A VA Letter Skips the Doctor’s Form — but It Must Be One Disability at 40%

What it's worth: Reduced fare transit card for four years, with no clinician form

• The instruction sheet lists, under applicant eligibility, "Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Disability Benefits: Submit original VA letter for a single disability rated at 40% or greater."
• An applicant qualifying on that basis does not complete the health care professional section of the form.
• For eligibility on that basis the card expires four years from the issue date.
• The alternative route requires a health care professional licensed in this state — an APRN, LCSW, MD, PSY, PT or OT — to diagnose and describe how the disability impairs the applicant’s functional ability to use public transit.
• The sheet warns that having a disability alone, and completing that clinician section, does not assure eligibility.
• The programme is expressly not an Americans with Disabilities Act requirement and does not use the ADA definition of disability.
• Applications must be submitted in person at the transit pass office at the Kalihi Transit Center, in original form, in black or blue ink, with no copies, faxes or digital signatures.
• An application is not processed if it is incomplete, missing documentation, identification or payment, or submitted more than 30 calendar days after the clinician’s date.
• Only cash or credit card are accepted for payment, and a valid picture identification is required; state residency is established by a state identification card or driving licence.
• Applicants 65 or older apply for the senior card instead; Medicare cardholders under 65 apply for the Medicare card; those on SSI or meeting the low income test apply for the low income card.
• A refused applicant may appeal by contacting the city transport department within 30 calendar days of the determination date, on 808-768-8368.