Department of Veterans Affairs beneficiaries won’t have to pay copays for their first three mental health appointments of each year thanks to a new exemption. Meanwhile, patients who paid copays starting in the latter half of 2023 will receive automatic refunds.
The VA announced the exemption Wednesday. Backdated to June 27, 2023 — when the first refunds will kick in — the benefit also comes with an end date of Dec. 29, 2027.
The copay exemption applies to outpatient visits for mental health care and substance use disorder, according to the VA’s announcement. Its intent is to expand access to mental health services and lower veterans’ costs. It doesn’t cover medication copays.
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Lawmakers included the exemption in the Joseph Maxwell Cleland and Robert Joseph Dole Memorial Veterans Benefits and Health Care Improvement Act of 2022, also known as the Cleland-Dole Act, signed into law in December 2022 to address a range of needs in addition to mental health care.
To qualify for the exemption, a mental health or substance use visit must have been with the VA itself or with one of the department’s community care providers.
VA beneficiaries who paid outpatient mental health or substance abuse copays starting in the latter half of 2023 don’t need to do anything and will receive their refunds automatically, the VA said.
“We want every veteran, regardless of…
