VA Relaxes Enrollment for Non-Disabled Veterans

Larry Scott, of VA Watchdog dot Org (a site well worth following), provides another useful heads-up:

VA RELAXES ENROLLMENT FOR NON-DISABLED VETERANS

"Priority Group 8 income threshold now raised by 10% giving more non-disabled vets access to VA health care.

In January of 2003, to save money, then VA Secretary Anthony J. Principi ordered his agency to stop enrolling Priority Group 8 veterans. These are veterans with no service-connected disabilities and whose income / assets is above certain geographic thresholds. Official VA definition is:

Group 8: Veterans with income and/or net worth above the VA national income threshold and the geographic income threshold who agree to pay copays.

Today ( June 15, 2009 ) the rules change.

The income threshold will go up by 10% thus allowing over 250,000 more veterans into the VA health care system. A full explanation is on this VA page.

An example: If your threshold was $28,000, add $2,800 ( 10% ) and the new threshold is $30,800.

NOTE: If you are a Group 8 veteran who has been turned down, don't assume anything. Find out for sure if you qualify. The VA has an enrollment calculator you can use to find out for sure. Go to this VA page, enter all your info, and see if you now qualify."

Read Larry's full report Here.