Sunday, April 22, 2007

how can tim ngo only be considered 10% disabled?

his skull was blown up by a grenade in iraq while he was serving his country. part of it had to be removed.

yet the military didn't disable him enough so he could get disability benefits and WORSE, he is not eligible for military insurance coverage.

why aren't we making the king and his court account for tim ngo? the king SENT him to iraq to 'fight the war on terror'. then the king just kicks tim ngo to the curb when he returns?

Injured Troops Struggle to Get Health Care

by Joseph Shapiro

All Things Considered, April 20, 2007 · When service members are forced to leave the military by war injuries or illness, they face a complex system for getting health and disability benefits. Sometimes, health care gets cut off when new veterans find they need it most. Some retired soldiers and their families say they are worried that the Pentagon won't spend enough money to give the injured the care they deserve.

'10 Percent Disabled'

Tim Ngo almost died in a grenade attack in Iraq. He sustained a serious head injury; surgeons had to cut out part of his skull. At Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., he learned to walk and talk again..........

............But here is the part that is in dispute: The Army says Tim Ngo is only 10 percent disabled............

..........When a service member is retired for medical reasons, the military's disability rating makes a difference. If Ngo had been rated 30 percent disabled or higher, he would have gotten a monthly disability check instead of a small severance check. He also would have stayed in the military's health-care system.

Instead, Ngo enrolled with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Typically, there's a waiting period for the VA.

In October, while he was uninsured, Ngo had a seizure, caused by his war injury.
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