All Veterans need to read this!!!!

[Anonymous]

I am new to this forum but I want all my fellow Veterans to take a minute or two to read what happened to my credit score because of the VA healthcare system.

    Last year I had a medical emergency and because my local VA Hospital was on diversion, (Full and could take no additional patients) I was sent to a regular hospital. I told the financial staff that I was a Veteran and my VA Hospital was on diversion. They verified my information and assured me that all my bills would be paid. WRONG! This is where my nightmare began. About a month after I was discharged I began receiving medical bills. I called the VA and they told me to forward all bills sent to me to them and they would be "reviewed" witch I did. About 6 months later I started getting letters saying some of my bills had not been paid. I called the VA again and was told that it takes up to 9 months to get bills approved and paid. I then called the providers in question and explained the situation with the VA. That's when I was told these bills had already gone into collection and had been reported to my credit companies. I was livid!!!!

   Because the VA was backlogged should have no bearing on my credit when I was not at fault!!! These 4 bills did get paid but it was too late. Now these black marks are on my credit scores for the next 7 years!!!

   All Veterans need to be made aware of this and take appropriate steps so this does not happen to you. Hopefully someone on this forum has some ideas of how I can get myself out of my current situation. Thanks for any help that can be given!!

[MattH]

I suggest you call the offices of your Senator and Representative; they can sometimes be quite helpful in cases like this.

[Anonymous]

I may end up doing that thanks I already wrote letters to the head of the va here in richmond virginia answer his boss in salem virginia neither 1 of them have bothered to call or write back

[Anonymous]

That really sucks, but is not surprising. The same thing happens everyday with insurance and medical bills. The doctor, lab, hospital, whatever, is assured that insurance will cover a cost, but if it is not paid in a timely manner by the insurance company, they can and do report the bills to collection agencies and as you say, you are stuck potentially for years, even though everyone involved had been told the bills would be covered. They take the poition that it is the individuals duty to pay, and then collect from the insurance comlany, or in yohr case the va, if they are not paying the bills quickly enough. I cant see how a letter on your behalf from your senators staff would not be able to get the collections removed. Good luck with it.

[RobertEG]

I concur 100% with MattH.

Legitimate system abuse of veterans is the very type of issue that plays big in the political arena.

Having worked for the fed government as a manager, I can tell you that congressional inquiries are not taken lightly.

[laz98]

This very thing worries me.  I honestly hope I never have to go to the hospital.  I'm sure that even if I went to the VA hospital, they'd tell me it wouldn't be covered for whatever reason.

[MarineVietVet]

I know that every hospital is different (whether VA or private) but I must say the care given to me and my wife at our local VA facility has always been first rate.

Are there problems sometimes? Sure, but I've also had problems at every private hospital I've had a reason to visit.

[morganirish]

The VA in my neck of the woods is wonderful..  However I know many veterans who have had the issue of having to go to the hospital for an emergency and the VA takes so long to decide if they are going to pay or not that the vet often gets stuck with the bill.    OP-perhaps if you write a letter to the hospital explaining the situation- they will at least remove it from your report.     I also agree that you should call your congressman and senator.  They need to hear what works and what doesn't.  

[Anonymous]

Dang this kind of stuff scares me too, I'm about to retire and I sure would hate for something like this to happen I feel your pain and hope that you will have a happy ending to this story in the near future please let us know if you get it resolved and everything you had to do to fix it!