Community Care is the Veterans Administration’s current solution for out of area coverage and extended wait times for appointments. 
In 1957, female Veterans and all veterans living in U.S. territories were made eligible to seek community care, and in 1979, Veterans who were receiving a VA pension or who were housebound also qualified.
Re-Introduced as Veterans Choice Healthcare during the Obama Administration, the program was riddled with problems including non-payment to providers, long waits for authorizations, improper billing and third-party mis-management in general.
Beginning June 6, 2019, under President Trump’s MISSION Act, Veterans will have more ways to access health care. This includes within VA’s network and through approved non-VA medical providers in the community, called “community care providers.” 
The VA Community Care Network (CCN) is VA’s direct link with community providers to ensure Veterans receive timely, high-quality care. CCN uses industry-standard approaches and guidelines to administer, promptly pay for services and manage the network to its full potential. 

Community Care Comments (Please offer your feedback)
B. Bennett 2/23-Right now the VA is giving me my best health care ever. If i need to go to Urgent Care, they pay in full without having to call.

Greg B. May 2023-Having been through a few health issues over the past decade, I would like to say the VA care I am receiving now is second to none. The Lake City, Florida VA Hospital is an excellent facility with an awesome staff. I live an hour away and they have made it easy to see local doctors when needed.

Before the name change to Community Care, the Veterans Choice Program prompted these comments through our Facebook page:

Quoting Marcy Monroe March 16th 10:24 AM
Many providers are refusing to take Veterans Choice because they don’t pay. Under the old non VA care route it’s sad they want to provide medical care to veterans but can’t risk being paid. Unfortunately this adds to the stress of dealing with illnesses. This adds to the timeliness of care it is taking me almost 2 1/2 months To work the system to get care Of off VA campus. The stress of dealing with seven different people at veteran’s choice two a doctor’s house and three at the VA and constant pain is more than one can handle good thing I have meds for my stress anxiety and depression thank you for your voice in fighting for our rights. 

Michelle Robles
 my comment simply one keep the ability for the vet to choose outside care many will choose to stay inside the VA and the overload on the system will be lessened to take the funding out of the hands of Congress and let the VA administer it complicates the program because they don’t understand VA operations one system for outside care independent of time of service length of services service-related versus General Healthcare

Susan Woolley Jack Turner
 thank you so much for taking the time to do this and being the voice of many I live in Orlando have encountered challenges with the program and will be happy to assist with this or any future meetings if needed again thanks so much 

Susan Wilson:
I sure would like to see providers paid in a more timely manner from VA Choice program 

Carrie Hughes:
 Veterans choice is terrible! .  veterans Choice sent me to an outside Orthopedic Hospital for two MRIs because the VA machines were down in Danville Illinois much later I see the bill for the MRIs for over $5,000 everyone involved and kept calling I thought everything was being taken care of about a year ago the VA paid half of the bill but I got another bill for 28 1954 calling again and even met with veterans Advocate at the Danville Illinois VA I’ll be taking care of by then I then received a letter from a collection agency stating that I still owe 28 1954 I received another letter from the same collection agency that the VA is ruining my otherwise perfect credit rating score VA sent me to the outside provider I just didn’t go VA called me and told me when my appointment was and where to go the VA is ruining my otherwise perfect credit rating score by no fault of my own how do I get this taken care of it’s been almost two years helped sign skeptical in Indiana 

John Bonham
Veterans choice is a horrible program

David Mitcheltree Jr.
Receiving compensation for Disabilities have bills piling up and credit scores are getting destroyed because the VA will not handle outside Hospital emergency room visits in a timely manner.

Michelle Robles
September 11th thank you for starting this Facebook page because of you hadn’t I would have since my husband was notified in April 2015 that he qualified because of the revised 40-mile rule in the 30-day weight rule we have been trying to use the veterans Choice program and have learned a lot during the process veterans Choice program you’re talking to one of the two third-party administrators either try Bust or Health Net there is a map online that shows which GPA has responsibility for which states work with TriWest seem to be more satisfied than those that I could deal with helping that second as written by the Congress you have to live more than 40 miles from any VA medical facility even if it does not have the medical services you need this is absolutely insane I’ve heard of people have a travel 5 hours to get Specialty Care and the veterans Choice program should have helped them but it doesn’t because that is the way Congress wrote the ACT Station 3 to 5 business days 2 to 3 business days if Mark urgent it took us 33 days to get a urgent authorization for chemotherapy for my husband’s aggressive cancer to be approved from various people in the VA Health Net and the outside provider the biggest obstacles seem to be the lack of continuity of contacted Health Net and the lack of knowledge of the people answering the phones that house mat them are professional and even compassionate but none of them had the slightest understanding of healthcare even the procedures are the company they work for it is imperative that anyone who’s ever qualified for veterans Choice share their experience with Congress they need to know we want this program to continue but it needs to be fixed 

Personally I had first hand knowledge of this broken system while dealing with Cancer in 2015. I was being seen by a Doctor outside the V.A., through Veterans Choice Healthcare. Not only was Veterans Choice hard to deal with just to get an appointment, the challenges follow throughout your treatment. Despite my Doctor’s orders to “relax and let your body heal”, at various stages throughout my 35 week treatment plan, I would get a call from my private doctor’s office telling me not to come in until I had a new “authorization” from the V.A. (Veterans Choice) It would sometimes take hours every week to get the proper authority for treatment, and, one year later, my ENT dropped me because he hadn’t been paid a penny in a whole year! Also, my billing was so messed up that four years later, when I started collecting retirement, the Treasury started taking over $300 a month out of my retirement check, for bills I had no idea I had, nor received invoices for.  Eventually everyone got paid (some up to four years later) and I am alive.

THE VA IS WORKING HARD TO SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS AND HAVE REVAMPED THE SYSTEM!!
Stay on top of your authorizations. 
Keep on eye on billing.
It will save you in the long run.
Be well! Let us know how it is working for you.
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