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VA Scammers

TartersauceTartersauce Member Posts: 435 ✭✭✭
edited December 2008 in US Military Veteran Forum
Anyone know a VA disability scammer?

I work with a guy that gets somehow a 30% disability for his back. At work he whines he can't lift and do some things and gets special treatment.


Now here's the kicker....he has a side business as a landscaper and cuts the grass for Land Managements rentals......and cuts the grass for GI's in military housing. We all watch him swing his weedeater back and forth for hours on end and ponder how could he possibly have ANY backpain.

I have a herniated disc that exploded and without narcotics 24/7.....there is no way I could do that.

Does the VA investigate disability scammers? Inquiring minds would like to know.
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Comments

  • n/an/a Member Posts: 168,427 ✭
    edited November -1
    The VA does plenty of testing before they give out a rateing. And for something like a back if there was no medical evidence I doubt he would have a rateing for it.

    I am rated at 100%. I was started at 10% back around 1992 and if you add all my rateings together I actually come out to about 180% but since 100% is as high as they pay that is what I get.

    There is medical evidence on every item that I am rated for. But yet if you saw me walking down the street you would probly never guess me as disabled. I can do fairly heavy work as long as it is at my own pace. And that is were the problem lies is that my pace is not good enuff to satisfy an employer.
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  • BlackgunsBlackguns Member Posts: 496 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    In some cases I believe it's the "squeaky wheel gets the grease" philosophy. I actually met a guy that was proud of his scamming, and encouraged me to claim anything I could.

    I believe the biggest scam is PTSD.from what I understand some absurd number of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, more than could possibly of seen combat, claim this status. The VA is run by the government so IMO they encourage this behavior to justify their existence and spending. A great book on this topic is Stolen Valor, the author focuses on busting soldiers that lie about their service; which often translates into the false claim realm as well.

    I know there are plenty of guys that deserve their rating, but unfortunately others cash in on the opportunity. I explained to the guy I met that there are plenty of soldiers I served with that would give up their claims gladly if they could, and plenty of families that would give up their SGLI payout as well. Ultimately scammers know what they are doing, and they have to look at themselves in the mirror every day.
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  • gmherpsgmherps Member Posts: 13 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Blackguns


    I believe the biggest scam is PTSD.from what I understand some absurd number of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan



    I would like to see that said to soldiers, airmen, Marines and Sailors that have seen ppl's heads cut off, dead bodies on roadsides, or their very own buddies dead in THEIR 2 HANDS. SOME of them have a VERY hard time adjusting to civilian life. I grant benefits all day long if this criteria is met. You should be ashamed of yourself.
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  • TartersauceTartersauce Member Posts: 435 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    gmherps,

    In the Vietnam War GI's saw their buddies end up with their throats slit when they went out to pee. Some stepped into boobytraps and got their feet pierced and poisoned..rapes of the locals...rampant drug use...the nations most undesirables were drafted in....the Vietnam War got us alot of mentally screwed up people but they never received a nickel.

    They all got spit on by California when they returned and no help from the VA,VFW, or American Legion.

    So yeah...maybe it's good we give this generation PTSD compensation.

    Too bad it'll phick over GI's with non-mental injuries with less care.

    Wish my injury was only seeing dead bodies. Wait a minute, I've seen people die in auto accidents. Heard the gurgling of blood in their throats. Maybe American's can start claiming PTSD from Auto Insurance Companies when they witness death.
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  • BlackgunsBlackguns Member Posts: 496 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    REREAD my post what I'm trying to put across is that the media is claiming that more soldiers have PTSD than could possibly have seen combat, and many service members are taking advantage of this; that does not translate into all PTSD is BS, but I see how the way I structured it could be misinterprited. And yes I did my time in Iraq and Afghanistan as a front line soldier. Im glad you support the troops, god knows its few and far between these days, check out the book I recommended it is an eye opener on this topic. Remember, don't believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see. [;)]
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  • 4627046270 Member Posts: 12,627
    edited November -1
    I am rated at 70% but unemployable.
    I would give them the disability pension
    if they could only fix me.
    I have an implant with leads running down
    my spine, I use the fentenyal pain patches
    they started me out on strenth 25, now I
    am up to 175, these patches work over a
    3 day period.
    there are days I cant get out of bed, then
    there are days, I can cut my grass.
    but I had my medical records from the military
    I had everything documented, I had my paperwork
    ready to go, even before I retired.
    the exam they put me under, I know some guys
    do scam, but its just like those people that
    park in disabled parking slots, you dont know
    the other guys problems.
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  • n/an/a Member Posts: 168,427 ✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by 46270
    I am rated at 70% but unemployable.
    I would give them the disability pension
    if they could only fix me.
    I have an implant with leads running down
    my spine, I use the fentenyal pain patches
    they started me out on strenth 25, now I
    am up to 175, these patches work over a
    3 day period.
    there are days I cant get out of bed, then
    there are days, I can cut my grass.
    but I had my medical records from the military
    I had everything documented, I had my paperwork
    ready to go, even before I retired.
    the exam they put me under, I know some guys
    do scam, but its just like those people that
    park in disabled parking slots, you dont know
    the other guys problems.
    If they stamped you as unemployable I would not settle for 70%! Stay on them untill you get your 100%!
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  • cahascahas Member Posts: 4,064
    edited November -1
    I know several Vet's getting comp for bogus stuff. One such getting 40% for a leg that was broken in a fight with another G.I. while off duty. Crawled back to his rack before morning, laid beside it and said he fell off the top that night. Lied to get out of trouble, then after service applied for compensation because he walked with a slight limp. I dunno,maybe i'm wrong, but to me this is not right.
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  • JuggernautJuggernaut Member Posts: 719 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    No, its not right and I have seen some vets claim disability and get it awarded in record time and then go out skiing and such and I am like "what the h*ll is going on here" and also that the crooked VA makes other wounded vets "jump through hoops" when its not necessary and your claim is well documented and verified even by other MD's. And the "squeaky wheel" does get the grease as it were, but the squeaky wheel is starting to get p*ssed off. A good description of the VA was in a movie called `Courage Under Fire' when the LT Colonel and the General are discussing a Veteran and how the VA screwed up and lost his records and the General perfectly describes the VA at that point and I busted out laughing.
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  • wittynbearwittynbear Member Posts: 4,518
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by gmherps
    quote:Originally posted by Blackguns


    I believe the biggest scam is PTSD.from what I understand some absurd number of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan



    I would like to see that said to soldiers, airmen, Marines and Sailors that have seen ppl's heads cut off, dead bodies on roadsides, or their very own buddies dead in THEIR 2 HANDS. SOME of them have a VERY hard time adjusting to civilian life. I grant benefits all day long if this criteria is met. You should be ashamed of yourself.



    The dead bodies never bothered me much except the smell, people's heads cut off there again dead men don't say much. The thing that bothers me is The friends I lost. I don't know if I have PTSD or not, but I do know that if by fixing it I will not remember those that have been lost on a daily basis I would rather leave it as is. There is not a day that goes by that the memory of friends I have lost does not motivate me to be a better person, not for me, but for them.
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