The VA Medical Benefits Package offers comprehensive health care, including preventive, mental, emergency, and specialist care. The services covered by the VA that comprise the medical benefits package are defined by law and listed in the federal regulations at 38 CFR 17.38. For more information about how to enroll, please get in touch with a department VSO.
Veterans enrolled in VA health care can use MedExpress Urgent Care in the VA network services for routine ailments that don’t require the services of an emergency room. See here (https://www.medexpress.com/blog/better-health/questions-and-answers-about-the-mission-act.html) for more information.
Compact Act of 2020
In 2020, Congress passed the Comprehensive Prevention, Access to Care, and Treatment Act of 2020 (H.R.8247), also known as the Veterans COMPACT Act. This law allows any veteran, whether enrolled in VA health care or not, to go to a VA or non-VA emergency room for emergency suicidal care.
Regardless of VA enrollment status, a veteran is eligible for services under the COMPACT Act if they are: Veterans discharged or released from active duty after more than 24 months of active service under conditions other than dishonorable. Veterans, including Reservists, who served more than 100 days under a combat exclusion or in support of a contingency operation either directly or by operating an uncrewed aerial vehicle from another location who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. Veterans who were the victim of a physical assault of a sexual nature, a battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment while serving in the armed forces.
The COMPACT Act does not require an existing contract between the VA and the community emergency department for the VA to pay for authorized treatment and follow-on care. Veterans experiencing a mental health crisis should seek care at the nearest emergency department.
We encourage veterans experiencing stressors that threaten to lead them to crisis to call the VA Crisis Line before the crisis materializes. Dialing 988 and pressing 1 will put the caller into contact with a veteran crisis specialist.
We also encourage any veteran with a mental health diagnosis that may be the result of their service to visit their local benefits office for a benefits consultation and to file a claim to service-connect their condition.
Blind Rehabilitation Service
The Department of Veterans Assistance -
Blind Rehabilitation Services assists eligible veterans and active duty service members with a visual impairment in developing the skills needed for personal independence and successful reintegration into the community and family environment.
Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA)
Dependents who are eligible for DIC may also be eligible to use CHAMPVA. This is a comprehensive healthcare program in which the VA shares the cost of covered healthcare services and supplies with eligible beneficiaries. The program is administered by the Health Administration Center in Denver, Colorado.
To be eligible for CHAMPVA, you cannot be eligible for TRICARE and must be in one of these categories:
- The spouse or child of a veteran who died from a VA-rated service-connected disability.
- The surviving spouse or child of a veteran who has been rated permanently and totally disabled for a service-connected disability by the VA
- The surviving spouse or child of a veteran who was at the time of death rated permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability.
- The surviving spouse or child of a military member who died in the line of duty, not due to misconduct.
We strongly recommend that you enlist the services of a Veteran Service Officer before you submit your application. They will review your application, helping to ensure it has all the information the VA requires.
TRICARE - Medical Insurance
TRICARE Prime is the managed care insurance option offered to active duty military veterans and their families. Services in the TRICARE East region, which includes all of West Virginia, are provided through Humana.
Many plans are available for retired veterans, reservists, and transitioning veterans.
TRICARE Prime is a managed care option available to active duty service members and retired veterans; however, it is only available to those within a 30-minute distance from a military treatment facility. It is not generally available in West Virginia.
TRICARE Select is a self-managed, premium-based, Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan available in the United States. Select is available to active duty family members, military retirees and their families, activated Guard and Reserve family members, retired Guard and Reserve members at age 60, surviving dependents, Medal of Honor recipients and their families, and qualified former spouses. For more eligibility information, see the TRICARE Select Enrollment
Page.
There is an annual outpatient deductible, and patients using TRICARE Select pay a percentage cost share for covered services. Additionally, retirees must pay a yearly enrollment fee. See the TRICARE Select Costs page
here.
TRICARE Reserve Select
Tricare Reserve Select is a premium-based PPO plan for qualified Selected Reserve members and their families worldwide. It is for reservists and their families who are not on active duty orders, not covered under the Transitional Assistance Management Program, and not eligible for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) members, including those in Navy Reserve Voluntary Training Units, do not qualify for this TRICARE Reserve Select.
For more information about the costs associated with TRICARE Reserve Select, see
here.
TRICARE Retired Reserve
TRICARE Retired Reserve is a premium-based plan available worldwide for qualified Select Reserve members and their families.
Retired members of a reserve component who qualified for non-regular retirement under 10 U.S.C., Chapter 1223 under the age of 60 who are not eligible for or enrolled in the FEHB program, their families, and non-remarried spouses of qualified veterans.
To see the costs associated with TRR, see
here.
TRICARE For Life
TRICARE For Life is Medicare wraparound coverage if you are TRICARE eligible and Medicare Part A and B, regardless of age or place of residence. Coverage doesn’t extend to family members. Coverage is automatic and begins the first day Medicare Part A and Part B are in effect. The veterans must pay Medicare Part B premiums.
The healthcare provider will most likely file your claim with Medicare. After Medicare pays its portion, it sends the claim to TRICARE, which pays the provider directly. Generally, there are no out-of-pocket costs for services covered by Medicare and TRICARE. However, there are out-of-pocket costs for any care that TRICARE, Medicare, or both do not cover.
Other Health Care Options
WV Health Right
WV Health Right provides free comprehensive health care to West Virginia low-income, uninsured, and underinsured adults. They aim to make high-quality care accessible to everyone regardless of insurance or financial status. In addition to several locations in the Charleston area, they operate a Mobile Medical Clinic and a Mobile Dental Clinic that travels to different locations regularly.
Wheeling Health Right
Wheeling Health Right provides health care, prescriptions, dental, and mental health services to residents of Wheeling-Steubenville. They serve uninsured, underinsured, and medically underserved people of all ages.
Milan Puskar Health Right
Milan Puskar Health Right in Morgantown serves residents of West Virginia who are low-income, uninsured, or underinsured. They accept Medicaid. This facility can use patients who make less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level.
Do you know of a free clinic in your area that isn’t listed? Please let us know at
WVDVA@wv.gov.