I keep seeing videos where people teach Vets how to get more disability, how is this open fraud tolerated? People get pissed off at government spending but every cook and supply guy has 100% disability. I’ve worked with guys claiming 100% but doing heavy manual labor and they talk about making claims of issues they don’t have for more money. Obviously you get a bad injury you get something, but it seems like it’s turned into another racket for people similar to how people treat welfare.
There’s a financial channel on YouTube and every guest who’s a vet is “100%” disabled but most were POGs
How do y’all feel about all the disability stuff?
Man, I get irritated about a lot of disability claims.
I myself am 100%. It is for my back, knees, shoulders, ankle and wrist. I had 7 surgeries while I was in. That pales in comparison to some of my friends who are missing body parts etc... I am blessed, but there were 932 pages in my medical record when I hung it up.
You also USED to (probably still do) get 50% for sleep apnea and PTSD. Those are the two biggest abuses in the VA as far as a disability rating IMO. The PTSD thing gets me... not because some don't deserve it, but because so many claim it and beat the system. Many young men claim this because you can fake it 'til you make it if you've done a single combat deployment. That's "combat deployment" too... not "I was in combat". Big difference.
^ There's a 75 year old man who comes into my wife's clinic and gets 50% disability for PTSD from his one deployment in 'Nam. His deployment? ... On an aircraft carrier miles off the coast the entire time. Man, that gripes my butt. He won't shut up about it either.
Sexual assault-related PTSD is off the charts for females. Again, no proof is actually needed, and 80% were reported and the victim couldn't remember exactly where and when, and who... but it happened. That is the whole Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court allegations thing again... but there is no Brett Kavanaugh, just a "victim", story and no witnesses to corroborate. There are also a large number of reports where the victim chose to leave out all of that information (they do actually have that option). ***This is not to take away from the actual cases... even one is one too many.
^ However, with a SA report comes a guarantee of 50% disability if PTSD is claimed. The women know that, and it is abused more than pregnancy to get out of a deployment. * Maybe some of this has changed in the last 7 years? Up until 2018, that was the standard though.
Dudes usually start requesting sleep studies to get that 50% for sleep apnea.
My M-I-L got 50% for a hysterectomy. She's 100% total too... and did all of one deployment to New Orleans for Katrina relief (She was USPHS).
Been around long enough that I can share pages of examples of questionable ratings, but I'll cut it short with a 'that ain't right'.
There are a lot of VA Facebook groups where coaching is done. I don't agree with it.
*****
So am I going to scrutinize every veteran with a second paycheck? No. I'll bet good money that the financial burden on the U.S. taxpayer from some questionable VA claims is a tiny little drop in the bucket compared to welfare, social security, and citizenship frauds... not together, but each individually. That's where the focus should go first. Then we can hunt down dudes on the golf course and revisit their claim paperwork.
