re: 10% of vets were actively engaged in combat 28% receiver PTSD disability???

It’s abused, everybody knows that.

Ive got one for you. My dad is a Purple Heart Vietnam vet who lost the majority of his hearing when his eardrums were blown out after the vehicle he was riding in hit a landmine..Subsequent doctors over these years have diagnosed him with having all of the signs and symptoms of TBI or traumatic brain injury.. Does he qualify for certain disability related to it? No, because at the time of his injuries, TBI was not classified as a disability like it is now. Furthermore, the VA says too much time has passed for him to be diagnosed with it, despite several doctors diagnosing him with it.

Another fun nugget. Most people don’t realize Medicare does not count VA healthcare as valid coverage for delaying enrollment in Part B. Employer-sponsored insurance qualifies, but VA coverage doesn’t. If you delay enrolling, Medicare hits you with a lifetime penalty of 10% for every 12 months you go without Part B. There’s no exemption for veterans. So if a vet relies on the VA and waits 5 years to enroll, they’re looking at a 50% higher Part B premium, for life.

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I can tell you that every single person I deployed with in our platoon- is rated for PTSD

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At least you deployed. AF brats in Minot have figured out how to get a slice after doing a regular rotation. It's cold, dark and depressing, I'm having trouble sleeping, etc. Fine, here's 20%, go away.

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Does he qualify for certain disability related to it? No, because at the time of his injuries, TBI was not classified as a disability like it is now. Furthermore, the VA says too much time has passed for him to be diagnosed with it, despite several doctors diagnosing him with it. Another fun nugget. Most people don’t realize Medicare does not count VA healthcare as valid coverage for delaying enrollment in Part B. Employer-sponsored insurance qualifies, but VA coverage doesn’t. If you delay enrolling, Medicare hits you with a lifetime penalty of 10% for every 12 months you go without Part B. There’s no exemption for veterans. So if a vet relies on the VA and waits 5 years to enroll, they’re looking at a 50% higher Part B premium, for life.

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this is depressing

The entire military comp/benefits system needs a massive overhaul but that’s just not politically appealing and it will probably never happen.

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That’s an auto 10%. Which is about $180/month.

fricking veterans bankrupting the nation

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Can’t even open a “Learing Center” for that.

How about this:

Clean up the fraud like what is going on in Minnesota and California, the welfare fraud across the country and all other fraud.

Once that is substantially complete, let’s tackle the veteran fraud being insinuated.

I am a veteran, I have no VA rating nor do I get disability.

Is it abused, sure.

What MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) Should be exempt? How about a truck driver, they are not combat arms but they run convoy's constantly and likely have a pretty high chance of being a casualty.

How about combat medics. Not really a combat MOS and still may see some stuff. I think anymore there is a good chance if you are in a combat theater at all you'd likely see some kind of messed up stuff.

If you didn't leave the country or serve in a theater of combat, sorry but no PTSD for you...

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We had a kid here that got out of tech school and was a fire fighter, never deployed, claimed he had PTSD and got medically discharged and received 100% disability. Kid served all of 6 months in his active squadron.

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This type of stuff needs to be reviewed, but it’s a slippery slope. Some civilians in a boardroom somewhere in DC making judgments on the merits of a veteran’s service is a bad idea.

Yep, I personally know someone that paid an attorney $5000 to get his number raised to 100%. I think he bragged that now both his kids get free college plus a fairly large check from the VA.