November 6, 2014
In an open letter to veterans, VA Secretary Bob McDonald announced the rollout of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act (VACAA) this week. In his letter, McDonald says the bill “goes a long way toward enabling VA to meet the demand for veterans’ health care in the short-term. VA has put considerable focus and attention on ensuring the law is implemented seamlessly, without confusion, and without creating hardships for veterans.”
The most visible outcome of VACAA, the Choice Card, will be available to veterans enrolled in VA health care as of August 1, 2014. Veterans with active duty service in a theater of combat operations within the previous five years are also eligible to receive a Choice Card.
To facilitate a smooth implementation of the new program, the card and a letter explaining eligibility for the program will be sent to beneficiaries in three phases:
- to veterans who live 40 miles from any VA health care facility;
- to those who have been waiting for their requested appointment for more than 30 days and;
- the remaining 8 million veterans are scheduled to receive a card by January 2015.
Receiving the card does not mean a veteran is automatically eligible for the program. The card will include a toll-free number that can be used to determine eligibility. Critically, the VA must give pre-authorization for care. Each episode of care will be authorized for no more than 60 days.
The VA has signed contracts with two private health care companies to help administer the Veterans Choice Program: Health Net and Triwest. These contractors were also selected earlier in 2014 to execute the Patient Centered Community Care (PC3) contracts to help ease the access demand across VA.
The program is designed as a temporary fix while VA builds hires needed clinical staff, builds additional medical facilities, and addresses other access problems. The program is authorized for a maximum of three years or $10 billion in health care, whichever occurs first.
The VA has published a FAQ page for people wanting to learn more information. Veterans can check their eligibility for the program by calling 1-866-606-8198 or by visiting www.va.gov/healthbenefits/apps/choice/.