Ebenefits sucks

tony292

tony292

PEB Forum Regular Member
PEB Forum Veteran
so I've been in IDES for a year. Myhealthevet has some very limited value, it allows you to see your CP exams. Ebenefits however, sucks $&@% for beer money, it is absolutely worthless trash price of a website. it has zero value at all, I can't see percentages on it, I cannot print letters from it, nothing, zero nada... No value whatsoever. Ebenefits iris and "VA chat" are the most worthless of all the worthless features on the site. Neither of them do a damn thing to help veterans. Must be run by the same jackasses that run the "wait until you die" lists....

If VA sucks like this after I'm out, I'll just go to civilian docs via tricare. I will not tolerate this level of incompetence forever, in the hopes it will eventually get better. It's the damn government..lI will never get better.

I've stopped checking it, but hear occasionally on pebforum that it somehow magically worked for a person here a person there, I don't believe it. Sick of this way Veterans are mistreated. Ebenefits is one of those ways.
 
Out of curiosity, what information from eBenefits are you looking for?
 
Anything of value. I have the proposed VA ratings from my PEBLO. When I try to generate a VA letter, it generates a letter showing 0 service connected conditions and 0 percent. The documentation from my PEBLO states CH 35 and that it is 100% and for what conditions. The VA letter generator evidently is completely worthless until some point in time after the person gets out. I don't get anything useful at all from ebenefits, I have literally browsed just about everything there and for someone still in, there is nothing of value at all. I was able to view my military personnel records, so I guess it does have one useful feature.
 
I have been under the impression that it will not populate until you are actually considered a disabled veteran, 1 month after your discharge date. This is just a swag! I am Army AGR and received more information from this forum than my state or the VA!!!!!
 
I agree that E-benefits while in the IDES process is largely window dressing.
 
I guess my anxiety and impatience are getting the best of me. As a type A male, HATE anxiety. I don't have any phobias at all, no racing thoughts, no nightmares or feeling of impending doom.... What I have instead is a creeping insidious feeling that slowly invades every aspect of my mind. It is that feeling you get when you are in a fistfight, or a car wreck... But in my case, I'm not in a fistfight or a car wreck... I'm often just sitting in a chair at home watching TV or surfing the net. Yet I feel this way around 2/3 of my day, for no apparent reason at all. And meds don't touch it. SSRI, Xanax, nothing. Now they have me on Xanax and gabapentin which does nothing (1 pill), nothing (2 pills) nothing(3 pills plus one Xanax) then puts me to sleep. I guess I'm relaxed and not having anxiety when I'm asleep... But I would like to enjoy at least part of my day awake...
 
@tony292, you have fought a long and hard battle with the PEB, this has consumed quite a bit of your energy as well as your emotions. I would like to thank you for self advocating as well as telling your story here, to allow others in a similar situation to use it as a benchmark.

As far as eBenefits goes, you will not be able to generate your benefits letter or see anything further of use until your case has been finalized. Make sure to get your DD-214 uploaded into eBenefits as soon as possible and get a copy to your MSC as well, the case is typically finalized within 30 days of your receipt of DD-214, however your claim begins on the first of the FOLLOWING month after your are discharged.

When choosing your release date from active duty, take this into consideration, if you seperate at the beginning of the month (like say the 7th day) like I did, you will go 23 days without being paid by the VA or the military. You can choose to seperate before the 90 day window is up on say like the 28th.

It did not make sense for me to do it this way, because I had basically FREE leave which was PDMRA which had no cash value and could not be sold back.

There are some VA benefits that you CAN USE, while you are still on active duty, with the most valuable being Chapter 35 DEA and Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation (albeit you cannot collect BAH or a stipend if you ar entitled to active duty pay).

I would like to highly encourage that you consider speaking with the VA BH providers about cognitive behavioral therapy or problem solving therapy to assist you with the tremendous amount of anxeity that you currently face. To carry this much stress is extremely hard on your body's functioning. Both CBT and PST can offer great tools to help you identify and reduce your anxeity.
 
gsfowler said:
@tony292, you have fought a long and hard battle with the PEB, this has consumed quite a bit of your energy as well as your emotions. I would like to thank you for self advocating as well as telling your story here, to allow others in a similar situation to use it as a benchmark.

As far as eBenefits goes, you will not be able to generate your benefits letter or see anything further of use until your case has been finalized. Make sure to get your DD-214 uploaded into eBenefits as soon as possible and get a copy to your MSC as well, the case is typically finalized within 30 days of your receipt of DD-214, however your claim begins on the first of the FOLLOWING month after your are discharged.

When choosing your release date from active duty, take this into consideration, if you seperate at the beginning of the month (like say the 7th day) like I did, you will go 23 days without being paid by the VA or the military. You can choose to seperate before the 90 day window is up on say like the 28th.

It did not make sense for me to do it this way, because I had basically FREE leave which was PDMRA which had no cash value and could not be sold back.

There are some VA benefits that you CAN USE, while you are still on active duty, with the most valuable being Chapter 35 DEA and Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation (albeit you cannot collect BAH or a stipend if you ar entitled to active duty pay).

I would like to highly encourage that you consider speaking with the VA BH providers about cognitive behavioral therapy or problem solving therapy to assist you with the tremendous amount of anxeity that you currently face. To carry this much stress is extremely hard on your body's functioning. Both CBT and PST can offer great tools to help you identify and reduce your anxeity.
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Hello gsfowler,
Thank you for the valuable information. If I was to separate on the 7th of the month and not be paid for 23 days, when would I get my first VA payment and DOD payment?
 
You may or may not get a DoD payment based upon your VA offset. This is how it worked in my own circumstance.

Medially retired May 7, 2014.
DD-214 given to VA on May 7, 2014
VA claim finalized on May 14, 2014, with a effective date of claim Jun 1, 2014, first pay from VA on July 1, 2014

Because my VA C&P is greater than my DoD 40% retirement, I do not get any DoD $$. In the month of June, 2014 I was paid for all of the leave I sold back (75 days) (it was something like $9200 minus a ton a taxes).
 
gsfowler, thank you for telling me this information. It definitely helps me to know which day to choose for my retirement date. I have 24 years Active duty, and my VA pay is going to be more than my retirement (100%-VA/60%-DOD). PEBLOs do not explain everything as you just did. The only thing mine told me is I should also get CRDP.
You also answered when I would get paid for my leave. I plan to sell back my leave (62.5-currently) and only take PTDY. Thank you
 
Kazhmone said:
gsfowler, thank you for telling me this information. It definitely helps me to know which day to choose for my retirement date. I have 24 years Active duty, and my VA pay is going to be more than my retirement (100%-VA/60%-DOD). PEBLOs do not explain everything as you just did. The only thing mine told me is I should also get CRDP.
You also answered when I would get paid for my leave. I plan to sell back my leave (62.5-currently) and only take PTDY. Thank you
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Do all of the math to make sure you get the most $$ that you can when you choose your seperation date. Factors to consider are that you get BAH while you are still under orders, and for some, that can nearly equal a days pay too.
 
gsfowler said:
@tony292, you have fought a long and hard battle ....I would like to highly encourage that you consider speaking with the VA BH providers ... the tremendous amount of anxeity that you currently face. To carry this much stress is extremely hard on your body's functioning.
@tony292

I also encourage you to seek help with your anxiety. No one is exempt from the toll anxiety takes on our bodies. The last thing any of us need is more health problems.

Best wishes,
Mike
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gsfowler said:
Do all of the math to make sure you get the most $$ that you can when you choose your seperation date. Factors to consider are that you get BAH while you are still under orders, and for some, that can nearly equal a days pay too.
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I will make sure that I do my home work with this because you are right I want to make sure I get my $$ worth. I could not sell allof my leave back because I had already been paid 10.5 of it during my career. It is alot to consider and think about. Will inbox you if I need some more help.
 
Kazhmone said:
I will make sure that I do my home work with this because you are right I want to make sure I get my $$ worth. I could not sell allof my leave back because I had already been paid 10.5 of it during my career. It is alot to consider and think about. Will inbox you if I need some more help.
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That is not correct, if you are medically retired, you can sell back each and every single day that you have accrued. The 60 day career rule does not apply.
 
One more thing to consider, I was able to apply for unemployment insurance from my state (CA) when I seperated and then get approved for retraining benefits (one full year of unemployment, rather than 6 months) In CA this payed me an additional $1950 per month for 12 months.
 
Kazhmone said:
I will make sure that I do my home work with this because you are right I want to make sure I get my $$ worth. I could not sell allof my leave back because I had already been paid 10.5 of it during my career. It is alot to consider and think about. Will inbox you if I need some more help.
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gsfowler said:
That is not correct, if you are medically retired, you can sell back each and every single day that you have accrued. The 60 day career rule does not apply.
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@Kazhmone:
Indeed, gsfowler's sound insightful feedback is validated in accordance with AR600-8-10, Chapter 2, paragraph 2-4e as annotated below:

"For Soldiers who die because of an injury or illness incurred while serving on active duty in support of a contingency operation, settlement of accrued leave is made per 37 USC 501d. Settlement of accrued leave in excess of 60 days is authorized regardless of any leave previously cashed-in."

That said, please don't allow any uninformed military pay official to tell you anything otherwise; if so, just quote the aforementioned Army regulation...done deal! ;)

Thus, I quite often comment that "possessing well-informed knowledge is truly a powerful equalizer!"

Best Wishes!
 
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