War veterans who suffer physical and emotion illness frequently suffer financial hardships due to their inability to find suitable employment. Veterans Affairs (VA) offers substantial medical services and benefits to those who have suffered a disability. Unfortunately, the VA disability benefits can serve as an incentive to commit fraud and abuse. Psychiatric disabilities, like Post Traumatic […] Read more

Patients with chronic health conditions often require taking medications for extended time periods and the cost burden can prevent them from taking the needed prescription drug(s). Researchers at the Rand Health, a division of Rand Corporation, suggest a “two-part-pricing” scheme for chronic health care patients. They base their proposal on how products outside the medical world are marketed, like Internet […] Read more

You have probably seen surveillance footage of a fraudulent disability insurance claimant who claims to have a bad back, but is caught on camera lifting a heavy carton. What the cameras do not show is the legitimate disability claimant who is denied benefits by their insurance company. Unless you know someone personally who has been […] Read more

Long-Term Disability (LTD) seems like a good idea. After all, 1 out of 3 U.S. workers will require some form of supplemental disability income during their lifetime. Since most workers can only survive 3 months out of work, it makes LTD insurance sound better all the time. At least that is what the insurance companies want […] Read more

The International Herald Tribune, has an article on how post-traumatic-stress-disorder (PTSD) sometimes manifest years and decades after a traumatic event. For example, some World War II and Korean War veterans did not show symptoms of PTSD for 30-years. As the Center for Disease Control (CDC) states PTSD can be very difficult to diagnose, which may be […] Read more

Karen Kaplan’s August 18, Los Angeles Times article, U.S. military practices genetic discrimination in denying benefits, tells how the U.S. Military denies disability benefits to both active and veteran military personnel. The problem began in 1999, when the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) decided that soldiers with a genetic predisposition for a disease will be denied benefits for […] Read more

On the 7th floor of the Walter Reed Hospital is Ward 71, the oncology unit. When politicians come to visit wounded Iraq soldiers, they go to the 3rd floor where they can get publicity shots with amputee soldiers. “No one even knows we’re on the oncology ward,” says Sergeant Valentin. This past July, Iraq’s environment minister claimed […] Read more

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) provides the most recent reports and testimonies related to military and veteran’s health care and disability benefits issued since March 2003. Currently there are 28 items listed related to veterans disability benefits. GAO Findings and Recommendations Regarding DOD and VA Disability Systems GAO-07-906R, May 25, 2007 Abstract   PDF    Veterans Benefits […] Read more

Fight Bad-faith Insurance Companies (FBIC) is an excellent site on getting the low-down on your insurance company. In previous posts it has been mentioned that there are no Federal or State laws that specifically regulate insurance policies. Sure, there are rules and regulations on how insurance companies conduct business, but when it comes to how […] Read more

Veterans Adminstration (VA) Secretary Jim Nicholson has been accused by injured Iraq war veterans of denying them benefits. The class action suit was filed on behalf of hundreds of thousands of veterans. Attorneys filing the class action said that the objective is not monetary. What they want is for the VA to provide the mental […] Read more