC. No problem, they pay mileage to Albuquerque. The problems came this summer when we were visiting my parents in Oregon and a couple of months ago when we were in southern California. In Oregon, he had to go to a local emergency room on a Sunday...the local VA clinic was closed. The hospital billed VA but they say they won't pay it because it wasn't pre-approved .... of course it wasn't, it was an emergency and no one answers the phone on Sundays for pre-approval. We're still fighting that one.

The second incident was when he had to go to the Long Beach, California, VMAC for a gastric bleed. He was admitted to the hospital but they said that the computer showed him at 10% so there would nbe co-pays. He hasn't been at 10% for 20 years. Mike went online to healthyvet and showed them that he was 50%. They said ok, they'd figure it out. The list of meds he takes was incomplete in the VA computers so they had to update that. Then they kept trying to change him to Long Beach as his primary care provider.

Long story short, have lots of documentation with you, don't take "no" for an answer, and be prepared for the VA to have your paperwork and records screwed up. And return to your primary care facility at least once a year, probably twice a year, to keep them happy.

Have fun !
Wendy
 
Wendy thanks!  Mike's stories are very helpful - My Jim has a couple of similar stories, just from moving from Washington to Texas, and the whole fiasco of changing primary care physicians.  Does Mike get his meds mailed to him, and how does that work?  Jim is on 4 different medications, and even living at home, just getting refills can be a problem.  We were contemplating making South Dakota our home base, just because of the tax benefits - but maybe that's not the best place, given the whole VA situation...??  so many questions, and I'd much rather hear from people like you - when we talk to the VA itself, it seems like we get a different story every time we talk to someone different...  ???    :-\

Thanks again!

Katie
 
Mike gets 5 meds from VA. He orders refills online at healthyvet and they send them to our regular address which is a p.o. box type place in Colorado. That place forwards all our mail to us when we call them so that works ok as long as the refills are ordered in plenty of time for them to get mailed twice. The pharmacy will usually send the meds to a temporary address if you call them and we've done that several times. But they have screwed that up more than once, sending the meds to the regular address or once to a temporary address from a year earlier. (Try calling a p.o. and asking about General Delivery mail .... forget it !)

Have you considered Escapees ? They have a mail forwarding service and they are based in Livingstone, Texas, so your address would stay in Texas. Might make things easier. Of course, you can choose any VA facility that you want for your primary care provider, so long as they're accepting new veterans. You might lose out on travel reoimbursement but it could be the easiest route.

I know what you mean about getting different answers depending on who you talk to at VA. And sometimes depending on what time of day it is. BTW, I'm also a vet, Category 4, no co-pays, free meds. But I still have regular health insurance plus Medicare because I'm scared to give up anything and have to deal strictly with VA.

Quality, free health care for all veterans.....isn't that what they promised? So, it's free for some. Quality is way better than it used to be. But they really do need to get their system together so that a vet can go to any VA facility, anywhere, and have his/her records readily available. Maybe some day.

Happy travels
Wendy
 
As a Veteran Service Officer, I suggest the following. I do not know everything, but this is a good place to start.

I would look at having your husband choose one of the National Veteran Service Organizations as his "Power of Attorney" so he has a good chance at having a Veteran Service Officer at the major VA Medical Centers.

Find a copy of the "Federal Benefits for Veterans and Surviving Family Members" or research the va.gov website to know where the Regional Offices are located.  Whenever you cross into a new region (mainly cross the State Lines) and you need to access the VA, you need to call the Regional VA Medical Center and ask to have your file "transferred" to that Region. Then you can make an appointment at the nearest VA clinic or medical center.

PM if you have other questions.

Cheers,
Oly
 
Oh, I should have added that when you call the Regional VA Medical Center, ask for that Patient Business Office, they are the people who can let the "local" VA providers "see" your VA Medical file.

Oly
 
Oly, thanks for that information - I'll print it out so we don't lose it, and get a copy of the booklet you mentioned.

Wendy, does Mike's doctor prescribe more than one month's worth of his meds at a time?  As in, does he get 60 or 90 days worth at a time?  Currently Jim gets only 30 days worth of all 4 of his, and it seems like he's constantly ordering re-fills just to make sure they get mailed in time before he runs out...  or do you know is that a doctor-specific decision?

What a great site this is - so many good people!

;D
 
Katie, Mike gets 90 days at a time of all his meds. What a pain it would be to get only 30 days at a time !  I'd have Jim ask his doc if he could get 90 days on each refill. Tell him it's difficult getting them by mail every 30 days.

Wendy
 

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