Urgent care still available for Haverhill Veterans
BEDFORD, Massachusetts--Veterans of Haverhill still have a multitude of in-VA-network options for urgent care within a few miles, despite the closure of MedExpress, as reported by WHAV today.
VA offers eligible Veterans an urgent care benefit for the treatment of minor injuries and illnesses at retail and urgent care providers who are part of VA’s contracted network. The urgent care benefit is offered to Veterans in addition to urgent care and same-day services VA provides through its medical facilities.
Eligible Veterans can receive urgent care from a provider who is part of VA’s contracted network of community providers without prior authorization from VA. VA can pay for an urgent care claim only if:
- The Veteran is eligible for the benefit;
- The urgent care provider is part of VA’s contracted network of community providers; and,
- The services are not excluded under the benefit.
Veterans can access urgent care using VA’s Facility Locator at https://www.va.gov/find-locations. Select the “Urgent care” VA facility type and then “Community urgent care providers (in VA’s network)” from the service type drop-down. For telephone assistance finding locations, call 877-881-7618 between 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
If an eligible Veteran goes to an out-of-network urgent care provider, they may be required to pay the full cost of care. By law, VA cannot pay claims for urgent care rendered to a Veteran from providers who are not part of VA’s network. However, for medical emergencies, if you believe your life or health is in danger, Veterans should call 911 or seek care at the nearest emergency department. Details about qualifying emergency care can be found at https://www.va.gov/communitycare/programs/veterans/emergency_care.asp.
VA Bedford Healthcare System was unaware MedExpress was closing, nor was the vendor that handles the contracted network of community providers.