Benefit Halted

Here we go again. Bryan’s combat-related special compensation payment for January never arrived. We waited and hoped it was a little bit behind due to the holidays but when Bryan finally called we learned they had stopped the payment. This benefit covers the cost of his hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment and several other bills every month. We received no notice that it was stopping. Bryan receives this benefit because his combat injuries were not considered severe enough to grant him a medical retirement.  Instead, he receives this monthly amount as sort of a reduced retirement check. When he asked why the payments were stopped they said, “Because the VA sent a letter saying your rating was reduced and you only have sleep apnea.”

Last time I checked, he was blown up and his rating hasn’t been reduced.

About five months ago his case manager at the VA called to check on us and said he was listed in the system with only one condition, sleep apnea. I contacted the person she told me to contact to get his entire rating put in the system but I never heard back. I contacted his Federal Recovery Coordinator (FRC) and his VA case manager and made them aware of the situation. I asked CRSC if we could just send his entire award letter to them but they said no because the VA said it changed and the letter needed to come to the VA.

Both case managers have been trying to resolve the issue. We appreciate the help so much but at this point we are still waiting. It takes a long time to get things resolved within a government organization, so we are trying to be patient and hope the payment will resume next month.  It would have been nice if CRSC had given us a heads up and then we could have resolved the issue with the help of our hard working case managers, but we were given no warning. This is a random glitch and I have no idea which VA center sent the letter. In their system the entire award letter has now been inputted but we need a letter sent to CRSC saying it is the same.

I was hoping 2012 would be a year without worrying about benefits or evaluations but I need to just assume this is par for the course. We will get it resolved eventually thanks to our case workers but my patience and our budget is wearing thin.

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