Veterans and their families utilize various programs to cover health care costs, based on income or other considerations. In 2022 alone, VA processed an unprecedented 220 million health care engagements; their hardworking team strives to deliver top quality health care for eligible veterans and survivors.
Low-income veterans may qualify for free health care, medications and travel benefits from VA. When enrolling, a financial assessment will be completed which requires information about household income and deductions from prior years; this assessment helps the VA establish your enrollment priority group and whether or not copayments apply to health care services provided to you.
VA health care enrollment priority groups consist of eight enrollment priorities. Three of these groups impose income-related eligibility requirements while five others depend on factors related to service-connected disabilities and other aspects. Priority Group 1 is reserved for Medal of Honor recipients as well as veterans rated 30%-40% disabling due to service-connected conditions.
Veterans enrolled in VA health care are assigned a priority group that affects their ability to pay for services. You can access this tool on the VA health care website to determine your priority group and household income limits for any year; these adjustments occur annually as costs fluctuate.
The VA uses what’s known as “countable income” to compare against thresholds it sets in each geographical area. This may include wages, alimony payments, workers compensation benefits, social security payments, pensions and investment income such as interest, dividends royalties timber sales rental property income life insurance proceeds among others. However, certain medical expenses, including prescription drug costs and home healthcare costs will be deducted from countable income by the VA.
If your annual income surpasses the VA’s low-income limit, full copayments must be paid for all inpatient and outpatient services received. However, if your income falls within the VA’s lowest threshold for your area, medical services are provided free-of-charge; only certain services such as dental work or eyeglasses will incur a small copay fee. Medicare or TRICARE membership also helps lower healthcare costs further. Read up on how Medicare and TRICARE affect your VA copays here. If your income and assets are limited, Virginia offers Medicaid programs for children, pregnant women and adults with disabilities as an additional way out. The charts below provide a broad overview of Virginia’s Medicaid programs and eligibility thresholds, although each program may have additional eligibility requirements which must be fulfilled to qualify for assistance. You can gain more insight by visiting each program’s official website.