Standard medical benefits package
The VA’s medical benefits package provides the following health care services to all enrolled veterans:
VA health care services
- Health care assessments
- Health education programs
- Immunizations
- Physical examinations
- Screening tests
- Bereavement counseling
- Chiropractic care
- Emergency outpatient care in VA facilities
- Medical
- Mental health
- Substance abuse
- Surgical (including reconstructive/plastic surgery as a result of disease or trauma)
- Chiropractic care
- Emergency inpatient care in VA facilities
- Medical
- Mental health
- Substance abuse
- Surgical (including reconstructive/plastic surgery as a result of disease or trauma)
- Medical and surgical supplies
- Over-the-counter medications
- Prescription medications
Special VA health care eligibility for veterans who served in combat theaters
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has implemented policies and procedures providing for two years – beginning on the date of separation from active duty military service – free health care services and nursing home care for soldiers/veterans who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Who is eligible?
You may be eligible for VA health care benefits if you served in the active military, naval or air service and didn’t receive a dishonorable discharge.
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If you enlisted after September 7, 1980, or entered active duty after October 16, 1981, you must have served 24 continuous months or the full period for which you were called to active duty, unless any of the descriptions below are true for you.
This minimum duty requirement may not apply if any of these are true:- You were discharged for a disability that was caused—or made worse—by your active-duty service, or
- You were discharged for a hardship or “early out,” or
- You served prior to September 7, 1980
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If you’re a current or former member of the Reserves or National Guard, you must have been called to active duty by a federal order and completed the full period for which you were called or ordered to active duty. If you had or have active-duty status for training purposes only, you don’t qualify for VA health care.
Click VA Healthcare for more information. You may also want to visit the Macomb Veteran Action Collaborative (MVAC) health care flowchart for more information.
The PACT Act of 2022
This act expanded health care and authorized the Camp Lejeune Act to open a window for civil law suits against the government regarding contaminated water. It created 22 new presumptives to toxic waste exposure, two new presumptive conditions for Agent Orange exposure and added new presumptive locations for Vietnam/Gulf War veterans.