Which direction to start with helping Dad?

Mara, just to clarify, are YOU in a "rest home" or was that a typo in that "I'm" should have meant "in"? I'm not being critical, but if you have serious complications with potential loss of limb, then you're definitely not in a position to be at home taking care of your father, even with assistance.

Whether the VA pays for home help depends on the level of qualification and service connected disability your father has. I think it would be helpful to meet with someone from one of the service organizations such as American Legion or VFW and find out what the VA offers, and ask them to help you get your father qualified for as much as he's able to get. Don't hire someone to do this; you definitely don't need to pay for assistance in applying for benefits.

I think you have 2 routes to pursue: (1) find out what your father is eligible for through the VA, and (2) find out if he is eligible for Medicaid.

You can begin with route #1 as I suggested above, and with route #2 by searching your state's website on Medicaid rules, especially on asset limitation.

The VA should take care of him from this point on. Help at home is not the most likely scenario, I think he is more likely to go to a nursing home run by the VA. I don't know who is telling you Medicaid, but you should have a caseworker at the VA who is helping you.

@ Gardenartist... I read over my original question and geez what a lot of typos. Apologies as I was extremely tired. DAD is now in a rest home for rehabilitation for his leg due to the surgery he had. He needed this surgery because a few months back the VA put a stint in his leg because he had an aneurysm. Months after he had stint put in he woke with his leg and foot completely numb. He immediately went to his VA physician who told him he needed to drive himself (with his numb Right foot) to the VA hospital one hour away to get X-RAY, which he did. He was told they would contact him in few days with the results of X-ray. Five days later while he was at work, leg still numb but also painful if this makes sense. He drove him self to the emergency room and they immediately sent him to a larger hospital thirty minutes away. Another X-ray and again they said would call in a few days with results (this was not a VA hospital) The very next day a physician from this hospital contacted him and stated he needed to come immediately for a consult on the X-ray. When he arrived the physician (vascular surgeon) informed him he needed to call his family as he was being rushed to emergency surgery for a possible amputation. Upon arrival the surgeon explained (I have this conversation recorded) that the reason his leg was numb was because the stint became dislodged due to being defective. The surgeon said this caused the circulation to quickly stop in COMPLETELY in his leg. He said had the VA physician taken him serious the very first day it would not have been a bog deal, they could have replaced stint and he would have been okay. Because they basically gave him the run around his life was now in danger and would most likely lose his leg. The surgeon said my dad should have been dead within 4 days of the leg becoming numb. They were going in to try and save the leg and repair arteries but was not sure if could and also because he had to go in immediately they could not check him out to see if he was healthy enough for the surgery, meaning by doing the surgery there was a large chance he could suffer many other life threatening complications. We agreed to the surgery. When he came out he was on a ventilator and after 4 days the Dr informed us we were looking at the fact he may not pull through as things were looking grim. Well he pulled through and went into rehab at the hospital. The surgeon said he could not believe he made it. He is now in a rest home for rehab on the leg. Next week he has to have a skin graph done form the surgery. They are still not sure the leg will be okay and may have to amputate form mid calf down which is better than the thigh down. By the way his Dr nor the VA hospital have called to give us the results of his X-ray. So here is my dad at 72 now looking at a journey said to last at least a year. All because the VA did not treat his health seriously. Hope this is a better explanation. I apologize for the not so clear post earlier and would be forever grateful for any advice or guidance offered.

I would be calling some lawyers who specialize in medical malpractice to see if they think there is a case that can be made. "The VA should pay for a home"...meaning that you think that as part of his settlement, you think they should agree to care for him?

I would also apply for Medicaid.

Mara, I haven't done any research on this but if you contact a med/mal plaintiff's attorney, you should mention the initial stint was inserted by a VA doctor. There may be some governmental immunity for doctors working for the VA. Just a feeling...as I recall reading some years ago that military members couldn't sue their military doctors for malpractice.

Was thinking about this issue and recalled that the principle of governmental protection from suits is called sovereign immunity. Did some checking and found that it is in fact possible to sue the VA, within limited parameters.

If I post the link, the Admins will delete it because it's a dot com site. But Google "Veterans Affairs Department, sovereign immunity" and check out the link to the Military Authority website.

Thank you SO much for your replies. Your information definitely gives me a lot of guidance and a starting point. I am struggling with finding an attorney that takes these cases. We are in NC . I will start researching ASAP!!! Again THANK YOU for taking the time to help with this

Mara, I always suggest researching the state's bar association website, look for practice groups of medical malpractice attorneys, then check out their websites. I think a firm of med mal attorneys is highly preferable to a single practitioner or a firm of only 2 or 3. The larger firms have more support, more access to resources if someone needs to pinch hit for the primary attorney, and generally a wider area of experience.

Look over their websites, see if they publish newsletters, have an archive of newsletters and articles, and are active in various bar association or practice group activities.

When you call, ask first is they have experience in suing the VA. Also find out what the percentage rate is if they recover - used to be 1/3 to sometimes a bit more if the case was a high value one.

A word of caution, though, if it becomes known that you're considering suit yet still want assistance from the VA for a place for your father to rehab, you might be met with some hostility. Staff could be very concerned that they too might be sued, even if they don't know the previous situation.

And it's likely they will know as any attorney you retain will first contact the VA to get the medical records. Word can spread within the VA from there on.