Prior Military Health Insurance Requirment

I am prior military and get my health care through the VA (Veterans Affairs) and start medical school in the fall. My school has a medical insurance requirement and I turned in the verification paperwork today claiming that my VA Healthcare eligibility fills the requirement/need for health insurance. I am going to a pretty new school and my impression is that I am the first veteran student so they did not know if this was acceptable or not. Has anyone else used VA Healthcare to fulfill the medical insurance requirement or have been told they still needed to buy insurance when they received their healthcare from the VA?

It's not just your school. I ran into this same problem. In the end I purchased the school insurance just to avoid any problems. It was difficult to prove that I had insurance. Yes, I could receive care at VA facilities but there was debate as to whether that was really the same as having insurance. This summer I am going to really look into the issue but I am curious how it ends up working out for you. Good luck and for what it's worth the school insurance cost me a couple of thousand for the year and I really wish I would have found a way to work around it.

At this point I am waiting for them to get back to me with their response. I'll post updates. Please post updates on your situation too.

Depends on a few factors like what's your disability rating at, did you receive a Purple Heart or have you returned from a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan within the past 5 years. Need more details to know if you have full coverage or just coverage for service related injuries.

SpartanGuy said:

Depends on a few factors like what's your disability rating at, did you receive a Purple Heart or have you returned from a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan within the past 5 years. Need more details to know if you have full coverage or just coverage for service related injuries.

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I have no disability rating and no Purple Heart but yes I have redeployed from Iraq within 5 years. My understanding of the VA Healthcare System is that these things determine what priority group a veteran falls in, which determines co-pay amount. Service connected disabilities can also come into play for emergency care at a non-VA facility but care at a VA facility is not limited by being or not being in these groups. The one thing that would cause me to not be eligible for care after 5 years post deployment is income above a set income threshold but believe me that will not be an issue while I'm in medical school.

Please explain more how these things play into this situation (If you have the time not just with my background but also for a veteran that has a Purple Heart or has a disability rating below 30%, above 30% but under 50%, above 50% but less than 100% or 100%, so future veterans who have this problem can reference your post.) but more important please share your experience with using VA Healthcare in lieu of being required to purchase health insurance. Thank You

HDanA said:

I have no disability rating and no Purple Heart but yes I have redeployed from Iraq within 5 years. My understanding of the VA Healthcare System is that these things determine what priority group a veteran falls in, which determines co-pay amount. Service connected disabilities can also come into play for emergency care at a non-VA facility but care at a VA facility is not limited by being or not being in these groups. The one thing that would cause me to not be eligible for care after 5 years post deployment is income above a set income threshold but believe me that will not be an issue while I’m in medical school.

Please explain more how these things play into this situation (If you have the time not just with my background but also for a veteran that has a Purple Heart or has a disability rating below 30%, above 30% but under 50%, above 50% but less than 100% or 100%, so future veterans who have this problem can reference your post.) but more important please share your experience with using VA Healthcare in lieu of being required to purchase health insurance. Thank You

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This website should help you understand the process a bit. I'm still learning, but my understanding is you can have healthcare through the VA for non-service related care, but depending on your priority group it requires a copay and possibility a premium (just like any normal insurance).

https://www.myhealth.va.gov/index.html

Have you applied online yet? Apply online for your health benefits and then that should give you an indication of your priority group. I am redeployed within 5 years from Iraq as well. I applied for disability compensation, but it's going to take a while for it to process so in the meantime I think I will fall under priority group 6. I just applied today, so still waiting to get the information on the specific benefits I will receive.

xffan624 said:

This website should help you understand the process a bit. I'm still learning, but my understanding is you can have healthcare through the VA for non-service related care, but depending on your priority group it requires a copay and possibility a premium (just like any normal insurance).

https://www.myhealth.va.gov/index.html

Have you applied online yet? Apply online for your health benefits and then that should give you an indication of your priority group. I am redeployed within 5 years from Iraq as well. I applied for disability compensation, but it's going to take a while for it to process so in the meantime I think I will fall under priority group 6. I just applied today, so still waiting to get the information on the specific benefits I will receive.

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Thanks for the link. I have been out since January 2010 so I have been receiving care through the VA for a few years now. What SpartanGuy said does not really fit with my experiences with the system so I was hoping that he would explain his statements or even better share his experience with a similar situation to mine. How I understand it you are on the right track with priority groups dictating co-pay amounts.

More importantly for me I'm looking for people's experiences using VA Healthcare in lieu of health insurance while in medical school or not being able to do that. If you have any questions about VA Healthcare I'll do my best to answer from my experiences but I don't really have any experiences with disability compensation and service connected disabilities. What I do know from being involved with other veterans post service is that there are many service organizations out there to help with the process and there is no need to pay some lawyer other "professional" (I use that term very loosely) to help with the process. My impressions of USF's climate towards veterans and their student veterans' organization are both very good so I assume you should be able to find great resources there. The VA hospital is pretty close to campus too. I'm sure you're not the first veteran going through USF's medical school so I assume they have faced issues like this in the past.

If you don't mind sharing are you going to purchase health insurance, attempt the same thing I am and have the school approve using VA Healthcare instead of the required health insurance or do you have health insurance through some other source?

HDanA said:

Thanks for the link. I have been out since January 2010 so I have been receiving care through the VA for a few years now. What SpartanGuy said does not really fit with my experiences with the system so I was hoping that he would explain his statements or even better share his experience with a similar situation to mine. How I understand it you are on the right track with priority groups dictating co-pay amounts.


If you don’t mind sharing are you going to purchase health insurance, attempt the same thing I am and have the school approve using VA Healthcare instead of the required health insurance or do you have health insurance through some other source?

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I think I will try and use my VA coverage to qualify for the health insurance. If I have to, I'll buy the school stuff. Starting school in month and a half so I will let y'all know how it goes. 😀

HDanA I will respond more fully to your question when things around here settle down again. Sorry for not responding sooner.