January 9 2024.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced a proposed rule to exempt Veterans from paying co-pays for certain inpatient and outpatient Whole Health well-being services, which are available at VA facilities nationwide.
Whole Health well-being services, which focus on the overall well-being of the Veteran independent of treatment for a specific medical condition or diagnosis, are an important aspect of the VA care. Co-payment exempt services include Whole Health education, Health and Wellness coaching, skill-building programs, and complementary and integrative health services such as Yoga and Meditation.
These proposed changes are part of Veterans Affairs ongoing efforts to expand access to VA health care — at a time when VA care is outperforming non-VA care, earning Veteran trust at record rates, and delivering more appointments than ever before. This year, VA also began waiving Veterans’ co-pays for their first three outpatient mental health care visits of each year, proposed a rule for waiving co-pays for all tele-health visits, and made tele-emergency care available nationwide. The proposed changes would advance Veteran Affairs ongoing efforts to lower costs and expand access to care for all those who served.
“Co-payment exemptions for Whole Health services is a step forward in creating greater access to preventative care for Veterans,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal. “VA is the best and most affordable care in America for Veterans — and this proposed ruling is another step forward to ensuring that cost never prevents a Veteran from getting the care they deserve.”
Expanding access to VA care is an ongoing top priority. While only some Veterans require co-pays for VA care, VA has long acknowledged that co-payments can deter Veterans from obtaining care, creating a barrier for participation in those programs. When Veterans become more actively involved in their medical care it leads to improved health care outcomes and, in turn, lower overall health care costs. There are currently multiple co-payment exemptions for programs such as weight management counseling and publicly announced VA public health initiatives (for example, health fairs) or outpatient visits solely consisting of preventative screening and immunizations which has encouraged participation in these offerings.
The proposed rule exempting certain Whole Health well-being services from co-payment aims to assist Veterans in becoming more actively involved in their health care and continue to seek services through these important programs.
The rule making can be viewed in the Federal Register under public inspection and is now and open for comment. (findable by searching for the rule on VA’s Federal Register webpage).
For more information about VA Whole Health, visit the VA Whole Health Services website.
