VA screws Battle of the Bulge vet out of basic needs
Adirondack Patriot sends us links to the story in the Albany Times Union of 93-years-old Vahan Zarifian, a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge who is disabled. He moved from New Jersey where the VA provided him with visits from a nurse three times a week to help him take care of basic needs like bathing and a shave. But when he moved to Albany, the VA cut those visits to two and Mr. Zarifian had to beg and plead to get those.
So, since no one should have to live on two baths a week, he finagled a third from Catholic Charities. When the VA found out, they cut their own visits to one every week.
“It’s not a punishment at all,” insisted Stratton [Veterans’ Administration Health Center] spokesman Peter Potter, who added that Zarifian’s home visits might have been reduced regardless of the external help.
Potter also stressed Stratton has offered Zarifian two weekly visits to the hospital’s Holland Avenue campus, which is four miles from the Menands home he shares with his granddaughter. Transportation is free, Potter said, and services available at the hospital are superior to what’s offered during a home visit.
“He’s being provided access to a very high level of care,” Potter said. “Any statement saying he’s getting less care (than in New Jersey) is not an accurate statement.”
So, if Mr. Zarifian wants to travel four miles to get his bath and shave, he can. but would you want to wait for the VA’s free transportation just so you can scrape the previous day off with a bunch of other guys who need baths?
If it’s so easy for Mr. Zarifian to travel four miles, it would be just as easy, if not easier, to send a nurse four miles to give a veteran a measure of dignity.
I can’t figure out why the VA jerked one visit out from under him just because he found a charity to give the one they wouldn’t. That has bureaucratic revenge written all over it.
Category: Veterans' Affairs Department
This is bullshit!
Typical of the VA.
And barrydontcare is suppose to start in a couple of years? With bureaucrats Charlie Foxtrot’s like this happening? God help us
This man is a WW II Veteran and, if that’s not enough with their dwindling number, he was at the Bulge, perhaps the best-known action in all of the European Theatre. Whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. That should be the VA’s motto with respect to this Veteran. Dammit.
I am not surprised that the level of care changed from hospital to hospital. I just changed from Kansas City to Leavenworth and the level has vastly improved. The KC VA caters to basically one type of patient and has a huge population of people who have been in the system a long time, whereas the Leavenworth VA is more of a rural hospital and has a lot of retired people from the base. It would take weeks to get an appointment to get a medical device at KC where at Leavenworth I can walk in and do the same thing in the same day. People are more willing to work with you at some VAs.
Lovell FHMCC near Great Lakes is terrific, wonderful people, a lot of programs for everyone and anyone who needs help can get it.
How about this Mr Potter? You try only showering and shaving once a week.
Yeah, getting basic hygiene in a group setting is ALWAYS better than what you can do at home. Just ask anyone who ever lived in an open bay barracks.
Remember what the chair said to Clint Eastwood last night, Mr Potter? Yeah, I think you can do that to yourself.
Hey, come on. The VA has to save money so they can have big parties and shit
I say make all congress members use the VA at the end of the line behind all the Veterans and get the EXACT same care we get, to include the president, vp and families, no fancy DC Area Military Hospital for VIP’s, no the VA, they can wait for hours after the appt time to be seen, and get the same substandard care some of the VA’s provide.
Bet things would change then.
Stu, that’s cruel and unusual punishment for being politicians. Just don’t send them to my VA.
@9, they wouldn’t come to mine, there isn’t limo parking or concierge service like they can get at a military hosp. Besides in southern Indiana the Secret Service would go crazy with armed rednecks everywhere.
Two baths a week? I’m on a damn FOB and I manage to rinse off every day. Maybe I’m missing something. I’m thinking if Mr. Zarifian could manage to to get to the VA for a bath he could manage to take one at home. He needs help, right? Not to let the VA off the hook, but maybe its time he looked at assisted living.
lurkersteve: Having someone come in to help with bathing et al IS assisted living! Allowing folks to remain in their own homes is, even forgetting little things like dignity and personal choice, the most practical and least expensive care for seniors.
Not sure how the problem of such huge regional variations in care within the VA can or should be addressed. Yes, we can wish there to be some semblance of uniformity in each facility, but my fear is that if an effort were made to standardize it more than it already is, those facilities which are now excellent would be brought down to the level of those now offering so-so care rather than all becoming excellent.
At his age, leaving his home is a monumental effort. Bed sores and infection are are real problem. I am truly disgusted be the lack of basic care to one of our brothers. I suggest contacting his congressman. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Get the DAV in on it, too. They’re pretty active about helping vets.
I’ve been trying to point this out for a very long time. It all depends on where the veterans live. Some states are better at taking care of veterans than others. You’d think they’d all be treated the same but they are not. It is easier to have claims approved in some states than others but that doesn’t mean the care they receive is also the best.
An example is that while it is easier to have a claim approved in Massachusetts than in Florida, once a claim is approved, the care is just about the same except when it comes to CHAMPVA. In Massachusetts family members of 100% disabled veterans can go to the VA but in central Florida there isn’t much for family members except going to private doctors after you get an approval from the VA. Once the new hospital is built, there should be more openings for families but right now, it is really hard.
As for the comment about the DAV and the claim, Ex-PH2 is right. They train every year on the new rules and they are really great. (Life member of the Auxiliary)
My guess is, being a VSO, that the VA is responding “in kind”. It’s the same as the pension scam…pension is granted if you make less than $11,000/year. Anything you get from SS or any other source takes away from the pension given to you. So, the VA’s thinking is that he is entitled to TWO visits, so if he can get a extra one from somewhere else; that lets the VA take away the one they gave him???????!#@@#$# See, makes perfect sense, no?
My dad, who was in the Marine Corp. during the Korean War, died last March at 80 years old. Before he passed, he was having issues with being incontinent, and the beginning signs of dementia. My dad also had diabetes type ll, so he had his health concerns. It bothered me that as a former soldier, it seems that there are so many obstacles set up to deprive our former military members of needed government assistance. My dad was peeing himself several times a day, and things were getting very tense around here. I couldn’t get him to bathe anymore, even with my assistance (which I guess it was embarrassing for him). Anyway, if it hadn’t been for the family contacting the Cares Organization which scheduled 3 appointments per week at $22 per appointment paid by us, things would have been even worse. I did not know of benefits thay might be available through the VA that could have helped my dad and us in any way. It’s a shame that the VA and our government can’t seem to reach out to veterans and their families to give us an idea of how they may be of assistance in some way, but they sure can find a way to advertise to illegal immigrants on how they can collect government benefits if they were to come here. That sux in my opinion. America’s military men and women deserve better.
To be clear, the Cares organization came to the house to bathe my dad. My apologies for the typos as using an Iphone has its downfalls at times.
Here’s an idea: allow seniors who are vets and eligible for Medicare substitute VA health care benefits for all parts of Medicare. The VA already allows us to substitute VA prescription benefits for Medicare Part D, with a low co-payment of $8 (where I live, may be different elsewhere), so why not the rest of it?
And let the VA bill Medicare for the vet’s health care needs the way they bill your insurance if you need health care for non-service connected issues.
I sent a letter to several congressmen and Durbin and Kirk last year when the national health care act was under discussion. Durbin and Kirk at least read my letters, but I only got form letters back from them.
This might solve the problems described for very elderly veterans, and I believe the waste and fraud in Medicare charges would see a drastic reduction.
I’ll forward my letter to TAH, if anyone wants to see it. It’s just an idea, but it might work.