In November 2016, the VA released a Fact Sheet form covering ‘Emergency Care for Veterans”. What this document explains and breaks down is What is an Emergency, When you should contact the VA, what happens if you are admitted – does the VA pay, criteria that must be met for consideration (service-connected and nonservice-connected), and more.
This document does explain that depending on your VA eligibility, the VA may pay all, some, or none of the charges.
Some key points this document mentions:
- The Veteran’s situation is an emergency if you believe your life or health is in danger.
- The Veteran, their family, friend or hospital staff should contact the nearest VA Medical Center with 72 hours of the veteran’s emergency. Document states reason being, “… so you are better aware of what the services VA may or may not cover”
- If the veteran is admitted and it is an emergency, advance approval is not required. However, the VA needs to be notified with the first 72 hours.
- Your VA eligibility will reflect how much of the the VA will cover, if any at all.
- Criteria that must be met for Service-Connected Veterans.
- Criteria that must be met for Nonservice-Connected Veterans.
- How long you have to file a claim for reimbursement for emergency medical care.
To download a copy of this form simply ‘Right-click’ and click ‘Save Link As’. This will allow you to save the file as a PDF document. Emergency-Care-Fact-Sheet
To view this file straight from the VA website – Fact Sheet 20-02
Donald Jarvis 