From 7 hours to 77: Tammy Wright on getting her father the VA care he earned

About this episode

Tammy Wright's father served in the Navy in World War II, aboard the transport USS LaSalle, and went in at 15. When he moved in with Tammy and her husband Ron ten years ago, he had no VA benefits at all. Today he has 77 hours of in-home care a week, home-based primary care, the equipment he needs, and Tammy is a certified, paid caregiver through the VA caregiver program.

In this first episode of En Otra Frecuencia, Tammy tells Martin Mudd of HomeWell Care Services Orlando exactly how she got there, one door at a time.

This is one family's experience. VA eligibility depends on service history, disability rating, income and other factors. Check va.gov/health-care/eligibility or talk with a veterans service officer about your situation.

What you'll hear

• Why going in person beats the phone and the portal
• The most overlooked person at the VA: your clinic's social worker
• What home health aide hours cover, and what they don't
• How the caregiver program, the stipend and respite work
• When to go to the patient advocates, and what they can do
• Home-based primary care for veterans who can't easily get to a clinic
• What "service connected" means, and why the right assessor matters
• Why a veteran's pride can block the help, and how Tammy got past it

Chapters

1. 0:00Cold open: "You're not faking"
2. 0:17Meet Tammy: from 7 hours to 77
3. 1:49Being a veteran is not automatic
4. 3:45Her father's WWII story on the USS LaSalle
5. 5:59Enrolling, in person
6. 7:47Denials, and pushing through
7. 9:58Take the pride away
8. 11:27Home health aide hours and what they cover
9. 12:41The most overlooked person: your social worker
10. 16:34The caregiver program and stipend
11. 20:46Caregiving is hard: thank your aides
12. 22:32The patient advocates
13. 25:56Home-based primary care
14. 28:45What service connected means
15. 37:08Ten years of persistence, and authorization
16. 43:25From 7 to 27 hours
17. 45:51When hospice was not the right fit
18. 48:28Find your team at the VA
19. 52:43Chaperones
20. 53:45Equipment the VA provides
21. 56:15Eyes on Dad: the six-month assessments
22. 59:11Wrap