I agree, and it's repulsive.
When I was AD, I went in for a sleep study (well before I retired), and the young E-4 made a comment of something to the effect of "getting out soon, huh?"
That told me all I need to know.
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The SHOW: Airlines still a "good gig"??
- Thread starter A4sForever
- Start date
When I was AD, I went in for a sleep study (well before I retired), and the young E-4 made a comment of something to the effect of "getting out soon, huh?"
That told me all I need to know.
I remember some guy giving the out briefings for VA benefits being incredulous about the fact that I didn’t want him to file medical claims with him. Back in the day you had to pass a company “Mercury astronaut“ physical do get hired by a major. I wasn’t going to take any chances.
I’ll talk about the flip side of the coin of people claiming too much.
I interact with the veteran community fairly frequently as I ride with a veteran’s motorcycle club. One of our biggest pushes amongst the veteran community is simply filing for a claim. Not sure how or why, but a lot of guys don’t file claims at all or don’t know they can claim issues. The assumption, particularly amongst true ground combat/infantry types, is you had to have some sort of combat injury, etc, to file with the VA.
Also, I’ve learned that the people scamming the claims system is extremely small. Yes, it happens, but when a claim takes a minimum of 4-5 months, and is vetted through multiple people, it’s hard to do. For folks who get 100%, 99.9% of the time they have multiple appointments and are looked at by multiple doctors. So, they’d either have to be really good actors or get lucky with a series of extremely shitty and shady docs. The most extreme example, I worked with a guy in England who had PTSD and the VA flew him to Italy and then also back to the states for mental evaluations. Turns out he was given 100%.
I guess that’s a long way of saying, I don’t hate on guys getting a particular VA rating. Something happened that was bad enough to claim and then was verified through the VA.
I interact with the veteran community fairly frequently as I ride with a veteran’s motorcycle club. One of our biggest pushes amongst the veteran community is simply filing for a claim. Not sure how or why, but a lot of guys don’t file claims at all or don’t know they can claim issues. The assumption, particularly amongst true ground combat/infantry types, is you had to have some sort of combat injury, etc, to file with the VA.
Also, I’ve learned that the people scamming the claims system is extremely small. Yes, it happens, but when a claim takes a minimum of 4-5 months, and is vetted through multiple people, it’s hard to do. For folks who get 100%, 99.9% of the time they have multiple appointments and are looked at by multiple doctors. So, they’d either have to be really good actors or get lucky with a series of extremely shitty and shady docs. The most extreme example, I worked with a guy in England who had PTSD and the VA flew him to Italy and then also back to the states for mental evaluations. Turns out he was given 100%.
I guess that’s a long way of saying, I don’t hate on guys getting a particular VA rating. Something happened that was bad enough to claim and then was verified through the VA.
Same for those who have had a series of bad things happen which add up to 100%
I've had the opposite experience with the VA. Something in my record which was clearly documented, including a delay in treatment due to a pending deployment, and yet the VA denied my claim stating that the condition is "not service connected". Supplemental claim pending.
I have since had it treated out of pocket.
I have since had it treated out of pocket.
What a shitty day to fly.
Imagine if all these fecal terrorists were to coordinate their actions. It could cripple air travel.
I'm thinking TSA needs to mandate consumption of an MRE that contains a packet of cheese spread, 1 hour prior to boarding.
They landed back home after a short flight... and got full pay. And may have had their entire 4 day trip cancelled with pay protection.
I got my sleep study done right before I retired mainly because that's when I learned about the real health consequences later on if you don't treat it. But, I probably would have held off anyway trying to avoid being grounded by a Navy flight doc.
I think the reason the VA culture pushes for claims is because for so long, people were under claiming. My Dad is a perfect example of someone who is rated at 30% and should easily be 70-80%. I also believe it's because it's better to claim and get denied than to not claim when you should. I think in most cases they'll catch BS claims. As far as the sleep apnea is concerned, I'm not sure what your beef is. I had a sleep study in October of 22 before I retired. During the 6 hour study, I stopped breathing for 10 seconds or longer, 315 times, which put me in the severe obstructive sleep apnea category. Sleep apnea untreated, increases your chances of stroke and heart attack by 40% later on in life. I now have to use a CPAP every single night and for a minimum of 6 hours before every flight duty period. I fly for the majors. I have to carry that CPAP around everywhere I go. That is a legit disability. Just because I have all my limbs does not mean I'm without disability. Yes, that meant 50% disability right off the bat and 90% when added to my other claims that came from a 20 year career. If you want to bad mouth people who make bogus claims, cool. But don't bad mouth people who make legit claims because you either chose not to, or tried and failed and are now bitter. The way our government hands out money to those who don't work and other countries, I don't feel one bit guilty about the legit claims that I filed and am now receiving compensation for.
Bringing this conversation back around to the FAA, VA, and airman abuse, I think there are a mix of issues at play. For example, the VA is bizarrely precise (medically) on how they rate disability - lose your leg 3” bellow your knee and your rating is different if you lose it above the knee. On the other hand, the FAA is kind of weak on their interpretation and their medical form can lead to traps. For veterans, PTSD is an excellent example - if you saw dead people, fired your weapon at the enemy, saw a fellow serviceman injured or lost a buddy in combat you are automatically rated for PTSD. For some it amounts for nothing more than a little occasional sadness or a positive conversation with some fellow vets to stay healthy…for others it is a lifetime of chemical treatment. Your flight doc might understand, but the FAA might not. You can tell the FAA “my treatment is a veteran chat group” and they might say feel you are ignoring a mental health issue. So some of those check boxes are worth worrying about.
Now, I have zero sympathy for aviators who check “No” on Question 18y when they are receiving benefits, but I do know people who check it, but skip at least one associated box on the medical side (especially the mental health one with reference to PTSD). The VA is very clear about how it rates people, but the FAA is kind of opaque. I fly Basic Med now but on my last physical I paid a flight medical company a decent sum to walk me through the process and get my ducks in a row simply so I didn’t have to fight the FAA over my VA ratings. And that was for a 3rd class medical.
THIS!!! I can’t like this enough.
