Military 100% Disability   

Will you please tell me which, if any, business in the US provides lifetime healthcare benefits for as little as 181 days of employment? Well, the US government does through the VA! A person could enlist in the military, be found unsuitable for military service, and receive an administrative discharge. If that person served for 181 days and continued to do poorly (in other words, they were not financially successful), they are eligible to receive healthcare benefits from the VA because they fall below an earnings threshold. We are not talking about war heroes, or even “thank you for your service” people. These are people who were unsuitable for the military and were discharged as a result.

Next, there are millions of “disabled veterans” in this country who not only receive healthcare benefits for “service-connected” “disabilities”, but they also receive payments from the VA. Believe it or not, there are professional airline pilots who are classified by VA as disabled!

If someone is truly disabled, you would think they could no longer work.

I retired from the military in 2005 after 25 years of service. I was rated as “disabled” by the VA because of my hearing (I had numerous issues with my ears as a child and NEVER had good hearing) and an injury to my elbow, which was hyperextended in a FISTFIGHT. Yes, a fistfight. Since the event happened while I was on active duty, the VA determined the injury was service connected and “rated” me for it. This is ridiculous and needs to stop.

My brother-in-law is a retired military officer who has been “rated” for sleep apnea. The service did not cause this condition (he is obese), just like it did not cause my hearing loss. Yet, because he is rated at 50 percent disability, he gets his military retirement AND what is known as “concurrent receipt” from the VA.

If you are a young enlisted person who injures himself moving lockers while on a work detail, you can receive benefits for life. Why is this? Why should this person not be taken care of by workers’ compensation? Under the work comp system, a worker is taken care of while preparing to return to work. If that person is caught “faking” an injury, they can be prosecuted for fraud.

The people of the US have a duty to those who were injured during training or operational (combat) situations. These people should be taken care of through the military health system, which has some very fine hospitals. Specialty care could be contracted to private/non-military facilities.

Everyone else should be taken care of through the workers’ compensation system. No more lifetime benefits through the gravy train known as the VA. In fact, the VA should be trimmed to a small fraction of its current size.