And so it snowballs, as I say. You’re right, Anne. The moment they start tweaking things internally, it all goes to hell.

Best to you and your family.

It’s a combo of both, Jake. The shifting sands of regulation coupled with the random hilarity of stupidity… yep.

Yes, on the mend probably not the most accurate word choice on my part. In any case, hoping that you can help your dad get as comfortable as possible, and that you and your family are doing OK.

Sure sounds like the VA system is straight out of Catch-22, or the Three Stooges (but not in a funny way).

He’s on temporary mend, unfortunately. Long-term illness that won’t get better, I’m afraid.

Good for your colleague, Jake. I think the VA needs plenty more of these whistleblowers. In one case, we were directed by a nursing home director to work with that county’s VA office. He meant well — he assumed like we did that they all operate the same. The woman in that county office looked at us as though we’d sprouted three heads apiece when we asked for help getting the hospice ball rolling.

“We don’t do that!”

“I’m confused. We were led to believe, from the VA website, that the VA offers free in-home hospice as a benefit for veterans.”

“I’ve been in this office for 43 years and I’ve never heard of that.”

Time she opens the door to that office to let the news in. We went home and called a different county VA office. Voila! Process started. And who helped us? The hospice care coordinator for… the VA.

It’s that same level of frustration throughout the VA system.

I think your lessons here are excellent. I’ve always thought that “underpromise/overdeliver” is a B.S. concept. Promise, deliver, and everyone’s happy.

On a side note, one of my Phoenix colleagues was among the whistleblowers at the VA here a few years ago. Navy vet, incredibly well respected, and literally ended up sequestered in the basement with nothing to do, simply because she exposed horrifying levels of misconduct. Absolutely disgusting.

Well, if by “every” benefit you mean the bare minimum, then yes. We’ve managed that.

The VA is good at supplying equipment for free and medications at ridiculously low prices (he now pays $9 a month). They’re also quite good at the everyday healthcare for free. Where they fail is in the promise of free stuff that simply isn’t going to happen. They told him about the free stuff. I know. He called me and ran through the list of things they said he’d get. They didn’t say he’d have to be uber-qualified or have to fight them legally to get them, either. Until now.

My sister managed 2 hours of free caregiver time out of them. That’s it. Two hours. For a man who needs a ton of help, I find it hard to believe they based it on anything real. Probably some formula.

And I do believe, as you do, that the pension formula is meant to discourage. There’s no way that anyone can benefit unless they have no money left.

Same here, Devon. I was lost in my own quagmire and didn’t realize you were struggling, too.

It’s infuriating that the one with the best lawyer gets the benefits. It shouldn’t be that way. It’s shameful the way the system is set up as a promise of what will probably never come to pass.

Much love and luck with your mom’s surgery. You’re right to push for answers. There’s no reason why they can’t know that ahead of time.

Sorry I was so wrapped up in my own stuff that I didn’t realize you needed help.

Thinking of you.

Do you get the feeling the VA “pension” is set up so the $37/month or whatever pittance they finally say one is eligible for simply isn’t worth the headache of navigating their paper fortress?

I’ve encountered a few moving targets, something I find very disturbing when dealing with editors who should know how to clearly explain an assignment. In a couple of those cases it was clear that after the projects were completed to the editors’ specifications their bosses (or advertisers!) decided they wanted something different. Argh.