War veteran fights $40K claim with VA-wins w/help of Michael Finney-7 on Your Side

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=5930357

War veteran fights $40K claim with VA
Friday, February 08, 2008 | 1:46 PM

EUREKA, CA (KGO) -- A Vietnam veteran escaped the war unharmed, but the financial scars left by his battle with the Veterans Administration over medical bills posed a more serious threat. So, he called for reinforcements and 7 On Your Side's Michael Finney answered the call for help.

When a surgeon removed a tumor from James Hendryx colon, his fight was just beginning. The VA refused to pay his near $50,000 dollar medical claim. It's an experience veteran advocates say is not uncommon.

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To understand why his claim was denied, you have to go back to October of 2005. That's when his VA doctor sent him to the San Francisco for a colonoscopy. He says the technician suggested he get a sigmoidoscopy instead, because the examination of just the lower part of his colon would be less invasive.
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. "Sometimes VA is using cheaper tests and waiting longer to give those tests. In that waiting period, the veterans condition gets worse," says Paul Sullivan, Veterans for Common Sense.

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We contacted the VA, and within a day, it promised to pay the claim. The bill was covered in full by the VA four months later.
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thanks Michael Finney!!!

:shrug: