Have you been stuck with Medical Bills as a Veteran?

There is so much to tell I'd have to write a book, and then no one ever cared enough to change things anyway.
Or should I say no one would read it anyway. FUBAR, but life always seems to go on, with you or without you, it goes on.
No matter how many times you get depressed, no matter how much anxiety you have. The mail man always delivers, and the debt collectors are always on the phone. Life goes on.

I remember when some policies concerning billing, when they changed. Such as, I had BCBS insurance but I chose to have all of my healthcare at the VA. My insurance was not billed because I was getting my treatment at the VA. But over the years that has changed, any insurance and Medicare has to be on file to be charged. I don't recall why that change happened.

I have not been stuck with medical bills since I retired from military COL Mikel J. Burroughs. We were stuck with medical bills between my termination from LMI at the end of June 2013 and my retirement from the US army in October 2016.
We paid off those debts using my VA disability income in the interim.

We have insurance through where my wife works. Tri-Care would cover any extra we had to pay but I have been told we can only use one or the other to pay our medical bills we can't use both what is my best option. The VA Hospital here will not even take me on as a client because I took care of myself when in the military and did not leave with any preexisting problems. I find it hard to believe that we serve our country take good care of myself and then get turned away at the one place I expected to be met with open arms. We have a wonderful Veterans Hospital here but I am not eligible to use it. We had to pay on an emergency room visit as my wife woke up one night and her nose would not stop bleeding and it was running like a faucet. If we go we will be facing medical bills so we take care of ourselves and don't go unless it is something we can't take care of at home. The last time I went for anything was 2014. I would like to get a physical but that would cost us a lot at this time and I feel really good so don't see why I should spend all that money just to have them tell me I am fine.

The VA is terrible. I have to keep private insurance because of my experience with the VA. They should disband it and save money by allowing qualified vets get their own on the open market.

Well I’m sorry for not responding at an earlier time, but thru the last few yrs that I have been out of the military treatment has been quite good, but here within the last 14 months since I have submitted insurance info to the VA I have been hit every time I go to the VA, I have a 50% disability thru the gov, but I find it amazing that even if I go to the va for my service connected injuries I still get charged, 2017 has cost me more than 10K billed to my insurance. When I go to argue with the va about charging my insurance for covered injuries I’m told that once I submitted my insurance the va and government were no longer responsible for covering my service connected injuries. Quite pissed, no longer using the VA , now it’s all outside doctors

I get VA treatment at our VA clinic here in Clarksville, Tn but for big stuff i am sent to Nashville. Our clinic is one of the best, i have never had a problem all my bills are covered too. Now in Nashville it's a big Hospital and you will wait, seems too that the care there is a little less. I waited 4 hours to see a podiatrist, he told me nothing was wrong with my left foot, one month later i went to Tricare and had to have surgery. I was told since i was a type A diabetic and was not getting my meds at the VA all the time they refused to give me any diabetic strips, Had to go to Tricare again where they gave me what i needed, The VA told me to buy my stuff on the outside market.That was the only real complaint, my friend gets that credit card and he told me no one accepts it around here.

I hope you are able to help lots of veterans with medical bill challenges Mikel. I think one thing veterans do not understand is that there are rules around who is covered and that VA benefits are not exactly like having insurance. It depennds how long ago a person served, how long, combat or not etc. In my husband's case he can get help with some things, but not others and it is more like a discount than free care. I look forward to whatever report you come up with on this. Thank you!

One thing to note about the VA and medical bills is that in some cases the bills people end up with are due to patients taking actions that are in some cases ill advised. When a person goes to the emergency room there is a standard "of what a reasonable person would feel is an emergency" to overcome. Someone going to the ER for minor problems that are then coded by that CIVILIAN ER as "NON EMERGENT" are difficult for the VA to justify paying. This is to say that NOT ALL unpaid medical bills by the VA are the VA's fault. There is a certain amount of responsibility on the part of our veterans to know what they are eligible for and to use good sense and judgment in seeking medical care.

Yes we have a local hospital that keeps sending me a bill that we have paid and that we can prove that we have paid. They keep saying we will straighten it out yet keep on sending us this bill as past due. It is the part that is not covered by the insurances. She is on the spousal part of VA.