VIP Health benefits

Iceman wrote:

Nemo wrote:My disability was linked to a SDA. I got A's and only for certain things. Then out of the blue about 3 years ago, I get a call from VAC wondering if I needed some help in the house. I said yes. Et voila, they changed me to B's across the whole card including dental and eye care and regardless of whether it is related to my disability. And gave me VIP funds.

Maybe they screwed up before...don't know...but if you are A's make sure that you are not being screwed out of B's.

are you saying that if you have a DA related to an SDA, that you should automatically get B-line coverage? the largest DA i have is PTSD from the glf war

I have almost all A's on my grid. the only ones without A's are 3,4,8,14 and 15

i emailed VAC. and they replied with their interpretation. Unless you are a WW2 or korea vet, the ONLY way to get B coverage is if you have VIP services. PTSD alone will also not qualify you for VIP services

Personally, I believe that VIP should be able to be awarded for mental health reasons. If you are suffering from severe PTSD or depression, it can be just as debilitating as a bad back or knees, to the point of not being motivated to clean the house, mow the lawn, or shovel the driveway, especially if living by themselves. But if those Veterans could get someone coming in to take care of that stuff, it would be a quality of life situation.

Hi fellow Newfie,
I suggest getting something in writing from VAC explaining the rationale for your denial....maybe through your my vac account. That way you can avoid a " he said, she said" situation. Once you know the exact reasons for the denial then you can determine if you can get enough evidence to rebut this decision through the VRAB or even apply again under your other condition.

Newf

Applied for VIP 3 months ago and today it was finally was entered on my VAC stage 3. Then later today I received a call from person in charge of VIP and was told that it was denied. Reason I was told is that you cannot get VIP for PTSD alone. So my guess is my file was finally looked at today and given the big Denied stamp. I was told I could reapply for VIP under my secondary disability and be reassessed by the VAC doctor. Now this doctor is employed by VAC so why bother reapply

Nemo wrote:My disability was linked to a SDA. I got A's and only for certain things. Then out of the blue about 3 years ago, I get a call from VAC wondering if I needed some help in the house. I said yes. Et voila, they changed me to B's across the whole card including dental and eye care and regardless of whether it is related to my disability. And gave me VIP funds.

Maybe they screwed up before...don't know...but if you are A's make sure that you are not being screwed out of B's.

are you saying that if you have a DA related to an SDA, that you should automatically get B-line coverage? the largest DA i have is PTSD from the glf war

I have almost all A's on my grid. the only ones without A's are 3,4,8,14 and 15

Thats pretty much what happened to me!
What a messed up system.

My disability was linked to a SDA. I got A's and only for certain things. Then out of the blue about 3 years ago, I get a call from VAC wondering if I needed some help in the house. I said yes. Et voila, they changed me to B's across the whole card including dental and eye care and regardless of whether it is related to my disability. And gave me VIP funds.

Maybe they screwed up before...don't know...but if you are A's make sure that you are not being screwed out of B's.

well that is messed up bc I was only getting As for 5 years for an SDA injury. They pray on the uninformed. Sad.

Exactly as posted, if your disability is tied to an SDA you get "B"'s and coverage for any health need. Anything else it's "A"'s and it has to be for your pensioned condition. Unreasonable but that is the policy. Crappy.

It is very complicated to understand. I had B's across the board, because I have an SDA linked disability, even though it was just 15% at the time, before I ever applied for VIP. So the treatment level should have nothing to do with whether or not you have VIP. After all, it's a VAC client card, not a VIP card. So with non-SDA injuries, you would have A's, but only in specific fields, so that you are only covered for treatment for your recognized disabilities. For example, if you received a disability pension/award for hearing loss, you would have an A under Tab #3 Audio, to cover the costs of hearing aides. If you have a SDA linked disability however, you get B's, and VAC covers all medical needs, including those not related to a disability. Personally, I believe that everyone with service related disabilities, rated at or above 50%, should be fully covered, even if their condition(s) arose from something that happened here in Canada.

I still dont understand my benefits wrt Blue Cross.
I was told if I wasn't doing Rehab, my benefits would be only pensioned condition related.

I have asked my CM why I'm only "A" at my level of disability and she said she would get back to me. It appears from talking to others that if they tie your injury back to a SDA you get the "B". This is odd, as everyone I spoke with was far lower in disability levels but got the "B" because they went to the UMS while deployed and it was noted on their docs. Anyone who was in an FOB or in an OP really never got the chance to see the MO unless you were shot. The SQN medic made rounds once a week and handed out the required Cepacol and Foot powder. It would be nice to see the actual documentation to understand why this exists.

Bigrex - just looking for your opinion on 45jim and my post below?
Tks Brother,,VVV

There was another post/topic on the forums somewhere, though I can't find it right now, that we
went through a discussion about the A client and B client.

Maybe someone else remembers under what topic it was under or where it's located

Hi 45jim. - I’m in the same boat. Got an answer from DVA, but it still does make sense. Here is what I got;

for the lack of clarity on this subject. Veterans
with Special Duty Area (SDA) service receive "B-line" treatment
benefits if their eligibility for the Veterans Independence Program
(VIP) is linked to a pensioned or awarded condition caused by
SDA service. SDA pensioners may also be eligible for B-line if
they are determined to be "frail". However, your VIP eligibility
was granted because of frostbite to your right hand, which was
determined to be caused by your regular force service. That is
why you do not currently have B-line coverage.

Let me clarify here. I got VIP, about 20 yrs ago. And as she states it was because of frostbite. But since then I had 6 more disabilities, and ptsd under the NVC. I am at 100 percent. So what I can gather fm VAC, if my ptsd was the disability I first got VIP, I would be an B, but because it came after I am an A. It appears the A and B,s all are linked to the disability one got VIP. Too me this makes no sense. Maybe someone else can put there spin on it, my head hurts..lol ,VVV...