Eligibility for Veterans Administration Benefits

By James Rada, Jr.

Military veterans may be eligible for a number of health benefits through the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which is sometimes called the Veterans Administration, based on their service in the U.S. armed forces. One of the major programs is the free and reduced-cost health care available through VA hospitals and medical centers. The VA has doctors and specialists available who can handle just about any health-care issue you may have.

To qualify for VA benefits, your discharge needs to have been either honorable or a general discharge. If you have any other type of discharge, you need to talk to a VA enrollment coordinator to see if you are still eligible for benefits. You also need to have served at least 24 continuous months of active duty. The service time considered is active, full-time duty. It does not include any active duty training time. There are exemptions to this requirement that the VA will consider, though.

When applying for VA benefits, you will need to submit a copy of your discharge papers. This will provide much of the information needed to qualify you for benefits. It lists your dates of service, type of discharge, full name and military service number. If you have other useful documents, such as a doctor's report about your disability, then you also should bring that with you when you apply.

Once you are determined to be eligible, you are then placed in one of eight eligibility groups. Because the number of veterans who can receive health benefits is based on funding available, eligible veterans are prioritized for care. The major factor in this is how disabled you are. Veterans with disabilities are a higher priority to receive care. Other factors also are considered that can improve your eligibility group placement without you needing to be disabled, such as whether you're a former prisoner of war or a Purple Heart recipient.

You need to enroll in the VA health care system in order to receive VA benefits. As with many of the VA rules, there are exceptions to this one. You don't need to enroll if you are 50 percent or more disabled from service-connected conditions, are only seeking care for a service-connected disability, or it's less than one year since you were discharged for a disability that was incurred or aggravated by your service.

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