I'm A Veteran and Receiving Veterans' Benefits, Do I Also Get Medicare If I'm Disabled?

If you are a Veteran and already receiving health benefits from the VA (Veterans Affairs) then you may be wondering what happens if you are awarded Social Security Disability benefits and become eligible for Medicare.

When you receive Social Security Disability benefits (SSD) you automatically become eligible for Medicare two years from the date you become eligible for benefits. I've had clients who are worried that this will affect the medical treatment that they have been receiving from the VA or affect their eligibility to continue receiving treatment from the VA Hospital or VA clinic.

This Medicare pamphlet has a lot of useful information that may answer many of the questions that you have. The chart on pages two and three of that pamphlet explains who pays first when you have another form of health coverage; whether it be Medicaid, a group health plan through work, VA benefits, Workers' Compensation or several other forms of medical insurance coverage.

According to the information provided by Medicare, if you are entitled to VA benefits and Medicare then you are entitled to both:

If you have or can get both Medicare and Veterans’ benefits, you can get treatment under either program. When you get health care, you must choose which benefits to use each time you see a doctor or get health care. Medicare can’t pay for the same service that was covered by Veterans’ benefits, and your Veterans’ benefits can’t pay for the same service that was covered by Medicare. To get the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to pay for services, you must go to a VA facility or have the VA authorize services in a non-VA facility.

Medicare also gives this example:

Bob, a veteran, goes to a non-VA hospital for a service authorized by the VA. While at the non-VA hospital, Bob gets other non-VA authorized services that the VA won’t pay for. Some of these services are Medicare-covered services. Medicare may pay for some of the non-VA authorized services that Bob got. Bob will have to pay for services that Medicare or the VA doesn’t cover.