September 28, 1998

By Mark Ferenchik
Dispatch Staff Reporter

Beginning Thursday, Oct. 1, 1998, more veterans will be eligible for benefits at the Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic.

A new enrollment program, part of the Veterans Health Care Eligibility Reform Act, opens outpatient care to married veterans who make more than $24,000 a year, VA spokesman Joseph C. Enderle Jr. said.

About 1,500 veterans were denied care the past two years at the VA Outpatient Clinic at 543 Taylor Ave. because they made too much money, he said. The VA has encouraged veterans to apply by Thursday, though there is no deadline. Veterans can pick up application forms at any VA medical or benefits facility.

Many veterans worried this year that they would lose benefits after false information spread on the Internet about application deadlines. But veterans can apply at the time they need VA care.

Under the reforms, the VA will offer more health-care options, such as outpatient and preventive-care services, and eliminate many restrictions.

All veterans, including exempted veterans, are encouraged to apply so the VA can plan for the future. Excepted veterans include those:

With a service-related disability rated 50 percent or higher.

Seeking care for a service- connected disability.

Discharged from military service for less than a year for a disability acquired while on duty but one that the VA hasn't rated.

The VA has been processing enrollment applications for veterans who have received VA health care since Jan. 1, 1996.

Veterans will be told by late spring whether their applications have been accepted. Applicants will be placed in one of seven priority groups.

The VA will determine how many veterans can be served based on how many enroll, where they are assigned on the priority list, and how much money the VA has.