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This just popped up on my Twitter feed- https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5519

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USVAVBA/bulletins/2983584 It goes into some updates for this month, short story benefits, school aids, beneficiaries....

So, a couple of months ago I had a vitreous detachment in my right eye. No major complications, so I've been alert for any changes. Last Thursday at 11:55 am I had a hemorrhage in the eye. Went to my eye doctor for a check at 1 pm, called my primary provider at 2 pm (torn retina), They started work on getting me to a local eye center for laser surgery. I already had an appointment (semi annual checkup) for Friday at 10:00 am. When I told them it was critical to have surgery within 24 hrs of the tear (eye doctors words). They got me an appointment with a local eye center at 2 pm. Made it to the appointment, had the surgery, am now recovering. Vision is still cloudy from the blood inside the eye, should take 3-5 months for it to reabsorb. I hear a lot of complaints about the VA (there are times I want to hang the lot of them), but when they do good I want to give kudos. This year has been a real roller coaster, Surgery in March, two trips to the ER in realation to the surgery, 3 days in the hospital after going septic from an abcess due to surgery, brother getting major neck surgery (c-2 to T-1 degenerative bone disease), sister passed away last week (congestive heart failure 64 years old), and now my eye, can this year just be over, please.

May be of interest to our vets. https://explore.va.gov/events?utm_source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=may-explore-event_5.14&utm_term=body-button-page&utm_content=events-application-all-null

Just got back from the Veterans Office here in town. have a "file" started, need to fill out a few MORE forms.....Then we'll see what all the VA can do. Results in about a week, or so...More for the medical side of things....we'll see.

We're in the middle of refinancing our mortgage down to a shorter term, and lower interest rate so I can get our home paid off near retirement age. The numbers work, we are very happy with the payment, and the low interest rate of 3.75%. The reason why we need to go through the VA, is our home is barely above water in loan to value, a conventional loan won't touch us still unless we are 95% LTV. Our area is still reeling from the housing disaster of 08'. Our 365,000 dollar home in 08' slid down to a value of 98,000 dollars, and we owed 245,000 on it at that time almost 10 years ago. And we are still a tad under water, so the flexibility of the VA loan will help us out. But, it comes with a price. The VA is charging us $8250.00 to fund the loan, OUCH! And they are charging us a 600.00 appraisal. I told our lender I was going to go out and get our own appraisal done for around 250 to 300 bucks, but they told us the VA requires their own appraiser to visit our home, and their appraiser costs 600 bucks. We checked, and the lender aint lying to us. I am aching over the fact that we have to add another 9 grand in VA fees to our principal, but like I said, the loan is very favorable compared to what we have now, and our home will be paid off 10 years early, just 5 years after I retire at the age of 60. But man, those fees!!!! Do me another favor VA! Thank you sir may I have another!

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/trumps-va-makes-dramatic-improvements-media-yawns Trump's VA Makes Dramatic Improvements, Media Yawns David Shulkin is making sure our veterans are treated with dignity. 7.14.2017 News M.J. Randolph 19 Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin is the only Trump cabinet member who was confirmed unanimously, and he's been hard at work since his confirmation five months ago. The VA is one of the most reviled entities in government, after becoming one of the most disappointing, bureaucratic quagmires ever. Let's just revisit a few of their many offenses: 1. Veterans have had to wait so long for care that they have literally died while waiting for their appointments. To add insult to injury, a former Secretary compared the long wait times for medical care to waiting for rides at Disneyland. 2. During President Obama's administration, the budget for the VA was well over $160 billion... and still was unable to do basic things efficiently. Plus at one new hospital, the government bragged about spending $6 million on... art. 3. To cover up long wait times, the VA simply lied about improvements. Instead of calculating how many days the patient actually has to wait, they calculated how many days transpired when the staffer actually call the veteran back and made an appointment. And honestly, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The way a nation treats its veterans says a great deal about the country. And we should all be shamed at how awful the VA has become. President Donald Trump is changing that through Secretary Shulkin, and he's getting no credit for that. Jim Geraghty reports in National Review about the rapid improvements to the agency: The department announced last week that between President Trump’s inauguration and July 3, it had fired 526 employees, demoted another 27, and temporarily suspended another 194 for longer than two weeks. In April, the department launched a new website that lets veterans compare the wait times at its facilities and view Yelp-style reviews of each facility written by previous patients. Veterans Health Administration’s Veterans Crisis Line — designed for those struggling with PTSD, thoughts of suicide, and other forms of mental stress — is now answering “more than 90 percent of calls within 8 seconds, and only about one percent of calls are being rerouted to a backup call center.” A year ago, an inspector general report noted that “more than a third of calls were being shunted to backup call centers, some calls were taking more than a half hour to be answered and other callers were being given only an option to leave messages on voicemail.” At the end of June, Shulkin unveiled the world’s most advanced commercial prosthetic limb — the Life Under Kinetic Evolution (LUKE) arm — during a visit to a VA facility in New York. Veteran amputees demonstrated the technology, a collaboration among the VA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the private sector. (The name alludes to the lifelike robotic hand that Luke Skywalker is fitted with in The Empire Strikes Back.) In May, Shulkin said the department had identified more than 430 vacant buildings and 735 underutilized ones that cost the federal government $25 million a year. He said that most of the buildings are not treatment facilities and could profitably be closed or consolidated. Of course, if he actually attempted to close or consolidate some of the buildings, he might face a controversy along the lines of those touched off by military-base-closing announcements in recent decades. Of course, the mainstream media hasn't mentioned this, because they are too busy combing through Trump's Twitter account looking for collusion clues to care about our veterans. However, the rest of America notices... and is thankful. Image Credit: Gene Russell - United States Department of Veterans Affairs

I do believe I would qualify for a VA Loan......not sure IF I want to buy a house. However, does the VA Loans also cove a vehicle buy? Just wondering... Too many medical bills on the credit reports......can't get a vehicle without putting ALL of what I'd get a month as a down payment. Yet,,,I was able to swing a car loan 2+yrs ago for what I drive now, even have it fully paid off. Not in a real need..yet, just finding options BEFORE i do need another Van. Not sure where to ask.