Financial Hardships
If you are a Veteran who is suffering from financial distress, struggling to pay your VA copays, lost your job or currently face a significant decrease in your household income, VA has programs that can assist you. Additionally, VA’s Medical Care Hardship program could help Veterans qualify for VA enrollment for health care services if they had a recent change in their income, even if they were previously denied enrollment based on their household income. Veterans who have not applied for VA enrollment because they thought their income was too high may want to reconsider applying if their projected current year’s income is lower. Hardship determinations may be approved if the Veteran’s current year income is substantially reduced from the prior year. Personal circumstances, such as loss of employment, sudden decrease in income or increases in out-of-pocket Veteran or family health care expenses, factor into VA’s hardship determination.
If you are a Veteran and unable to pay your copay charges, you should discuss the matter with the Revenue Office at the VA health care facility where you received your care.
You must contact the facility where you received the care to request one of these options or call VA at 1-877-222-VETS (8387) between the hours of 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM ET, Monday - Friday.
Veterans Identification Card
VA provides eligible Veterans a Veterans Identification Card (VIC) for use at VA health care facilities. This card provides quick access to VA health benefits. VA recommends all enrolled Veterans obtain a card.
Veterans may have their photo taken at their local VA health care facility. Once the Veteran’s enrollment has been verified, the card will be mailed to the Veteran’s mailing address, usually within 5 to 7 days. Veterans may call toll-free 1-877-222-VETS (8387) to check on the status of their card. In the event the card is lost or destroyed, a replacement card may be requested by contacting the VA where the picture was taken.
NOTE: VICs cannot be used as a credit or an insurance card and it does not authorize or pay for care at non-VA facilities.
The VIC does not contain any sensitive, identifying information such as the Veteran’s Social Security number or date of birth on the face of the card. However, that information is coded into the magnetic stripe and barcode. For that reason, VA recommends that Veterans safeguard their VIC as they would a credit card.
Private Health Insurance
Since many Veterans are medically co-managed by both VA and their local provider, VA encourages Veterans to retain any health care coverage they may already have—especially those in the lower enrollment priority groups described on pages 19 and 20, Enrollment Priority Groups. Veterans with private health insurance may choose to use these sources of coverage as a supplement to their VA benefits. It is important to note that VA health care is NOT considered a health insurance plan.
By law, VA is obligated to bill health insurance carriers for services provided to treat a Veteran’s nonservice- connected conditions. Veterans are asked to cooperate by disclosing all relevant health insurance information. Eligible Veterans are not responsible for payment of VA medical services billed to their health insurance company that are not paid by their insurance carrier.
To ensure current insurance information is on file—including coverage through the Veteran’s spouse—VA staff ensures that Veterans’ health insurance information is updated during each visit. Identification of insurance information is essential to VA because collections received from insurance companies help supplement the funding available to provide services to Veterans. Veterans may now update any changes in their insurance by using the online Health Benefits Renewal (1010-EZR) form at www.1010ez.med.va.gov/sec/vha/1010ez/Form/1010ezr.pdf.
...VA encourages Veterans
to retain any health care
coverage they may already have...
Insurance Collections
Since 1986, Veterans’ health care services have been supplemented by funds collected from private health insurance companies. This supplement has allowed VA to provide services to numerous additional Veterans.
Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Coverage/Creditable Coverage
If you are eligible for Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage, you need to know that enrollment in the VA health care system is considered creditable coverage for Medicare Part D purposes. This means that VA prescription drug coverage is at least as good as the Medicare Part D coverage. Since only Veterans may enroll in the VA health care system, dependents and family members do not receive credible coverage under the Veteran’s enrollment.
However, there is one significant area in which VA health care is NOT creditable coverage: Medicare Part B (outpatient health care, including doctors’ fees). Creditable coverage for Medicare Part B can only be provided through an employer. As a result, VA health care benefits to Veterans are not creditable coverage for the Part B program. So although a Veteran may avoid the late enrollment penalty for Medicare Part D by citing VA health care enrollment, that enrollment would not help the Veteran avoid the late enrollment penalty for Part B.
VA does not recommend Veter