Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/10/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 02:56 PM 10/16/04 -0400, Walker Smith wrote: >> >> >>Marc, I'm also a veteran (Army and USPHS). To the best of my knowledge >>I'm >>not eligible for VA medical care. I get care through the TriCare retiree >>system at a local USAF hospital, and when I turn 65 I'll be converted to >>ordinary Medicare. Unless I'm mistaken, all vets are not automatically >>eligible for VA medical care. They have to have some kind of >>service-connected condition, though it may be minimal. There may also be >>some kind of means test, although I'm less sure about that. Are you under >>the impression that VA care is an automatic benefit for all vets? I'm >>quite sure it's not. >> >Phil, I believe to qualify for VA care you must be a minimum of 10% >disabled. No. Anyone who has compleed 180 days of service in those agencies under the Military Code of Justice (Army, Navy & Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, Public Health Service, or Coast and Geodetic Survey (or whatever they are calling themselves this week)) is eligible for to-the-grave health care from the Department of Veterans' Affairs. I had four years of active duty, then four years in the Guard, and 12 in the Army Reserve, but I have been receiving my health care from the VA for the past 23 years. That I am a 10% disabled veteran has no bearing on this eligibility. 180 days and you are covered. (And those scare-mongers on TV who keep beefing about those of us who lack medical insurance do not seem to realize that a bunch of us have VA benefits and use them.) I thank all of the taxpayers of the Great Republic for affording me with this coverage. Marc msmall@infionline.net FAX: +540/343-7315 Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir!