The Veterans Affairs Department has dropped a patient’s net worth from the factors that determine eligibility for benefits, according to a report in Military Times.
The policy change applies to some veterans with illnesses not linked to their service and who are not rated for a service-connected condition. In order to receive care at VA hospitals and clinics they had to meet certain levels for combined income and net worth. Now only gross household income and expenses from the prior year will be counted.
Veterans receiving care in these circumstances have to pay a co-pay, in amounts ranging from $15 for a primary care physician office visit to $50 for specialist. The policy change could lower health care costs for nearly 190,000 low-income and non-service connected veterans in the next five years, but at a cost to VA of $55.5 million to $80 million in patient co-pays.
Read the full report at MilitaryTimes.com.
