By Peggy McCarthy, Conn. Health I-Team WriterBy Peggy McCarthy, Conn. Health I-Team Writer
At 55, Stephen Norko says he was at “the lowest point’’ of his life. Homeless, unemployed, and feeling ill, the 17-year Navy veteran couldn’t get medical care at a VA hospital because he had an “other than honorable’’ discharge.
“They wanted nothing to do with me,’’ Norko said.
A VA health care worker, who met Norko at a homeless shelter, encouraged him to do what few veterans have done — fight the decision that denied him VA medical care. He became one of a handful of veterans nationwide to appeal a health eligibility decision in the last two years.