Dave makes several valid pnitos. One of the biggest problems today, is that the VBA obviously makes determinations of healthcare eligibility based on what they think it will cost them in disability compensation. This is done to a point that they refuse to use years of actual medical records to determine what conditions you may or not be suffering from, and schedule C&P exams for the express purpose of manipulating diagnostic records in order to deny claims. In my case, The examiner they employed to conduct the examination was on probation for falsifying medical records at the time he was conducting the exam, and he backdated fabicated diagnoses into my medical records as part of his examination report. At this point, it has become a Senate Inquiry. However, I think a lot of this could be avoided. If soldiers, after signing on the dotted line, putting their lives on the line, were entitled to, at the very least, mental healthcare, the VA would not have to base their decisions on how much they would owe you. These practices are absurd. It was even documented in my medical records by VA practitioners that I was interested in treatment only, and had no intent on filing a claim at the time. But after the second time of having treatment abruptly stopped due to arguments of ineligibility during critical pnitos in therapy, there was no choice but to file a official claim. I had been deemed eligible through a means test at one point, and now am no longer eligible again, while a third therapist at the VHA still insists that I need the therapy. What do finances have to do with a patients condition and the relevant care that they need. This is a critical error in the system that is reeking havoc all the way around. It takes the strength and courage of a warrior to ask for help, but you have to escape becoming a statistic of the veteran suicide rate (18 per day), and be part of an act of congress to get therapy without interruption. It's insane, and I would not be alive today if I didn't have the help of my wife and brother. Over $80 was spent on certified mail just yesterday. What about veterans who have no one? Where does that leave them?