Other Health Insurance
VA is required to bill private health insurance providers for medical care, supplies and prescriptions provided for treatment of veterans’ nonservice-connected conditions. Generally, VA cannot bill Medicare, but can bill Medicare supplemental health insurance for covered services.
All veterans applying for VA medical care are required to provide information on their health insurance coverage, including coverage provided under policies of their spouses. Veterans are not responsible for paying any remaining balance of VA’s insurance claim not paid or covered by their health insurance, and any payment received by VA may be used to offset “dollar for dollar” a veteran’s VA copay responsibility.
- You will NOT be responsible for any unpaid balance that the insurance carrier does not pay except for VA copay.
- Payments from your private health insurance carrier may allow us to offset part or all of your copay.
- Many private health insurance companies will apply VA health care charges toward the satisfaction of your annual deductible.
What should you do with your private health insurance if you are accepted into VA health care program? You could save a lot of money
if you dropped the insurance, but there are some things you should consider.
- What about your nonveteran family members?
VA does not normally provide care for family members of veterans enrolled in VA’s health care program. If you drop your private
health insurance, they may have no health care coverage.
- What would happen if you are disenrolled from VA’s health care program?
There is no guarantee that in subsequent years Congress will appropriate sufficient funds for VA to provide care for all enrollment
priority groups. This could happen if you are enrolled in one of the lower priority groups. This would leave you with no health care
coverage.
- What would happen if you drop your Medicare Part B coverage?
If you cancel your Medicare Part B Coverage, you need to know that you cannot be reinstated until January of the following year, AND you
may be penalized for reinstatement.
For these reasons, VA encourages you to keep your private health insurance.
TRICARE is a regionally managed health care program for active duty and retired members of the uniformed services, their families, and survivors. There are four options for your health care; TRICARE Prime, TRICARE Extra, TRICARE Standard and TRICARE for Life. Each of these options has specific benefits, exclusions, co-pay and deductible requirements.
Most VA medical centers accept TRICARE under certain conditions. Contact your local VA Enrollment Office or Enrollment Coordinator for more information.
For more information about TRICARE, visit the TRICARE website at http://www.tricare.mil/ or you may call their toll-free number at 1-877-874-2273.
Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents
VA National Means Test Income Threshold |
GMT Income Threshold
Viewers, Plug-Ins, & Readers |
VA Health Care Eligibility & Enrollment Site Map
For questions about Health Care Eligibility, please visit the VA inquiry website.
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