OKC VA as primary insurance

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SMS

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Nope. I have insurance as a military retiree so I’ve never set foot in a VA medical center for treatment.

I’ll not tie up resources that others need more than me.

Don’t forget that if you have any other form of private insurance, the VA will bill that insurance for your non-service connected care.
 
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dennishoddy

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Well, the VA isn’t insurance, they are a provider.
Are you eligible for Social Security?
I stand to be corrected on this, but you can only get treatment for a service related disability depending on your level of disability.
A buddy gets free eye glasses and shoes/socks because of diabetes as an example.
Again, depending on your disability and it’s level you can get eye and dental care but you have to pay if it’s not service connected.
Do yourself a favor and contact ODVA, Ok Dept of Veteran Affairs. They answer questions like yours every day and know far more about it than I do.
All that being said, I’ve never experienced any negative issues with the OKC VA.
 

dennishoddy

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Nope. I have insurance as a military retiree so I’ve never set foot in a VA medical center for treatment.

I’ll not tie up resources that others need more than me.

Don’t forget that if you have any other form of private insurance, the VA will bill that insurance for your non-service connected care.

Here is another idiosyncrasy of the government ran health care system.
If your retired on Medicare and have access to VA healthcare as well, and you go to your VA provider, You have to stay with the VA provider for treatment. Medicare won’t pay if your diagnosed by the VA and you want to jump ship for further treatment using Medicare.
The opposite runs true as well.
President Trump finally worked out the issues with the choice program that was a failure under obama.
If you live a certain number of miles away from a VA health care facility you can get local healthcare with the VA picking up the tab. It’s on an individual case by case approval system except for emergency room treatment.
 

Yeti695

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I don't, but I will tell you that dealing with the VA for my father can be a nightmare. First off, my father, is a 100% disable veteran, and is having some major issues right now. He's in a nursing home for rehab right now, note sure he will get out. Back to the topic, we had to meet with a VA rep in the town he lives and they told us that Muskogee (where his main doctor is out of) is one of the worst VA places to be housed out of. He told us that if we could use Wichita we would better off, this is not an option for us. With that being said if you use them when or if you have to get to a doctor or emergency room, even if you have any other medical coverage ( Medicare or just another insurance) do not give them any other insurance information especially of you are 100% disabled. This was told to us by the VA rep. He said that as soon as another insurance or government agency pays anything on any medical procedures or visits, this null and void the VA from having to pay anything. So just be careful when using them and make sure to only any places you have VA. Trust me this would have saved my parents a lot of trouble and money. Hope this helps. Also, my father in law uses the DAV local chapter and they help him get and file the forms to get you anything you might need to navigate the VA health system. Hope this helps.

https://www.dav.org/veterans/find-your-local-office/
 

SMS

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Well, the VA isn’t insurance, they are a provider.
Are you eligible for Social Security?
I stand to be corrected on this, but you can only get treatment for a service related disability depending on your level of disability.
A buddy gets free eye glasses and shoes/socks because of diabetes as an example.
Again, depending on your disability and it’s level you can get eye and dental care but you have to pay if it’s not service connected.
Do yourself a favor and contact ODVA, Ok Dept of Veteran Affairs. They answer questions like yours every day and know far more about it than I do.
All that being said, I’ve never experienced any negative issues with the OKC VA.

Kinda sorta right Dennis.

Even though it's not insurance, being qualified to receive VA healthcare benefits DOES qualify as proper insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

Folks can receive care for non-service connected conditions, and the last time I looked at the numbers, a large number of people receive care for those conditions...a shocking amount actually (priority groups 1-3 are primarily service connected but there are tons of patients receiving care in groups 4-8).

Here's the primary list of qualifying factors (priority group assigned by the VA):
  • Receive financial compensation (payments) from VA for a service-connected disability
  • Were discharged for a disability resulting from something that happened to you in the line of duty
  • Were discharged for a disability that got worse in the line of duty
  • Are a recently discharged combat Veteran
  • Get a VA pension
  • Are a former prisoner of war (POW)
  • Have received a Purple Heart
  • Have received a Medal of Honor
  • Get (or qualify for) Medicaid benefits
  • Served in Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975
  • Served in Southwest Asia during the Gulf War between August 2, 1990, and November 11, 1998
  • Served at least 30 days at Camp Lejeune between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987
If none of those apply, you can get healthcare based on financial hardship.
 

Timmy59

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Never have used any VA benefits but have recently been told that Pres Trump has improved the system and that I need to look into it.. I'll be checking into it in the near future..
 

dennishoddy

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I have no idea what all these people do, but they have an office on Highway 9 going west from I-35 south of Norman. (West of the Riverwind Casino.)

Veteran's Corner

Good folks. They help vets find services in the community and nationwide to fit their needs.
Help sort through the maze of VA regulations and so on.
I’ve never been to them but a friend that lives in that area says they were the best thing that ever happened to him after coming back from the sand box with PTSD and suicidal thoughts.
 

Hangfire

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I'm rated 70% disabled by the VA but I don't use them for medical care......when the time comes I do plan on using the VA nursing home (or whatever it's actually called) here in Norman.
 

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