Army Veteran Has Prosthetic Legs Repossessed After VA Refuses to Pay for Them...

[babylonsister]

U.S.
Army Veteran Has Prosthetic Legs Repossessed After VA Refuses to Pay for Them: 'Medicare Did Not Send Me to Vietnam'
By Jason Lemon On 1/09/20 at 4:08 PM EST


A decorated military veteran who served in Vietnam and Iraq has claimed that his prosthetic legs were taken away after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would not cover the cost.

Jerry Holliman, 69, told the Clarion Ledger that he was in his room at the Veterans Home in Collins, Mississippi just a couple days before Christmas when a man walked in and took away his prosthetic limbs. According to Holliman, the VA said it would not cover the cost of the limbs, while Medicare said there'd be a copay required.

"Medicare did not send me to Vietnam," Holliman, who received Bronze Stars in both wars in which he served, told the Ledger in an article published Thursday. "I was sent there by my country...with the understanding that if something bad happened to me, that it would be covered by the VA."

more...

https://www.newsweek.com/army-veteran-has-prosthetic-legs-repossessed-after-va-refuses-pay-them-1481390?amp=1&utm_source=Public&utm_medium=Feed&utm_campaign=Distribution&__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR0Ouszwt1FyNWzatLzgiZgLyVlDQSYIx6TANzoYF8d1-4TnNcYeAcoXjlE

[backtoblue]

1. Holy shit that's evil

[smirkymonkey]

2. That is just pure evil! How dare they treat a veteran like that!

We can come up with billions of dollars for wars, missiles, planes, bombs, overseas bases, but we can't allow a maimed soldier to keep the prosthetic legs that will allow him to be mobile and independent? And some people on this board wonder why some of us use foul language at times? Fuck this bullshit!

[EndlessWire]

20. I agree. n/t

[Kaleva]

3. I learned the hard way not to go out on my own for medical treatment and expect the VA to cover

From what I know, the VA doesn't pay for prosthetic limbs but will provide them.

"Holliman said he got a pair of prosthetic legs in August from a company called Hanger, which has offices in Hattiesburg."

https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2020/01/09/mississippi-veteran-caught-u-s-medical-system-after-legs-taken/2784777001/

I have an appointment with a non-VA GI specialist at the end of this month and I already have a letter from the VA in a file here at home stating the cost of the consultation and any procedure and/or medications the specialist's recommends will be covered by the VA.. I would not go to that appointment until I had such a letter and confirmation from the GI specialist's office that they also had correspondence from the VA saying all costs will be covered by the VA.

[Frustratedlady]

4. Trump has been bragging about how he has improved the VA medical care at his Ohio rally.

One lie after another.

Is this something new or general procedure? Scary!

[Kaleva]

5. You can't go outside the VA for care without prior authorization and expect the VA to pay.

VA care is very good.

[Frustratedlady]

6. That's what I thought, too. But, this situation sounds different, so I wondered if there were

changes.

My son-in-law has been receiving very good care through the VA.

I just don't trust Trump and wouldn't be surprised if he was making changes we hadn't heard about.

[Kaleva]

10. I'm confused as to why the patient didn't first go to the VA for the prosthetics.

Medicare would have covered the majority of the cost but he didn't want that.

[EndlessWire]

21. The VA sent me

a card for a program they started and put me in that gave me the right to seek care locally and for which they would cover. Never had to use it, though.

[Kaleva]

23. None of the local facilities accepts the VA newest program.

[SunSeeker]

7. Why did Hanger prosthetics even make the legs without first getting VA payment straightened out??

This is just bizarre, and cruel, conduct by a major private prosthetics manufacturer.

[Kaleva]

9. I'm thinking the company was expecting Medicare to cover.

But Holliman refused to sign the paperwork allowing the company to bill Medicare and the company then took the legs back.

"On Dec. 23, an employee from Hanger came to the Veterans Home to see Holliman. Holliman said the man was adjusting his prosthetic legs, then asked himto sign some paperwork for Medicare.

Holliman said he declined because the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs should pay for the legs in full.

"This is their responsibility," Holliman said.

The man responded by taking the legs and leaving."

https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2020/01/09/mississippi-veteran-caught-u-s-medical-system-after-legs-taken/2784777001/

If Holliman had signed the paperwork, he would have kept his legs.

[SunSeeker]

27. I've actually used Hanger 3 times, they don't do anything without a payment authorization.

This story is very odd. And horrible. Once they made the legs, they can't give them to anyone else. It was cruel to confiscate them. The proper remedy was a debt collection proceeding. Looks like they knew he was judgment proof and decided it would be more effective to hold his legs ransom. That is just sick.

Hanger makes so much money off vet amputees. I can't believe they couldn't just write this one off, especially since it appears to have been their fuckup in not having a payment authorization in place before building the legs.

[rickford66]

8. The money is needed for the Wall

[SCVDem]

11. Hand me my 45.

Do they really need a study to see why military suicides are so high?

Only a coward would do this!

[George II]

12. Make America Great Again!!!

[Haggis for Breakfast]

13. Capitalism is a cancer.

All it breeds is greed, greed and more greed.

This country has lost its soul.

[Schmice3]

14. Trump would day:

Let him sue, he hasn't got a leg to stand on. Then he'd go back to golfing.

[Ilsa]

15. Where is the Wounded Warrior Project on this?

Or are they taking more than 30% now?

[JoeOtterbein]

16. From the article:

...snip

Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the leading progressive candidates, have advocated for significantly expanding Medicare to all Americans, while also greatly limiting the role of private insurance. Sanders has repeatedly noted on the campaign trail that he would expand Medicare to cover dental care, while also getting rid of copays and other costs under current insurance plans. The senator has often pointed out that most other wealthy and developed countries have similar government healthcare programs to the one he and Warren are proposing, which often result in better healthcare outcomes and lower costs than what currently exists in the U.S.

"Medicare for All means: - No premiums - No co-pays - No deductibles," Sanders wrote in a September tweet.

snip...

There is a solution to the Madness!!

BERNIE!!!!

[mwooldri]

19. UK's NHS and Armed Forces are linked.

There are no "VA hospitals" in the UK. Or 'VA doctors". Military doctors train and work in civilian hospitals (there used to be dedicated military hospitals but the last closed in the 1990s, so the Ministry of Defence is embedded in various hospitals around the country. Veterans get care just like any other UK eligible resident but if the right strings are pulled, waiting times can be cut down for veterans seeking care for non-urgent, "elective" procedures.

A true universal healthcare solution, with everyone covered and care is rendered free at the point of delivery is the gold standard. Private, public, it doesn't matter.

[moniss]

17. Unfortunatley

I know of a case where a Vietnam vet lost a leg from the knee down and the VA screwed around with him about what kind of prosthetic they would provide. The cheap one the VA wanted to give him would have severely limited his use of the leg. His other leg was whole but compromised. With the better leg he could get a job as a tour bus driver and have a better life. He had to fight for over 4 years and get his Senator involved in order to get the VA to relent. This fellow was a tragic case of the US Army f'ng him around from the moment of enlistment. I could go into more but it ticks me off too bad. All I will say is that not everybody who serves in the military should be thanked for their service. Especially not the ones who went through the hospitals and convinced young men who had only been in country for a day or so that if they would take a psych discharge they would be sent home and it wouldn't make any difference in their record or how their benefits were handled. You see that stuff really went on and it did because the "leaders" wanted to keep the dollars and numbers in line. So they send out a flunkie officer to lie to the wounded. I guess I did tell you about it after all. There was a lot of crap that went down that didn't happen on patrol but rather back with the Army.

[HDSam]

18. Not on the VA

I would bet the Veteran lost his legs not while in service but likely due to uncontrolled diabetes. In situations like that (not service connected), Medicare covers 80% of the cost and the Veteran is responsible for the remaining 20%. The Veterans Health Administration does not operate as a secondary insurance, they do not pick up the remaining 20%.

If the loss of limbs was determined to be a service connected injury, the VA generally provides prosthetics, but you can’t just go out and buy any prosthetic from any supplier and expect the VHA to cover it. At the very least, he should have discussed this with his VHA primary care provider beforehand.

As an example, Senator Tammy Duckworth’s prosthetics are likely provided through the VHA because the loss of limbs in her situation, I would think, is definitely service connected.

If anyone it’s Congress, who creates the laws the VA has to follow, who is responsible for this. I hate the fact elderly Veterans that are often on fixed incomes are on the hook for the 20% Medicare doesn’t cover.

I’m a retired Veteran that gets his healthcare through the VA and I’ve educated myself on the policies and rules.

[Kaleva]

24. +1

[ck4829]

22. How late stage capitalist that is, wow.

[NCProgressive]

25. So sad

The definition of "service connected" is so nebulous that the VA can deny almost everything.

[bronxiteforever]

26. Kick and recommend for visibility.