The Department of Veterans Affairs has $1.1 million to make it easier for rural Alaskans to get the health care they earned in the service. The Rural Health Pilot Project last month sent letters to 548 veterans from Cordova to Hooper Bay urging them to sign up for the pilot, which will allow them to get VA-covered care in Native and community health clinics and hospitals closer to home in their villages and rural hubs. The program runs through July 2010, or until the money runs out.
Primary medical care and mental health counseling services are covered. The VA in Anchorage also has contacted rural providers, who can do the necessary paperwork for the veterans.
With this project, both Native vets, who generally qualify for Native health services, and non-Native vets can use local care and save themselves the trip to Anchorage, which can cost a small fortune in transportation, food and lodging.
Irene Washington, the VA's rural veterans liaison in Bethel, said Tuesday she's already had vets signing up for the program. She helps with forms and authorizations and asks what the VA hopes become routine questions in all of Alaska's medical facilities and doctors' offices -- "Are you a veteran?" "Are you enrolled in the VA health care system?" Vets need to enroll to get the help.
More than the 548 veterans contacted may qualify for the pilot program. VA public affairs officer Marcia Hoffman-Devoe said that any veteran who served after 9-11 who isn't currently enrolled in the VA system can enroll and qualify for local care.
This program aims to make the most of what good care is available on the home front, without forcing rural vets into expensive trips to town. That's a better deal for those who served.
BOTTOM LINE: Pilot program promises health care to rural Alaska vets closer to home.