Noteboom The Law Firm

Enhanced Health Care Enrollment Deadline Approaching

January 14, 2011 - Veterans can apply for their Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits at any time. The VA, however, is offering specific combat veterans discharged prior to January 28, 2003 the ability to utilize their enhanced health care enrollment opportunity.

VA Sec. Eric Shinseki is strongly pushing eligible veterans to apply through the enhanced enrollment window because the application process for their health care benefits has been simplified.  According to Sec. Shinseki, the VA is making available eligibility specialists to help veterans with the process both online and at every VA medical center. 

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181) afforded these veterans this opportunity. Under the law, any combat veteran who was in service after November 11, 1998 and separated prior to January 28, 2003 and did not enroll for benefits by January 28, 2008 has until January 27, 2011 to take advantage of the enhanced enrollment opportunity.

Should these veterans wait until after January 27, 2011 to apply, they will have to proceed through the VA's normal channels in order to have their benefit status determined.

This means the VA will use their standard procedures, which rate their priority status for health care on either:

• The severity of the patient's service-related disability; or
• Other specific eligibility aspects.

The VA has directly mailed over 750,000 veterans notifying them of their eligibility for this program. They've also held thousands of informational gatherings. Since last June, the VA mailed another 194,000 eligible veterans. So far, only 13,000 veterans have taken advantage of the enhanced health care enrollment opportunity.