Veterans Healthcare

If you have other forms of healthcare coverage like Medicare, you can use veterans healthcare benefits along with these plans. The Veterans Administration recommends signing up for Medicare as soon as you can. 

This is because:

• Having Medicare means you’re covered if you need to go to a non-VA hospital or Tulsa doctor—so you have more options to choose from.
• Funding for VA healthcare could change in the future. We encourage you to sign up for every healthcare benefit that you’re eligible for so you have options if you need them.
• If you delay signing up for Medicare Part B (coverage for doctors and outpatient services) and then need to sign up later because you lose your VA healthcare benefits or need more choice in care options, you’ll pay a penalty. This penalty gets bigger each year you delay signing up—and you’ll pay it every year for the rest of your life.
• If you sign up for Medicare Part D (coverage for prescription drugs), you’ll be able to use it to get medicine from non-VA doctors and fill your prescriptions at your local pharmacy instead of through the VA mail-order service. There’s no penalty for delaying Medicare Part D as long as you enroll when you’re first eligible or within 63 days of when you no longer have VA health care or other creditable prescription drug coverage.