VA-Medicare Part D

Roger on the VA for drugs and treatment - due to my current disability rating I have no copays for anything. Also we now can self-refer for audiology and eye care, I have an appointment for a hearing test end of January which pleases dear wife.

Dealing with the VA takes some patience and sometimes I feel like I'm just one of the herd but all in all I've gotten good care from the South Texas system.

Fairwind,I didnt know that we have to "renew our enrollment". Is that a yearly thing ? Something new ? As medicare is around the corner for me I will get a supplement. part A,B,D,and G.I hope to have all the bases covered,plus VA .What I dont understand is if Agent Orange happened on their watch ,a service connected disability, you would think there would be no question of getting any and all meds no matter what tier is needed.

Thanks John_TX,so if the co-pays increase with the priority level, VA will in turn bill my Medicare carrier ? I currently have my RO and URO still under my union ins. till April,then I will be on Medicare. I have not seen a VA RO or URo just the primary care physican that gave me a complete blood work up.She ordered some pads for leakage for me soon after my SBRT as I had urgency and a little dribble,since gone.Then about a month later I got print out from my current ins. which paid the rest of what was due from VA

2 huge boxes of pads came in the mail about a week later.They are unused. Is it wise to check in with my VA primary doc once in a while ? I wont see my private RO for my 6 month PSA till March.And Im still getting 100% from VA since Jan.31 ,almost a year without getting re-evaluated.I hope VA calls me in before March because Im still on record from my last RO visit with the urgency and leaking issues and thats the story Im sticking with until March.My DAV officer says VA pays you according to your residuals.So we will see.

Thank All you Veterans out there with your imput. Tomorrow Dec.10 is our annual Army-Navy game party at the VFW post,lots of fun food,raffles,beer.Its the only day in the year that I root for Navy,being a Marine,is too beat Army.Actually my Son,Navy Corpsman,deployed,my Son in law Navy Chopper pilot,Deployed,another Son in law Navy Sub-officer deployed.So we love them all.Go Navy,beat Army.SemperFi,0311

As John replied above, re-enrollment isn't needed. But, unless they have recently changed the rules, you need an annual visit with your VA primary care doctor to get referrals for eye and/or vision tests (which include glasses and hearing aids if needed) and also any prescriptions you want filled by the VA. I just got a card in yesterday's mail reminding me it is time to schedule an annual visit with my VA PCP.

I'm on VA's Tier 3 for residuals of PCa treatment, which means I can get my EpiPen refilled for an $8 copay instead of the $340 annual deductible under my Blue Cross Medicare Advantage plan. I'm waiting an upgrade to 100% due to return of active Agent Orange service-connected PCa. This will bump me to to Tier 1, like John, which means no co-pays going forward, which may become important if I have to move on to any of the newer, very expensive, drugs for advanced PCa.

Go Navy!
Jim

Jim
Yes you are correct and if you go to a hospital and are on Medicare it becomes your primary insurance ( I'm talking other than VA hospital)
the VA will not pick up any cost Medicare doesn't pay.
correct
Go Navy
Jack

I am using the VA here in Las Vegas and i also have Medicare but I only keep part A and that the VA is the same as part B, C, and D of medicare and that there are no penalties if you decide to switch to regular Medicare. As for the VA and prostate cancer they can treat you at the VA facilities even will pay to send you to one of their Hospitals outside of your area if you wish. At this moment they wanted me to go to Loma Linda in Ca but i instead chose the Choice Program they have to use a local Urologist free of charge or co-pays and as long as they send the prescriptions directly to the VA Pharmacy the VA will fill them. You can also use the Choice Program if you live i think 40 miles away from a local VA location. I have had no problems and have all my care so far paid including the Hospital, tests and such needed for my open surgery which i will have on Tues Dec 13, 2016 and all follow ups with the Dr and then the VA takes over again. My Meds are $8 for a months supply or $24 for a 3 month supply. Hope this helps and can save you some money. i am 57 and disabled but not from the military and am tier 5. you are able to use the VA no matter what age you are anymore and they also strongly recommend recently departed military to sign up. Once you are the system you can go to any VA in the country and get care or get meds while on vacation as they use all electronical records that any va can pull up. I like that with the VA they can always look at your records when they do care and they can get a better picture of your health, but like other places getting the right PCP is the key and if you dont feel comfortable with whom they give you you can usually change fairly easy, but i think you have to see the patient advocate to do that. Be sure tho to be honest with them and also be proactive in your care, at least that is my experience.

Post Edited (LvGuy1) : 12/10/2016 11:42:52 PM (GMT-7)

No i am only 57. I am getting Medicare since i have disabled a few years ago. My Surgeon has about 800 under his belt but No he is not a VA surgeon. I am using the Choice program (tri-west) just for vets. They gave me all the options available and let me make my own mind up and let me talk to everyone needed to make my decision. Of course they all gave more pros than cons for their own specialty, so i went to the internet and started my research. No I decided against DaVinci due to the little fact that i have heard of where with Robotic they cannot see all the nodes as clear as radical (open) even tho i am sure that is no longer true. from what other Drs. have said he is well known and a very good surgeon, who has been doing them since 1990. a little unknown tidbit about the choice program is that they asked me if i had any preferences when it came to Drs. and by that time i had already done my homework and gave them his name and phone number. I do not knock any kind of treatment for Pc and everyone really needs to do their homework and not rush into anything and do what they think is best for them. (My wife had a lot of pull tho) but let me make my own decision. The one main reason i picked open surgery for myself is that after the prostate is out and i have it return that leaves open all other choices for any treatment.