Veterans who receive community care for medical treatment have been required in the past to seek and receive new referrals every 90 to 180 days. Just getting that referral or authorization can cause delays in treatment. Now, with changes at the VA, those referrals won’t be as frequent.
Starting now, in 30 different categories of medical care, referrals and new authorizations will only be required once a year.
Community care can literally be a lifesaver for veterans who live too far from a VA medical facility, whose closest facility doesn’t provide the medical care that’s required or if the VA’s wait times are not acceptable.
Here are a few of the 30 medical categories that are now eligible for the longer authorization: cardiology, oncology, gastroenterology, pain management and pulmonary.
If you’ve been getting community medical care and are subject to the need for frequent reauthorizations, contact the Community Care office at your closest VA medical center to ask how the new rule impacts the schedule you’ll be on going forward. Ask whether the new “year” began when your current authorization period did, or whether a new year begins right now. Get the answer in writing, if you can. Take the steps you need to, to guarantee that your authorization is indeed extended so you don’t discover at the last minute that there’s been a problem and that your file was overlooked.
If you’d like to take advantage of community care, you need to be enrolled in VA health care or be eligible for it.
If you’re getting VA care, tell your VA physician that you’d like to get community care. If they think it’s appropriate, they will start a referral.
Once you find a civilian community care provider that you like, be sure to verify that they’re part of the VA’s network before you get any treatment from them, otherwise VA won’t pay for it.
To learn more about community care or to find a provider in your area, go online to www.va.gov/communitycare. •
By Freddy Groves
(c) 2025 King Features Synd., Inc.
