The Veterans Administration announced yesterday that it has eliminated the use of net worth as a factor for health care programs and copayment responsibilities. This change will make an estimated 190,000 Veterans eligible for reduced costs of their health services within an estimated 5-year period. Effective this year, VA health care benefits are more accessible to lower income Veterans. This is another step in giving Veterans the health care benefits they both need and deserve. The VA will only consider a Veteran’s gross household income and deductible expenses from the previous year, eliminating net worth as a factor. In continuing to make the healthcare process more efficient, as of March 2014, the VA now uses information from the I.R.S. and Social Security Administration to automatically match Veterans’ income information which no longer burdens Veterans with keeping their healthcare eligibility up to date. This new policy is in line with Secretary Robert A. McDonald’s ‘My VA Initiative’ which is fully focused on Veterans’ needs and will make the eligibility process more efficient for all Veterans. More information can be found at www.va.gov/healthbenefits.
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Rich Frankel is the managing partner of Bross & Frankel. He is a member of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania bars. He has focused exclusively on disability and social security benefits since 2005.
Mr. Frankel joined what is now Bross & Frankel after having watched his father struggle with disability, fighting a lengthy illness. Mr. Frankel founded the firm’s veteran’s law practice and substantially grew the social security disability practice, focusing Bross & Frankel’s ability to fight for all of the disability benefits available to his clients.
Mr. Frankel additionally fights for clients in court, obtaining frequent victories in Social Security appeals and against insurance companies in Federal court.