A legacy participant in the VA caregiver program (CPAFC) is a post 9/11 veteran who was in the program on or before October 1, 2020. Legacy veterans are required to appeal using a different method and a different VA form.

My wife/caregiver and I had to wait a decade for the program eligibility requirements to include us. We applied when I was on my death bed. In July, 2020, I had been given a 4% chance to survive a service connected operation and then a 12% chance to survive the next ninety days. I was sent home after thirty days in ICU with 150 opiate pills and a hospital bed. I was told by pain management that I could have all of the opiate pain killer pills that I wanted. I was sent home to die.

Despite the above, I was admitted into the PCAFC caregiver program at the lowest level, level 1 benefits. There were three medical professionals (RNs) coming to my house three days every week. I had leg braces that I could not get on or off by myself and I had a colostomy that I could not even see, much less care for. I could barely raise my head off of a pillow. The CEAT team conceded that I needed help with five of the seven activities of daily living, but still refused to grant level 2 benefits. That arbitrary decision was not in accordance with PCAFC guidelines and contrary to the regulations governing the program.

I went through the appeal and deny, another appeal and deny, I requested recertification, appeal and deny, another appeal and deny. I took it up to the Board of Veterans Appeals. The BVA granted level 2 benefits using the exact same evidence that was used by the VHA to deny me, over and over so many times before.

The VHA social workers and, so called expert, CEAT teams, put me through so much hell for more than two years that I cringe to even think about it. Don’t ask me what I think about those people because there are just not enough words. I told them that they were wrong from the beginning, and in the end, I proved that fact at the Board.

Bad thing is, they are doing the exact same thing to hundreds if not thousands of other severely disabled veterans. The fiasco is, on its own, creating an unbelievable backlog at the BVA. You can go to the BVA search prior decisions website,

and type into the search box PCAFC caregiver to see for yourself. Please note that all of the cases have been remanded except my own case and only one more case. That other case was granted, only to be vacated and reversed three days later. The reason for vacating and reversing the decision was the fact that the caregiver did not complete the required caregiver training. That failure to complete the required training had been overlooked in the initial BVA decision.

All of those remands, and my case, being the first and only case granting level 2 benefits, so far at the BVA, is going to stuff that old hamster wheel so tight that it will cease to function. The cost to the taxpayer is going to be tremendous and unbearably ridiculous. Nobody is going to be held accountable for squandering VA resources. Nobody is going to get disciplined or fired. Nobody is going to miss a paycheck with the exception of THE DESERVING CAREGIVERS AND THEIR SERIOUSLY DISABLED HEROES.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going!