Question for Vets about Beds

What are the options for beds with the VA? My husband has finally agreed to get a hospital bed. The PT at the VA today seemed to think there were no options, just one choice.

Hi, Missy,
I started the same search this week - because hubby finally reluctantly agreed that "maybe" he needs one. I have three calls out to various people at the VA, but none have called me back yet. (also still waiting for the power wheelchair - for almost three months now) I'll let you know of my progress with the bed. (might not be for a few days - we're moving tomorrow. Yikes!)
Take care. God bless us all.
Claire

No kidding Yikes! That would be tough. If I find anything out, I'll let you know, too.

You need to have your Primary care doctor write a script for it with an alternating air pressure mattress. Then we took the script to Prosthetics, and they ordered it for us. They didn't give us any choice, but we are happy with what we got. It took about 2 months to get it. A heads up if you are looking at Vans. It takes a long time too. Feel free to PM me for info on how to do it the right way.

Why do vans take a long time? The guy at United Access (the van dealer) says they have a full inventory of vans for Vets. The paperwork was submitted in May for the van grant. They are just waiting for the increase in rating.

in our case, the paperwork took forever. We picked out our Van before Christmas, and it wasn't delivered till mid Febr.

So, once the grant is approved, if there is a VA approved van available, we should be able to just go pick it up - correct? or, is the grant approved, you pick out a van and then there is more paperwork?

There are 2 papers for the VA automobile. 21-4502 is the $11,00 grant and 10-1394 is the adaptive equipment. We had a 6 wk sitting on someone's desk for the 4502 you need it BEFORE you buy. They will not retro. The other was done in a couple of days.

That's exactly the information I needed! Thank you!

In our case, we received the 4502 with no problem. It was after we picked out our Van that the waiting game began. When we first applied for our VA benefits, we were given some great info. Do everything in person if possible so you do not turn into a "Brown Envelope" My husband knew right off what that was! The same guy also told us to remember that we are filing a claim AGAINST the VA. There job is not to help us, it is to defend their claim. This guy worked for the VA, he was not a service officer. Good advice to remember.

I went through a dealer that had experience with the grant avmvans dot com. They helped with van selection based on my chair and needs, installed the Permolock and took care of all the grant stuff. I had the authorized grant and they did the rest. I drove the van home same day.

I highly recommend you find a dealer that doesn't expect you to pay the money up front and then they'll pay you back. It will need to be a larger dealer but it is well worth it. I ended up going an hour and a half away instead on 15 miles for exactly that reason and I'm glad I did.

I'm working with a dealer VERY experienced with the VA. I'm meeting with him this week, so I'll double check all of that. Thanks!

Our dealer was very experienced with the VA also. In fact they came to us(200 miles) to show us vans and such. They were recommended by the VA. I guess our Prosthetics dept that does the approval is just very slow. Another family here is going on month 3 waiting for approval after they picked out the Van. The company does wait for payment from the VA, in fact they still haven't been paid. We are also still waiting for our reimbursement for the Air Condidtioning we paid for.