Va Announces Policy Changes To Allow Emergency Care At Non-Va Facilities

[Tbird]

VA announces policy changes to allow emergency care at non-VA facilities http://ow.ly/8s4Dv

VA Webpage on Non VA Care http://www.nonvacare.va.gov/

[Bonzai]

In Sept 2011, I was having severe abdominal pains, which didn't go away for three days. I finally called the VAMC in Memphis, and was told by the telephone care nurse to go to the ER - I told her I couldn't get to the one in Memphis as it was 2 hours away. She told me to go to the closest ER, and because I was 100% it would be covered. Just to make sure, i contacted billing, and the billing lady I spoke to said that the visit would be paid for. After my ER visit, I called the VAMC again to speak to billing and the lady I spoke to that time wanted to know who had told me that non-VA ER would be covered - I told her that the previous billing lady said there would be a note in my record - so she finally asked my name and last four to look it up. She then told me that there was indeed a note put in my record and the non-VA ER visit would be covered. I thought everything was fine.

Just this past Tuesday, I get a bill for $435 from an emeregency services company - I called to ask what the bill was for and was told that it was for physician fees. I called the VAMC, and after the same run around without checking my record, I was told non-VA ER visits were not covered. I told the lady to check my record and she told me that indeed the visit had been paid for by credit card in Nov, giving me the CC reference number. I called back the emergency services company and found out that the physician fees are separate from the hospital emergency room visit, so they said they would call the VAMC to get those the physician fees paid too. They were to call me back if there was a problem - no call back as of yet.

So because I was told by the VA to go to a non-VA ER and was proactive in contacting billing (making sure a note was put in my record), my non-VA ER visit for a non-SC condition (diverticulosis) was covered.

I NEVER would have thought to CYA until I had read some of the stories here on HadIt regarding non-VA ER visits.

[retiredat44]

the VA called 911 when I went to an appointmnet after an extrmely long hospital stay , 6 months, 2 weeks back home, the back to the VA clinic to be looked at.. my blood pressure was to low so they called 911. The ambulance took me to the local hospital, and kept me for 3 days because there were no beds avaible at the VA hospital.. I kept getting al the bills for 1 years and the va took more than one year to pay the bills.. the hospital and al the doctors were constatly try to send the bills to collection agencies, and I even had to setup payment plans while waiting for the va to pay the hospital the va sent me to..

after more than one year of working with VA fee basis by phone, fax, and mail,,, they finally paid the bills.. but it was hell, the whole time i was finally able to walk and was just starting to eat real food and not liquid (after 6 motnhs of laying in a hospital bed and tube fed..) and was stuffed with morphine while I was fighting to keep these billing compainies from ruining what was left of my life..

I will just die before I ever go back to a non va facility, it is not worth the hassle of trying to get billing to work..

[Pete53]

I live in Dallas Texas. No ambulance in Dallas will take you to the Dallas VA even if you live down the street from it.