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If you are a veteran do you HAVE to go to a veterans hospital for non-emergency care?

I’m working on a paper and heard this is true from a friend, but I no longer talk to him anymore and I don’t want to put it in my paper if it’s not true.

I am a veteran that uses the VA regularly.

For non-emergency problems you must go to a VA Hospital or VA Clinic. Since it is not life threatening they will either make you an appointment or have you wait until a doctor can see you between appointment.

For emergency medical reasons (life threatening) like a heart attack etc. you are to go to the nearest Emergency Medical facility (Hospital), civilian or Military. The VA will pay for this care. There is a string attached though.

The string is: If you have not seen your assigned VA doctor in 2 yrs or more the VA will not pay.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 3:13 pm and is filed under veterans hospital. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “If you are a veteran do you HAVE to go to a veterans hospital for non-emergency care?”

  1. Only if you wish to shorten your lifespan.
    References :

  2. No its not true…. VA’s Are FREE, but if I want, I can goto a hospital, or a doctor of my choice…. but since its free…
    References :

  3. Yes, you can to the veterans hospital for non-emergency care, unless you have a PCP and can call in for an appointment for that day. Depending on the issue you may be directed to a nurse and may need to explain what is wrong. If its a true emergency then you can go anywhere for treatment, after treatment is done and you need hospital care they may transfer you to your veterans hospital for recovery. My father was a vetran and I had to do alot of runs to and from VAH. I hope this was enough information for you. Good Luck.
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  4. You don’t HAVE to go to a VA, but only veterans may go to a VA.

    VA: serves only veterans
    Regular hospital: serves everyone (including veterans)
    References :

  5. I am a veteran that uses the VA regularly.

    For non-emergency problems you must go to a VA Hospital or VA Clinic. Since it is not life threatening they will either make you an appointment or have you wait until a doctor can see you between appointment.

    For emergency medical reasons (life threatening) like a heart attack etc. you are to go to the nearest Emergency Medical facility (Hospital), civilian or Military. The VA will pay for this care. There is a string attached though.

    The string is: If you have not seen your assigned VA doctor in 2 yrs or more the VA will not pay.
    References :
    1st hand knowledge.

  6. Not if you have other insurance. If you have miltary insurance like me, you would have to go to the nearest Vets hopsital.
    References :
    hubby is a vet

  7. The VA offers low-cost healthcare services. There is no requirement that any veteran acdtually use them. Most of us use our private health insurance to see our family doctors.
    References :

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