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For Your Benefit
For and about Hawaii's military
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VA to spend $40 million on veterans' vision care
Question: What does the Department of Veterans Affairs do for blind veterans?
Answer: The VA plans to make about $40 million available during the next three years to establish a comprehensive nationwide rehabilitation system for veterans and active-duty personnel with visual impairments.
Basic low-vision services will be available at all VA eye clinics, and every network will offer intermediate and advanced low-vision services, including a full spectrum of optical devices and electronic visual aids.
For more information, contact the VA Medical Clinic at 433-0600 or check out the VA Web site at www.va.gov.
Q: If my insurance pays VA, why do I still receive a bill from VA, and why must my income be updated annually? My income doesn't change that much.
A: The bill that goes to the insurance company is for the actual cost of the care that was provided to you. When your insurance company pays on the claim submitted, then VA credits your co-payment obligation.
The insurance payment does not always eliminate your VA co-payment obligation. The VA co-payment bill is a separate bill and cannot be submitted to your insurance company. In these cases, you may be responsible for a small balance of the co-payment.
For more information on co-payments and billing, contact the VA Medical Clinic at 433-0600.
If you have questions about your benefits as a veteran, call Fred Ballard at the Veterans Affairs at 433-0049 or visit the VA Web site at
www.va.gov/hawaii or the Star-Bulletin at 529-4747.
