Thanks Carlie,

Asking on behalf of a friendly long time neihbor of mine.

Is there anything this widow can do to get VA to help with her meds? medicade dose not cover.

History

Her late hubby was retired at the time of his death,(CANCER) 1989, he was a 30 year man retired us army E -6, cook, served in war war II, He retired back in 1964, sinse then they were living off his retirment pay, he died in 1989, leaving his widow behind, she ask about help from the VA back then (nothing was filed) and was told nothing could be done because he never had a insurance plan from the military/ OR reciving benefits at the time of his death other than retirement pay....which stop at the time of his death.

what this widow wants to know sinse she has been living off his SS,She has been stricken with Ostroprois bad its a decendeing bone diesease thats 10 times worse than ruhtomorid arthritis <ms,... its crippleing to say the least, she was doing ok just on his SS but now her pain meds are taking half of her SS check.
can she file a claim with the VA after all these years?? asking for help for her pain meds?
or is she just left behind and out in the cold ''sorta=speak?
any information on this would be greatly appreciated.

I am not Carlie- but need to ask- she doesn't fall under CHAMPUS?

Does she get Medicare or Medicaid?

If Medicare does she have Part D or can she apply in open season I think -not sure-the Medicare web site would have info on that-but it seemed you said she gets Medicaid
("medicade dose not cover.)

She could file a 21-526 and attempt to try to get his death service connected. She would not be able to receive any accrued benefits-too much time has passed-but with a direct SC death she could be eligible for CHAMPVA.

CHAMPVA is wonderful.
If a CHAMPVA person is Medicare eligible they must apply for Medicare Parts A and B to retain CHAMPVA after age 65.

I only have one prescribed med.
I think it costs 25-30 bucks but I only pay 4 bucks under CHAMPVA for refills.
There is a co pay to CHAMPVA too but between that and Medicare-many many things are well covered.

She can apply for direct SC death if there is anything that could possibly warrant this award.
She would also get DIC if the claim succeeds.

BUT that gets back to what you posted-

Medicaid is far different from Medicare-

Does she herself get disability benefits from Medicaid? or SSA? or SSI?

The VA widow's Wartime pension is income limited but perhaps that would provide her with a little more income as I would think she might be eligible-
but that depends too on how much she gets in SS benefits and any other income.

The 21-526 form covers eligibility for death pension too.

(I thought Medicaid covers everything- perhaps their web site would offer some help as I am confused as to what she actually does get)

Berta,
This will either help answer some of your questions or confuse things ~ lol
Rockytop only has 10 posts and this is a link to them.

http://www.hadit.com/forums/index.php?show...=0&p=162084&#

carlie

Thank you Bertha,
I mention carlie because she ask me to start a new thread on this topic.

I mention this widdow was on medicade... sorryI was miss informe she is on medicare, which explains them not helping out with her meds, beings her income is not provertyl level or is to high for there stantdards. she draws his S.S, about 1230 monthly.

this widow ask me if there was any help she could get from the VA because she needs help with her meds.
not being servie connected or having any kind of payment from the military other than retirement is why she ask SHE just wanted to know if there was anything the VA could help her with?..I didn't know? ..this is why I came to hadit for help.
hadi help me with my claim and I appreciate each and everyone of you guys.
I will tell this widow that unless she can get a claim approved for his service connection death it will be just a waite of everyones time to try to help her with help from the VA.

AFTER HIS DEATH OF A FEW MONTHS, SHE WAS TOLD WAY BACK THEN BY A VSO THERES WAS NOTHING THE VA COULD DO TO HELP HER.

Her hubby had no insurance or benefits being just a retired vet other than retirement pay and to much time has come to pass, its been over20 year.
On behalf of her late vetran husband I thought I'd try to ask on here if there was a remote possibilityfor her some help.
if she could get help for the medications she is taking thats all she wants no back pay or anything like that.
she is a honest person and gettting pretty old she is 88...but still in her right mind its just that she just has a lot of phyiscal pain.

I'll refer her back to SS Dept.

Thank you for your time.


''carlie''
I know I'm not the best speller and have the best grammar in the world, but what does my other post have to do with this about this widow?

After his death she was in fairly good health, her late husband was too, he was stricken with the cancer 18 years after his retirement, so presume service connection will most likely be denied. (obvisouly)
we can't precict the future as to how or what will happen to any of us...as for has our health.

I'm simply trying to help this sweet little old lady out with questions she had ask me.
she knows that in her heart and mind she may never get help from the VA....BUT I GUESS SHE THOUGHT SHE WOULD GIVE IT A TRY.

I will try to help her via S.S. and see if theres a program from the part clause of part D OR ANY OTHER PART if theres any help for her medications?

It takes half of her S.S CHECK TO BUY THE MEDS SHE IS TAKING NOW, MEDICARE ONLY HELPS WITH SOME LOW % , BUT SINSE SHE IS NOT ON HOSPICE THEY JUST HELP HER ABOUT 20% OR SO WITH HER MEDS.. Not much left after that, to say the least she is struggiling to pay rent and untilitys grocery's ect,,ect,,.

THIS NEW PREPOSED HEALTHCARE PLAN FROM THE PRESIDENT IS NOT GOING TO HELP HER MUCH...AND THOUSANDS PEOPLE LIKE HER.

Thank you for your vaulable time.

Yes-Part D Medicare might help her-but I believe she would have to apply for Part D and I hope it isnt too late.

Also I see on TV from time to time certain ads as to medications that the drug company itself will help pay for in some cases.

This is a problem for thousands -maybe even millions-of senior citizens -high rising medication costs-

Also AARP members can get a pharmacy discount if they are in this type of AARP program.

But my Pharmacist told me that the AARP discount isnt much though.

Of course I assume she has considered generic meds instead of the regular high priced ones if they are medically feasible.

I regret that there is nothing else I can suggest.

This is a serious and growing concern for all seniors.

I heard even Medicare Part D (which is deducted from SSA checks just like Medicare is)-could rise in cost- defeating the purpose of this type of insurance.

I am quite surprised she doesn't have TRICARE.

Carlie, Call the retirement office of the branch of service this servicemember retired from with the widow present during the call and see if this servicemember made an election for the survivor benefit plan before he retired. See if that office can give her any more help.

Carlie, Since this widow was married to a servicemember who retired, I recommend you look online under eligibility for Tricare or CHAMPUS.

Good advice to call or contact the service (Army, Air Force, Navy, etc) retiree affairs office or personnel office. Last I read Tricare for life needs the recipient to maintain Medicare Part B (prescription coverage) fo Tricare for life insurance coverage. That's a summarized version - but there is help on most bases or posts

Good to help others~!
Cg'up2009!

I think you could also search online under Tricare AND eligibility and get a toll free phone number to call for information. I think you should at least help her apply for this benefit. Also if she doesn't qualify for Tricare and she has high medication costs you could help her look into Medicare Part D coverage to help pay for her medications. The Medicare handbook has information on a state program for low income people that pays Medicare Part B premiums. Her standard of living could be improved slightly with food stamps or commodities also. If she is the widow of a WWII veteran and has high medication costs she may be able to join the American Legion auxiliary and get an ScriptSave prescription discount card which will give her a discount on prescription medications at participating pharmacies. You'd need to contact the local pharmacy to find out whether this would be worth considering. You could buy her a gift membership in the American Legion Auxiliary for $15.00