Va Choice Cards

[Berta]

About the Program

Many Veterans will now have the option to receive non-VA health care rather than waiting for a VA appointment or traveling to a VA facility.

Beginning November 5, 2014, the new Choice Program will begin to cover non-VA care for eligible Veterans enrolled in VA healthcare. Veterans are eligible if any of these situations apply to you:

You have been told by your local VA medical facility that you will need to wait more than 30 days from your preferred date or the date medically determined by your physician

Your current residence is more than 40 miles from the closest VA health care facility

You need to travel by plane or boat to the VA medical facility closest to your home

You face a geographic challenge, such as extensive distances around water or other geologic formations, such as mountains, which presents a significant travel hardship

More info at:

http://www.va.gov/opa/choiceact/

[Chuck75]

O have my 2 cents.

I don't have a choice card

I think anything that helps a veteran should appy/pertain to all veterans no matter if they live 1 mile or 100 miles if it helps a veteran out!

I live about 24 miles from my VAMC I don't qualify.

Actually, you might if the VAMC cannot provide the needed care within the timeframe appropriate for the type of care.

Naturally, the VA gets to decide the details!

What is the time frame?

Obviously, if you croak, due to lack of the needed care, the VA screwed up!

Otherwise, proving a deterioration due to lack of care would likely be difficult, and called "natural progression" by the VA.

(The needed care was obviously to intervene to stop or delay "natural progression", but no matter.)

I don't have the "insurance card" either.

Why?

A VA Clinic is less than 40 miles away.

The Clinic cannot provide the level of care needed for a key SC'd condition.

The nearest VAMC is about 50 mile away, and cannot either. (Matter of contention, long story)

The nearest medical facility that can is a non VA regonal center 18 miles away.

The current VA process as of this month

See the VA Clinic PCP (about a 30 day wait for an appointment if not already scheduled)

The VA PCP puts a "request" in to the VAMC for an outside "consult". The VAMC approves/diapproves,

or schedules an appointment at the 50 mile away VAMC.

Eventually, the VA gets around to contacting the private (specialist) physican to schedule

an initial appointment and so forth. The VA then has to approve whatever the private physician

is recommending. Finally, the needed treatment can be scheduled.

How long do you think that process will take?

Edited November 20, 2014 by Chuck75

[Vync]

This looks promising, but I will believe it when I see it work in person.

I guess I would qualify because I "have been" told my appointment would be 30+ days out. Its always great when your primary care doc retires and they try to refuse care earlier this year.

I wonder how the existing VA opiate agreements will be impacted...

I also wonder if the VA would pay travel pay...

[Vync]

Ah, the catch. Although they start by saying "have been unable within 30 days", when you do the quiz on the site to see if you are eligible, they change the wording to say "are unable within 30" days... Typical bait and switch. Think I will call these jokers...

[john999]

I was referred out to a private dentist after months. I got an exam from this dentist three weeks ago and they had many recommended treatments. So I have heard nothing since then. I did figure out that I spent $13,500 on dental bills since 2007 because of the VA's poor care and delays in treatment and outright denial of treatment. I am thinking about getting some decent dental insurance through OPM. They have some decent plans with large annual maximums and no waiting period. The VA plans are &^%$ as I read them with yearly maximums of 1500 or 3000 bucks. That would not pay for a crown and root canal if you could even get the VA insurance to pay. I just have to see if the VA's referral dentist is going to be worth a damn. Sometimes these dentists look in your mouth for gold. They will replace every tooth in your head to make a buck as long as someone is paying. If you were to actually get real implants for your teeth instead of dentures it could cost you $40,000 in the USA. You can fly to Thailand and be put up in a good hotel and get every tooth in your head replaced for about $10,000 I have heard. The same for some S. American and Central American countries like Costa Rica. It is called a medical tourism.

I would like to get a group from around St.Pete VARO and stage a protest one of these days. The same could be done at our local VA hospitals. As long as you obey the law they cannot arrest you. Vets tend to be passive and that is why they get it up the kazoo. I read the DAV magazine and they publish letters from vets who just love the VA healthcare system. One letter said he got better care via VA than with Medicare or Tricare. Would this guy be a plant or VA spy/agent? Maybe he is just dumb. I had cutting edge surgery for my sleep apnea, and my VA never even heard of it. Now they want their CPAP back! They are going to recycle my CPAP and give it to some other vet. It has mold growing in it.

John

[Vync]

Recycled CPAP? Yikes! That's like recycling catheters.

Well, I called the number and I was not in their system. The guy i talked to was extremely courteous, which is a plus. Basically, nothing happens until you get a card. The cards will be mailed to vets 40+ miles out first and said they should all be sent by the end of the year. The guy had no idea how they would be able to tell who had to wait 30+ days.

[Notorious Kelly]

This is like asking Walmart to provide a free shuttle to Target.