VA Health Care Benefits for Active Duty Service Members
Did you know you may be allowed to apply for VA healthcare benefits while serving on active duty?
Some vets, especially returning service members deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn, can apply for VA health care while still on active duty. This is true after these troops receive separation or retirement orders.
Eligibility for VA health care benefits and other coverage depends on your military service record and other variables. Below are some essential qualifying criteria.
VA Healthcare Eligibility for Combat Veterans
The Department of Veterans Affairs offers “enhanced eligibility” for returning OEF/OIF/OND combat veterans.
According to VA.gov, you may qualify for “free VA health care for up to 10 years after discharge or release for any condition related to their service” in the following deployments:
- Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan
- Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)
- Operation New Dawn (OND) in Iraq
The VA encourages service members who qualify to start the application process as soon as possible. Why?
According to VA.gov, if you wait and miss an “enhanced eligibility period,” the Department of Veterans Affairs “won’t factor their OEF/OIF/OND combat Veteran status into their decision on enrollment. Instead, they’ll base eligibility on factors such as income and VA disability rating.”
Even if you don’t need medical care now, it is best to apply for VA healthcare benefits as a preventive measure in case you need them later.
Read next: Active Duty Military Benefits Guide
Which Active Duty Service Members Qualify For Enhanced VA Healthcare Eligibility?
You may qualify for enhanced eligibility for VA benefits if all the following apply to you:
- You served in a theater of combat operations after November 11, 1998
- You were released from active duty on or after January 29, 2003, and
- You did not receive a dishonorable discharge
To qualify, your military records must show that you served in a combat theater.
VA Healthcare Benefits for Qualifying Active Duty Military
The VA official site promises to “enroll you right away” with active duty military members assigned to VA Priority Group 6 “unless you qualify for a higher priority group based on your income or a service-connected disability.”
- Once in the VA healthcare system, you may receive “free care and medications for any condition” related to combat duty.
- Qualifying under this option means you may be required to agree to copays for care and medications “VA determines are clearly not related” to service. Some may be exempt from these co-pays if they demonstrate financial need.
- You remain enrolled in VA health care “even after the OEF/OIF/OND enhanced eligibility period ends.”
- At that time, the Department of Veterans Affairs should move you into “the highest priority group” for which you qualify.
VA Healthcare Benefits Eligibility After Retirement or Separation
Recently separated active duty veterans (including those on active National Guard or Reserve duty) may qualify for VA health care based on their service records, VA disability rating, and other variables (including income.) Veterans who only served on active duty status for training may not qualify.
VA Healthcare Benefits for Vets Medically Retired on Active Duty
If you are being medically retired on active duty due to your branch of service’s requirements, you may be eligible to receive VA healthcare treatment “for any service-connected disabilities.”
Before you leave active duty on medical retirement, make an appointment with a VA benefits counselor to discuss your condition, possible benefits, and how to claim them.
Call the VA Health Benefits hotline to get started: 877-222-8387. You can also visit a VA medical center near you.
Getting VA Healthcare While On Active Duty
Some on active duty may be able to use VA healthcare options if they meet the right conditions. Those conditions include:
- A need for emergency or urgent care. The VA pledges to provide care first and follow up with any needed TRICARE authorization once the emergency has been dealt with.
- There is a need for routine care, and the service member has TRICARE and a referral or authorization.
- The treatment you need is at a VA health facility with a “VA/DoD sharing agreement that allows us to provide care without referrals,” according to VA.gov.
Read next: Active Duty Military 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.
