Using the VA as your primary healthcare provider (Affordable Care Act).

Cpl Anthony Pearson — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 14:01:25 -0400

I have a friend that served in our armed forces, and luckily, does not have any disabilities or service-connected injuries.

She is soon leaving the public sector to continue with education and eventually help Veterans who are suffering from mental illness. An admirable cause, and one that is well needed.

She is wondering what our thoughts are regarding the VA as primary healthcare for veterans. Do any of you use the VA? Your personal thoughts? If you can also provide tips/suggestions/etc., I will pass them along.

I also invited her to join RallyPoint, and will eventually share this conversation with her.

Thank you in advance for your time and support.

Tony

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 27 at 2014 2:04 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 14:04:53 -0400

I just recently retired and have been going through the process of the VA. I will be using both Tricare and my PCM on Hood as well as the VA services. Between the two, I can get decent treatment for a variety of things.

Response by COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM made Oct 27 at 2014 2:08 PM

COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 14:08:48 -0400

Using the VA as my primary healthcare provider:
- I am currently serving so I do not have any direct experience with the VA and medical.
- I have used a portion of my GI Bill and my experience with the VA in this respect was good (not great).
- Based upon news reports and what I know based upon research of the VA, I would not use the VA as my primary health care provider if I had a choice for the following reasons:
- News reports. Can't have that much smoke in the news without a fire somewhere.
- Admin/doc ratio. The ratio of admin personnel vs docs in the VA is out of control. Too much money spent on red tape and not enough on health care providers.
- Budget. VA budget has increased significantly but the quality of care reportedly has not improved at all. Argument against.
-/+ Pay Scale. The pay scale used by the VA is out of sync with the private sector (VA pays more). You would think this is an argument to use the VA over the private sector. It may or may not be.
-/+ Large scale vs small scale. At the end of the day, I assume there is a large shot group of quality from VA location to VA location. A lot will depend upon the quality that an individual sees at the local level.

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made Oct 28 at 2014 8:41 AM

MSG Wade Huffman — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 08:41:16 -0400

One important consideration. If she is not service connected for a disability, then her ability to be enrolled for VA health care is based on MEANS testing (income level). I would recommend she contact the nearest VA Medical Center or Clinic and apply regardless.

Response by PO2 Ed Murray made Oct 28 at 2014 3:13 PM

PO2 Ed Murray — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 15:13:28 -0400

I requested information from the VA, I did 11yrs of honorable service and was told I am an 8G due to no disabilities, sickness and make too much money yearly. So tell me what kind of benefits do you gain for your service ? My Father-in-Law retired after 30 yrs, upon his death I called the VA to inform them, the first question I received was "Does he owe us $$$ ?" I said No, and the woman proceeded to as "Well why are you calling us?"....I shall leave it at that.