If you submit medical and dental claims directly to VA and were impacted by the recent Change Healthcare cyber breach, you can now submit using the same VA Payer IDs: 12116 (Veteran community care) and 84147 (Veteran and Family Member Programs).

VA’s system for claims submission, using electronic data interchange, has been fully restored and is stable and secure. VA has been accepting medical claims since March 23, 2024, and dental claims since May 8, 2024.

Tips for Veteran community care claims

• Use the eCAMS provider portal to check the status of claims submitted to VA.
• Call the Community Care Contact Center at 877-881-7618 if you have billing inquiries about claims submitted to VA.
• Community emergency providers can verify a Veteran is eligible for VA coverage while making the 72-hour notification by phone at 844-724-7842. Notification can also be made online through VA’s Emergency Care Reporting portal.
• For issues with provider vendorization and payment reissues, contact VA’s Financial Services Center at 877-353-9791.
• More information is also available at File a Claim for Veteran Care–Information for Providers - Community Care.

Tips for family member care claims

• Verify eligibility and address billing inquiries for Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) beneficiaries by calling 800-733-8387.
• Address billing inquiries for Spina Bifida (SB) Health Care Benefits Program beneficiaries by calling 888-820-1756.
• For issues with provider vendorization and payment reissues, contact VA’s Financial Services Center at 877-353-9791.
• More information for VA family member providers who submit claims to VA is also available at File a Claim for Family Member Care–Information for Providers - Community Care.

Make sure to actively monitor your patient accounts. If you haven’t received any communications about previously submitted claims through VA’s electronic data interchange, you will need to resubmit them.

Veterans are more likely than the general population to experience posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and it can take many months of clinical treatment before seeing symptom improvement. Jennifer Schuster Wachen is a VA PTSD consultant, associate professor, and clinical research psychologist who studies different ways to make PTSD treatments more effective. One of those methods is called massed treatment, an approach that can help Veterans find faster PTSD symptom relief.

Massed treatment refers to psychotherapy that is delivered in a shorter timeframe than usual. For example, a Veteran who would usually attend therapy sessions once per week for multiple months may instead attend three sessions per week under the massed treatment approach. This means they complete the full course of therapy in a shorter period, and since the content of massed treatment sessions is the same as traditional methods, the treatment can be just as effective, Wachen said.

Massed treatment comes with many benefits for Veterans, with perhaps the most important being that Veterans could see PTSD symptom relief in a matter of weeks rather than several months. Wachen also noted that because avoidance is common in those experiencing PTSD, more frequent sessions may help sustain engagement in therapy and reduce tendencies to withdraw from treatment. “We see that most people finish massed treatment once they start,” she said.

Listen to this full episode of ‘PTSD Bytes’ to learn more about the massed treatment option.

If you have a Veteran patient who submitted an ITF on or before Aug. 14, 2023, they may be eligible for retroactive benefits dating back to Aug. 10, 2022, if granted benefits under the PACT Act. Aug. 10, 2022, is when the PACT Act was signed into law.

However, their window may be quickly closing to complete their ITF and potentially receive these backdated benefits. Remember, they have 365 days to complete an ITF, and they must act quickly if they are still be within that window.

What does this mean for non-PACT claims?

If granted, VA will provide a Veteran with benefits that will likely date back to at least the date when the Veteran began their ITF. These retroactive benefits could be worth thousands of dollars.

Read the full VA News story for more information.

VA started enforcing the federal requirement for vendors receiving federal payments to enroll in direct deposit (electronic funds transfer (EFT)) in 2023. Vendors, in this case, are health care providers who accept patients with the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) and receive claim payments.

So far, over 7,000 CHAMPVA and family member providers have enrolled in EFT. VA estimates there are another 15,000 providers actively seeing CHAMPVA beneficiaries and still need to enroll in EFT. 

If you haven’t enrolled in EFT already: 

1. Visit the VA Financial Services Center Customer Engagement Portal.
2. Complete the Payment Account Setup web form to enroll. (To help you with your direct deposit enrollment, please see this Vendor Web Form User Guide.)

Once enrolled, your payments will be automatically deposited into a bank account. EFT payments are secure and efficient while safeguarding Veterans’ family members access to benefits. Enrolling in EFT also ensures you get paid efficiently.  

If you are not enrolled in EFT, your claims payments will be paused until your EFT enrollment is complete. Make the move today.  

For assistance with the webform, call 877-353-9791. 

About CHAMPVA

CHAMPVA is a health care program for qualified spouses, widows(ers), and children of eligible Veterans. Through CHAMPVA, VA shares the cost of certain health care services and supplies with eligible beneficiaries. 

More Information:

• CHAMPVA homepage
• CHAMPVA – Information for Providers webpage
• Department of Veterans Affairs webpage

Webinar Description: This webinar hosted by Health Outcomes Military Exposures (HOME) will cover topics related to military environmental exposures, including:

• Exposure-informed care
• Garrison exposures
• PACT Act updates
• AHOBPR 2.0 updates
• VHA Directive 1308 updates

Environmental health clinicians and coordinators are especially encouraged to attend, but this webinar is open to all.

Date: July 10 @ 9:30 a.m. — 5:00 p.m. ET

Location: Adobe Connect

Credit Hours: 7 CEUs

Registration: Registration in TMS is required and can be accessed on the TMS website. Completion of Level 1 and Level 2 Military Environment Exposures Certifications is highly encouraged prior to attending this webinar.

Hilda P. Griggs served during World War II in the 6888th Battalion, the first and only unit deployed overseas that consisted of all-Black or Hispanic female soldiers. While living in New Jersey, Griggs enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps in Philadelphia on Dec. 8, 1943, because she didn’t want her mother to find out. She was inspired to enlist by her five brothers who were all service members.

Griggs trained at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. On Feb. 4, 1945, she left Fort Shank, New York, for England, with the 6888th. Commanded by Maj. Charity Adams, the objective of the battalion, which consisted of 855 women, was to organize the backlog of 18 million accumulated pieces of mail that were addressed to soldiers. Originally, they were given six months to fix the crisis. However, by working 24 hours a day, divided into three eight-hour shifts, the women were able to complete their mission in only three months. The conditions these women worked in were not ideal: insufficient lighting, rat-infested buildings, extreme cold. Yet they worked tirelessly; their motto was “No Mail, Low Morale.” Griggs served with the Battalion in Birmingham, England; Rouen, France; and Paris, France.

On March 24, 1946, Griggs was honorably discharged from Fort Dix, New Jersey. She continued to serve until she retired from Civil Service, Marine Corps Supply on April 9, 1976.

Upon their return from Europe, the 6888th Battalion received no acknowledgement or public commendation. However, in February 2020, the 6888^th was honored with a Meritorious Unit Commendation. Check out more of Hilda P. Griggs story here.

VA has earned a spot among the top 10 fastest rising research institutions in North America, according to the Nature Index.

VA research has a long history of medical breakthroughs, including the development of the CAT scan, the innovation of the pacemaker, and performing the first-ever liver transplant. Recent research by VA researchers has supported critical initiatives such as the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, women’s health, telehealth, suicide prevention, the PACT Act, President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, and many others.

VA research is a collaborative effort to deliver the best possible care to Veterans by working hand-in-hand with clinicians, academic affiliates, Veteran volunteers, and partners inside and outside of government. VA’s research approach is rooted in anticipating Veteran’s needs and projecting future trends so VA can continue to deliver world-class clinical care for this Nation’s Veterans.

“VA medical breakthroughs over the past century—including pacemakers and liver transplants—are now integral parts of health care for Veterans and all Americans,” said Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal. “One of the major reasons why VA has proven to be the best health care in America for Veterans is that VA researchers continue to lead the Nation in making discoveries that ultimately improve the care we can provide.”

Read the full story here. You can also visit VAs’ research website to learn more about how this work supports Veteran health care.

Veterans no longer need to pay copays for their first three outpatient mental health care and substance use disorder visits of each calendar year through 2027. This benefit expands Veterans’ access to mental health services and lowers their out-of-pocket costs.

This copayment exemption benefits dates back to June 27, 2023, and—by law—will end Dec. 29, 2027. To be eligible for this exemption, the outpatient visit must be with a qualified mental health professional at VA or through VA’s network of community care providers. VA will automatically refund Veterans for any copays paid to VA on or after June 27, 2023, for these appointments, with no further action required by those Veterans. 

“We want every Veteran, regardless of their financial status, to have access to the mental health care they deserve—and that’s what this copayment exemption is all about,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “We are constantly working to expand access to mental health care, and we won’t rest until every Veteran has access to care whenever and wherever they need it.”

The copay exemption benefit is part of the Cleland-Dole Act of 2022. For more information, visit VA’s mental health website.