For Your Benefit
For and about Hawaii's militaryBy Gregg K. Kakesako
See also: In The Military
Proposed 2003 federal
budget includes new
VA deductible charge
for some vetsQuestion: I understand the Department of Veterans Affairs is considering charging veterans a $1,500-a-year deductible for utilizing its health-care services. Can you explain more about this proposal?
Answer: What you have heard is essentially correct. Included in the president's recently released proposed budget for fiscal year 2003 is a proposal that the VA institute a $1,500 annual deductible to be charged only to Priority 7 veterans. Priority 7 veterans are those with a disability rating of zero, or those with higher incomes or no service-related disabilities. They make up a fourth of all those enrolled in the VA health-care system.
Why was this proposed? The VA system was originally created to treat veterans with service-related disabilities as well as the poorest of the vets who had nowhere else to turn. But the system was underused and hospitals were closing. Since Congress expanded eligibility in 1995, enrollment doubled to 6 million by late last year, swamping the VA, ballooning its budget and creating lengthy waiting periods.
The VA has to make sure that the priority patients, those with service-connected disabilities and the poor, get proper treatment, as they have always been VA's primary clients. The $1,500 deductible is a way to cover some of the ever-increasing costs, and is actually a replacement for an earlier plan that would have ended all new Priority 7 enrollments.
The deductible would not be charged all at once. Instead of co-pays, veterans would be charged 45 percent of the "reasonable and customary" fees the VA charges. Once they reach $1,500, they would revert to the current co-pays. Keep in mind the co-pay for a visit to the doctor has been reduced to $15 a visit from $50.80. The $50 remains for specialty-care visits.
Bottom line is that the deductible is a part of the fiscal year 2003 proposed budget, which has a long way to go before it becomes a final budget. For more information on co-payments, call 433-0600.
If you have questions about your benefits as a veteran,
call Fred Ballard at the Veterans Affairs at 433-0049
or the Star-Bulletin at 529-4747.Gregg K. Kakesako can be reached by phone at 294-4075
or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.
