articles - VETERANS MEDICAL CARE
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT:
FACTS ABOUT ENROLLMENT FOR VA HEALTHCARE
Veterans and their families have raised questions about new eligibility
and enrollment rules for VA health care. Specifically, misinformation has
led some veterans to wonder whether they will lose their eligibility for
VA health-care services if they are not enrolled at VA by October 1, 1998:
The answer is NO, they will not lose their eligibility, but in most
cases, they do need to apply for enrollment by contacting their nearest VA
medical center.
VA health-care eligibility reform was authorized by Congress and
signed into law by the President in October 1996. The new law required
VA to manage veterans' access to VA care by using a system of enrollment
priorities. There are seven priority groups, and VA will enroll veterans
from as many of the groups as possible.
Veterans who are in the priority groups can make application for
enrollment AT ANY TIME that they come to a VA medical facility for care,
even AFTER October 1, 1998.
VA will automatically process an application for any veteran who has
received VA health care since October 1996. To receive information about
individual eligibility, a veteran should contact the nearest VA medical
center. Its address and telephone number are listed under "Facilities"
on the VA- home page.
http://www.va.gov/facilities
For details on eligibility and enrollment, please refer to the VA
home page topic, "Benefits" and then, under the section "Benefits in
Detail," go to the link "Eligibility Reform Page."
http://www.va.gov/elig
For other questions and e-mail contacts, at the bottom of the VA home
page click on the icon "Putting Customers First and go to the "1-Stop
Customer Service" page.
http://www.va.gov/customer/consumer.htm.
|
