VA Health Care Enrollment: Who Qualifies, Copays, How to Apply

Yes, you can get VA health care if you served in the active military and left with an honorable, general or uncharacterized (entry-level) discharge; an other than honorable or bad conduct discharge goes through a VA Character of Discharge review first. Since March 5, 2024, the PACT Act also lets in Veterans who served in Vietnam, the Gulf War or a post-9/11 combat zone, or were exposed to toxins, and income only sets what they pay. Apply today with VA Form 10-10EZ online or at 877-222-8387; VA's stated turnaround is less than a week.

Who qualifies for VA health care

You meet the basic rule with active military, naval or air service and an honorable, general or uncharacterized (entry-level) discharge.

Minimum service: If you enlisted after September 7, 1980, or entered active duty after October 16, 1981, you need 24 continuous months or the full period you were called to active duty. The rule drops away if you were discharged for a disability caused or worsened by active duty, a hardship or an early out, or once VA rates a service-connected disability as compensable, and it never blocks care for a service-connected condition.
Reserves and National Guard: You need a federal order calling you to active duty, served in full; training-only active duty is excluded.

PACT Act eligibility

The PACT Act opened enrollment to every Veteran who meets those rules and served in a combat zone after 9/11 or in the Vietnam or Gulf wars, deployed for the Global War on Terror, or was exposed to toxins such as burn pits, chemicals, radiation or herbicides, including during training in qualifying active service. You can enroll without filing a disability claim, and every enrolled Veteran gets a toxic exposure screening at least once every 5 years. If VA turned you down before March 5, 2024, and this fits you, apply again now.

The table below shows the other ways in. Combat Veterans discharged on or after October 1, 2013, get 10 years of enhanced eligibility, so apply as soon as you separate.

The 8 priority groups

VA places each enrolled Veteran in 1 of 8 groups, the highest one you fit, and your group sets what you pay.

Group	Who is placed there
1	Service-connected rating of 50% or more, a VA finding of unemployability from a service-connected disability, or the Medal of Honor
2	Service-connected rating of 30% or 40%
3	Former POW, Purple Heart, line-of-duty disability discharge, rating of 10% or 20%, or 38 U.S.C. 1151 eligibility
4	Aid and attendance or housebound benefits, or catastrophically disabled
5	No compensable rating and household income at or below VA's national limit (table below), a VA pension, or Medicaid eligibility
6	Toxic exposure or PACT Act service; combat theater service after November 11, 1998 (10 years from a discharge on or after October 1, 2013); World War II; 30 days at Camp Lejeune; Project 112/SHAD; compensable 0% rating
7	Income above the national limit but below your area's geographic limit (GMT), and you agree to pay copays
8	Income above both limits, and you agree to pay copays; new applicants qualify up to 10% over the limit, and above that a 0% service-connected condition is still treated

2026 income limits

VA counts last year's household income, minus non-reimbursed medical costs, your own schooling costs and funeral costs for a spouse or child, so these 2026 limits apply to 2025 income and are the same in every ZIP code:

Dependents	Free care and prescriptions up to	National limit: free care, drug copays, up to
0	$17,441	$43,335
1	$22,839	$52,000
2	$25,823	$54,984
3	$28,807	$57,968
4	$31,791	$60,952

Above the national limit, your ZIP code's geographic limit decides the rest. Where it is higher, income between the two puts you in Group 7, with copays and reduced inpatient copays; above the higher limit you are in Group 8, and a new applicant still gets in up to 10% over it. In Manhattan (ZIP 10001), a Veteran with no dependents reaches the geographic limit at $90,750 and the Group 8 cutoff at $99,825. In many lower-cost ZIP codes the geographic limit sits below the national one, so there is no Group 7 band: at ZIP 41701 in Kentucky, the cutoff for a Veteran with no dependents is $47,669. Check your own bands in VA's income limits tool.

2026 copays

A service-connected rating of 10% or more means no outpatient or inpatient copays, as do former POW status, a Purple Heart or Medal of Honor, a line-of-duty disability discharge, World War II service and a VA finding of catastrophic disability. Group 1, former POWs and Veterans VA finds catastrophically disabled also pay nothing for medications. Other Veterans, including those rated 10% to 40%, pay medication copays for conditions unrelated to service unless income is at or below the free-prescription limit, and urgent care still costs $30 from the fourth visit. For care unrelated to service, these rates took effect January 1, 2026:

Care	2026 copay
Primary care visit	$15
Specialty visit, or a specialty test such as an MRI or CT scan	$50
Urgent care	Groups 1 to 5: first 3 visits a year free, then $30. Group 6: $0 for a special-authority condition, otherwise $30. Groups 7 and 8: $30
Hospital stay, per 90 days in 365	Group 7: $347.20, then $173.60 for each added 90 days, plus $2 a day. Group 8: $1,736, then $868, plus $10 a day
Prescriptions, 30-day supply	$5 tier 1 (preferred generic), $8 tier 2, $11 tier 3 (brand name); 60- and 90-day supplies cost 2 and 3 times as much; $700 yearly cap

Lab tests, X-rays, preventive screenings, immunizations, VA claim exams, care for a rated service-connected condition (even one rated 0%), military sexual trauma care, readjustment counseling and, for 10 years after discharge, care possibly related to combat service after November 11, 1998, are free. Eligible Veterans also get their first 3 outpatient mental health visits each calendar year free through December 29, 2027. Our guide to VA copay bills and hardship relief covers bills you already owe.

How to apply today

Gather your papers: your DD214, Social Security numbers for your household, every insurance card, and your household's 2025 gross income and deductible expenses.
Pick a method: apply online at VA.gov with Form 10-10EZ, or call 877-222-8387 (TTY 711), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, and ask the agent to check your PACT Act eligibility. To mail it, send VA Form 10-10EZ to Health Eligibility Center, PO Box 5207, Janesville, WI 53547-5207, or bring a signed form to any VA medical center or clinic.
Choose your facility: the form asks which VA medical center or outpatient clinic you prefer and whether VA should contact you to schedule your first appointment; pick one in the VA facility locator and answer yes.
Decide on the income section: it is optional. Skip it if service, a rating or the PACT Act qualifies you, and the form records that you agree to pay copays. Fill it in if your income sits near or below the limits, to get free care and free prescriptions.
Sign and date it, or have your power of attorney sign and attach a copy of the power of attorney.
Give it one week: if a week passes without word from VA, call 877-222-8387 instead of applying again.

What happens after you apply

VA mails you a decision letter. After approval, VA calls to welcome you and help you book your first appointment, your Veterans Health Benefits Handbook arrives by mail with your priority group and copays, and you request your Veteran Health Identification Card once, online through AccessVA or through the enrollment coordinator at a VA medical center.

Report later changes in income, insurance or dependents on VA Form 10-10EZR online, in person, or by calling 877-222-8387 and selecting 1; new service history or toxic exposure details go on the PDF 10-10EZR, mailed to the same Janesville PO Box 5207. Enrollment also covers approved outside providers; our VA community care guide explains when VA sends you outside.

Where it splits

If your discharge was other than honorable, bad conduct or dishonorable: apply for a discharge upgrade or ask VA for a Character of Discharge review. VA still connects you with mental health care whatever your discharge; call 800-827-1000, weekdays 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET, or read our VA mental health services guide.
If VA denied your application: the letter gives the reason and how to request a decision review. Within 1 year of the date on the letter, ask for a Higher-Level Review, which takes no new evidence, or appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals, where a Veterans Law Judge decides. A Supplemental Claim adds new and relevant evidence or rests on a change in law such as the PACT Act. If your situation changed instead, such as a new VA pension, Medicaid, or last year's income now under the limits, file a new 10-10EZ.
If VA writes that you will be removed from enrollment: send evidence such as doctor's reports or service records within 60 days of receiving the letter, and keep using your VA care meanwhile.
If your income fell this year: VA decides on last year's income, so send a hardship request on VA Form 10-10HS, with a letter explaining the drop, to the business office at your VA medical center. Approval moves you to a higher group and ends copays, except pharmacy copays, for the rest of the calendar year.

What you can push for

A free representative: an accredited Veterans Service Organization representative files your decision review and talks to VA for you, always for free. When VA rejects you over your character of discharge or your case is headed to the Board, bring in an accredited attorney or claims agent; they can charge fees only after VA decides your initial claim.
The Patient Advocate: if your first appointment stalls or a care problem goes unresolved, ask for the Patient Advocate at your VA medical center, whose job is resolving Veterans' concerns.

Today

Pull your DD214 and your household's 2025 income figures.
Run your ZIP code through VA's income limits tool.
Apply online with Form 10-10EZ or call 877-222-8387, name your preferred facility and ask for a first appointment.

VA contacts you within a week. Approval brings a welcome call, your handbook and a first appointment at the facility you picked.