VA Medicare Benefits, is there a Difference?

When most people think of VA and Medicare benefits they seem to think of them as if they are one and the same, one type of benefit supporting the individual.  It just so happens that VA and Medicare benefits are quite separate and need to be treated as such if you qualify for both.  You can have both VA and Medicare benefits but you need to know that they will not work together, but they will almost supplement each other in a variety of ways.

VA benefits are typically only able to be used in VA approved facilities by members of the Veterans Affairs.  In other words, if you need to have a medical procedure done and you are a member of the VA then you will have to get your procedure done at a VA hospital, not your hospital of choice.  Also, you may have more options available to you with the VA drug benefit than with the Medicare drug benefit.

Medicare options will be different from the VA because Medicare benefits allow you to go wherever you want for services as long as it is approved by Medicare.  In other words, there are not actual Medicare hospitals, but there are hospitals that are approved by Medicare to do procedures on Medicare patients.  VA and Medicare benefits are not the same as you can see, but they can both be very beneficial to you.

Entry Filed under: Enrollment Questions