Department of Veterans Affairs Drops MyHealtheVet and DS Logon
If you manage your VA benefits using DS Logon or MyHealtheVet,, your days of using those options are numbered. In 2025, the VA will discontinue support for those two platforms commonly used to access VA apps, websites, benefits, and records.
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced a transition to a “more modern sign-in experience,” which eliminates the use of DS Logon and My HealtheVet platforms in favor of Login.gov and ID.me.
This change comes after years of encouraging vets to use DS Logon and MyHealtheVet to manage VA benefits, file claims, or check the status of claims using these platforms. Once the VA deadlines have passed in 2025 (see below), veterans and family members can’t sign into VA sites or apps except via Login.gov or ID.me.
VA Timeline for Changes to Secure Sign-In
- The VA official site warns after January 31, 2025, “you won’t be able to sign in to VA.gov, VA mobile apps, or other VA online services with a My HealtheVet user ID and password.”
- After September 30, 2025, you can’t use a DS Logon username and password.
- After these dates, you must have a unique email address and be willing to use multifactor authentication for either type of account.
Read next: Disabled Veteran Benefits Guide
Making the Switch
Those with experience with the VA know it’s smart to act early when such changes are announced. The changeover may complicate your claims if you wait until the last moment to switch accounts.
Based on the VA’s track record of implementing other system-wide changes, such as the electronic healthcare records modernization rollout, it is smart to anticipate future technical issues with the changeover.
Those who act early may be spared some of those issues or have them resolved faster than those who wait until the deadline is near. The Department of Veteran Affairs encourages current and future VA beneficiaries to apply for an ID.me or Login.gov account immediately for best results.
- Create a Login.gov account at the VA official site
- Create an ID.me account at the VA official site
What are Login.gov and ID.me?
- According to the VA official site, Login.gov is “our government’s one account provider for VA and other government benefits and services,” and a government agency is in charge of the system.
- ID.me is a civilian-run company with a government contract that provides services, including secure access to VA apps and websites.
- VA.gov says both platforms “meet modern security standards” to protect your private information “so only you can access and change your stored information.”
- VA claims that making the switch will not result in losing “any stored information,,” and you can get additional support by phone or mail.
You can use Login.gov and ID.me in a variety of ways. You can use either platform to:
- Apply for VA benefits
- Check VA claim status
- Update your contact information
- Check the status of and request help with benefit overpayments or other VA debt.
- Refill prescriptions
- Communicate with a healthcare team
- Schedule select health appointments
- Review lab and test results
- Manage records at other select government websites
What Happens if You Don’t Make the Switch?
After the deadlines pass for switching (see above) you cannot access any VA medical or benefits information via MyHealtheVet or DS Logon. Retrieving these records may not be possible electronically in any form using those platforms once the deadline passes. You may be required to seek hard copies from the source of those records.
Read next: Disabled Veteran Benefits Guide
About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
