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Bad Paper Discharge? Mental Health Options Limited

When you get an other than honorable discharge or a bad conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge, you lose virtually all of your access to Veterans Affairs benefits.

From the article

“When service members separate from the military, their futures depend on something called a characterization of service. There are five different possibilities: honorable, general under honorable conditions, other than honorable, bad conduct, and dishonorable.

“Other than honorable” means the service member has had a pattern of misconduct or has been convicted by a civilian court of a crime.

Meanwhile, “bad conduct” and “dishonorable” result when a service member commits a felony-level offense. Those two categories, the lowest on the military scale, are also known as “punitive discharges.”

Military discharges are a reward system. Serving without bad behavior or crime earns service members support from the VA. But if they cause trouble, they’re mostly on their own.

In July, the Veterans Affairs revised its policies and began offering 90 days of emergency mental health care to veterans with other than honorable discharges – people who it says are at greater risk of suicide and homelessness.” Continue Reading …

Without An Honorable Discharge, Mental Health Options Are Limited

This month’s mass shooting at a Texas church has raised questions of whether the military does enough to help former service members with bad conduct discharges. They’re not eligible for veterans’ mental health care. When service members separate from the military, their futures depend on something called a characterization of service.

Webinar: Veterans and Bad Paper

This webinar, dated March 13, 2015, is part of our bi-monthly webinar series on veterans and behavioral health, funding by The California Wellness Foundation. The webinar covers veterans who receive a less than honorable discharge from the military, commonly referred to as “bad paper”, and methods to overcome subsequent barriers to VA healthcare and benefits.

VA Character of Discharge Review

The truth is that many people with “bad paper” might be able to receive most Veterans Affairs benefits, even without a discharge upgrade. The VA is allowed to grant eligibility to most people in this situation, for all benefits except the GI Bill. This happens if the VA looks at your overall service and decides that it wasn’t “under dishonorable conditions.” This is called a Character of Discharge review. This doesn’t change your discharge (it won’t change what is written on your DD 214), it just changes how the VA treats you. But most people don’t ever receive a Character of Discharge review because they don’t ask the right way.

We typically advise people to apply for a discharge upgrade through the Department of Defense and to ask the Veterans Affairs to do a Character of Discharge review. Continue Reading …

VA Character of Service Determinations: An Alternative to Discharge Review

This guide will show you how. There is a lot of bad information about this topic. You may have heard from your chain of command, from other veterans, or even from VA employees, that your discharge makes you ineligible for VA benefits.

VA has its own set of rules when it comes to determining whether a veteran’s discharge status qualifies the veteran for benefits. Today we are going to discuss the process that the VA uses to determine whether a discharge was “under conditions other than dishonorable” for VA purposes. The VA must conduct a formal character of discharge determination if a claimant was discharged under conditions other than honorable, undesirable, or bad conduct. The character of discharge determination is a review of all the circumstances surrounding the person’s discharge, and the VA will also determine if a statutory or regulatory bar to VA benefits exists. As discussed in a prior post, if there is not statutory or regulatory bar to benefits, the person will qualify as a veteran because the Veterans Affairs will categorize the discharge as conditions other than dishonorable. Continue Reading …

VA Character of Discharge Determination – Hill & Ponton, P.A.

As discussed in previous posts , the VA has its own set of rules when it comes to determining whether a veteran’s discharge status qualifies the veteran for benefits. Today we are going to discuss the process that the VA uses to determine whether a discharge was “under conditions other than dishonorable” for VA purposes.

VA’s information which can be found here …

Applying for Benefits and Your Character of Discharge

Generally, in order to receive VA benefits and services, the Veteran’s character of discharge or service must be under other than dishonorable conditions (e.g., honorable, under honorable conditions, general). However, individuals receiving undesirable, bad conduct, and other types of dishonorable discharges may qualify for VA benefits depending on a determination made by VA.

Read the factsheet on claims for benefits involving other-than-honorable discharges.

Correcting Military Records

Each of the military services maintain a discharge review board with authority to change,
correct or modify discharges or dismissals not issued by a sentence of a general court-martial.

Specific Benefit Program Character of Discharge Requirements

Discharge Requirements for Compensation Benefits
To receive VA compensation benefits and services, the Veteran’s character of discharge or service must be under other than dishonorable conditions (e.g., honorable, under honorable conditions, general).

Discharge Requirements for Pension Benefits
To receive VA pension benefits and services, the Veteran’s character of discharge or service must be under other than dishonorable conditions (e.g., honorable, under honorable conditions, general).

Discharge Requirements for Education Benefits
To receive VA education benefits and services through the Montgomery GI Bill program or Post-9/11 GI Bill program, the Veteran’s character of discharge or service must be honorable.

To receive VA education benefits and services through any other VA educational benefits program, including the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA) program, the Veteran’s character of discharge or service must be under other than dishonorable conditions (e.g., honorable, under honorable conditions, general).

Discharge Requirements for Home Loan Benefits
To receive VA home loan benefits and services, the Veteran’s character of discharge or service must be under other than dishonorable conditions (e.g., honorable, under honorable conditions, general).

Discharge Requirements for Insurance Benefits
Generally, there is no character of discharge bar to benefits to Veterans’ Group Life Insurance. However, for Service Disabled Veterans Insurance and Veterans’ Mortgage Life Insurance benefits, the Veteran’s character of discharge must be other than dishonorable.

Am I eligible for emergency care at a non-VA facility?

An eligible Veteran may receive emergency care at a non-VA health care facility at VA expense when a VA facility or other Federal health care facility with which VA has an agreement is unable to furnish economical care due to the Veteran’s geographical inaccessibility to a VA medical facility, or when VA is unable to furnish the needed emergency services.

Are there any payment limitations for non-VA emergency care?

Emergency care must be pre-authorized by VA. When the emergency care is not authorized in advance by VA, it may be considered as preauthorized care when the nearest VA medical facility is notified within 72 hours of admission, the Veteran is eligible and the care rendered is emergent in nature. Claims for non-VA emergency care not authorized by VA in advance of services being furnished must be timely filed. Because timely filing requirements differ by type of claim, you should contact the nearest VA medical facility as soon as possible to avoid payment denial for an untimely filed claim.

Payment may not be approved for any period beyond the date on which the medical emergency ended, except when VA cannot accommodate transfer of the Veteran to a VA or other Federal facility. An emergency is deemed to have ended at that point when a VA physician has determined that, based on sound medical judgment, a Veteran who received emergency hospital care could have been transferred from the non-VA facility to a VA medical center for continuation of treatment.

What type of emergency care can VA authorize in advance?

Subject to eligibility and payment limitations described in “Emergency Care” in 5_Medical Benefits Package, VA may preauthorize and issue payment for non-VA emergency care when treatment is needed for:	Inpatient Care	Outpatient Care
The Veteran’s VA-rated service-connected disability, or for a nonservice condition that is associated with and aggravating the Veteran’s service-connected condition	√	√
A disability for which the Veteran was released from active duty	√	√
Any condition of a Veteran who is rated by VA as permanently and totally disabled due to a service-connected disability	√	√
Any condition of a Veteran who is an active participant in the VA Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program, who needs treatment medically determined to make possible the Veteran’s entrance into a course of training or prevent interruption of a course of training that was interrupted due to such illness, injury or dental condition	√	√
Any condition for a Veteran who has a VA service-connected disability rating of 50% or greater		√
A condition for which the Veteran has been furnished VA hospital care, nursing home, domiciliary care or medical services and who requires medical services to complete treatment incident to such care or services		√
Any condition of a Veteran who is in receipt of increased VA pension, additional VA compensation or allowances based on the need for regular aid and attendance or by reason of being permanently housebound		√
A condition requiring emergency care that developed while the Veteran was receiving medical services in a VA facility or contract nursing home or during VA authorized travel	√	√
Any condition that will prevent the need for hospital admission for a Veteran in the state of Alaska or Hawaii and U.S. Territories, excluding Puerto Rico		√
Any condition for women Veterans	√
Any dental services, treatment and related dental appliances for Veterans who are former prisoners of war		√

Can VA pay for non-VA emergency care that is not preauthorized?

VA has limited payment authority when emergency care at a non-VA facility is provided without authorization by VA in advance of services being furnished or when notification to VA is not made within 72 hours of admission. VA may pay for unauthorized emergency care as indicated below. Since payment may be limited to the point your condition is stable for transfer to a VA facility, the nearest VA medical facility should be contacted as soon as possible for all care not authorized by VA in advance of the services being furnished.

For service-connected	For nonservice-connected conditions
VA may only pay for emergency care provided in a non-VA facility for certain Veterans who are rated by VA with a service-connected disability. VA may pay for emergency inpatient or outpatient care when treatment is needed for:	VA may only pay for emergency care provided in a non-VA facility for treatment of a Nonservice- connected condition only if all of the following conditions are met:
The Veteran’s VA rated service-connected disability or for a nonservice-condition that is associated with and aggravating the Veteran’s service-connected condition	The episode of care cannot be paid as an unauthorized claim for service-connected Veterans
A VA facility was not considered feasibly available when the urgency of the Veteran’s medical condition, the relative distance of the travel involved or the nature of the treatment required makes it necessary or economically advisable to use public or private facilities	The Veteran is enrolled in the VHA health care system and received VA medical care within a 24-month period preceding the furnishing of the emergency treatment
VA may only pay for emergency care provided in a non-VA facility for certain Veterans who are rated by VA with a service-connected disability. VA may pay for emergency inpatient or outpatient care when treatment is needed for	VA may only pay for emergency care provided in a non-VA facility for treatment of a Nonservice-connected condition only if all of the following conditions are met
Any condition of a Veteran who is rated by VA as permanently and totally disabled due to a service connected disability	The Veteran is personally liable to the health care provider for the emergency treatment that meets the prudent layperson definition of an emergency
Any condition of a Veteran who is an active participant in the VA Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program, who needs treatment medically determined to make possible the Veteran’s entrance into a course of training or to prevent interruption of a course of training that was interrupted due to such illness, injury or dental condition	The Veteran has no other contractual or legal recourse against a third party that would, in whole, extinguish the Veteran’s liability. The claim must be filed within 90 days from the date of discharge or the date the Veteran exhausted without success any actions to obtain payment from a third party
A prudent layperson would have reasonably expected that delay in seeking immediate medical attention would have been hazardous to life or health	A prudent layperson would have reasonably expected that delay in seeking immediate medical attention would have been hazardous to life or health
Once authorization for care is granted by VA the, authorization will be continued after admission only for the period of time required to stabilize or improve the patient’s condition to the extent that further care is no longer required to satisfy the purpose it was initiated	Once authorization for care is granted by VA, the authorization will be continued after admission or only for the period of time required to stabilize or improve the patient’s condition to the extent that further care is no longer required to satisfy the purpose it was initiated
	The Veteran is not entitled to care or services under a health plan contract
	Treatment was provided in a hospital emergency room