Returning Service Members
It is our duty and privilege to provide Veterans with the best available healthcare. The Birmingham VA Medical Center (BVAMC) has developed the Transition Program to assist returning Combat Veterans get connected with their VA healthcare benefits and to help ensure a smooth transition from active duty to Veteran status. We are here to help in any way that we can. It is our goal to ensure that all eligible service members receive the highest quality care in a timely manner. Combat Veterans may be eligible for up to 5 years of cost free healthcare for conditions related to their service.
Contact Information
If you have served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), or Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), or Operation New Dawn (OND), we encourage you to contact the Transition Program team. Please contact us for any questions that you may have:
Jessica D. Wood, LICSW
Transition & Care Management (TCM) Program Manager
Stacey Edwards, RN
TCM Case Manager
Kenshia Duncan, LICSW
TCM Case Manager
Grace Mims
TCM Program Support Assistant
How do I enroll for VA Healthcare?
To receive healthcare benefits, all Veterans must complete VA Form 10-10EZ (Application for Health Benefits). The following are the best methods to enroll:
- Enroll in person at the Birmingham VA Medical Center
- Enroll online at: Apply For Health Care | Veterans Affairs (va.gov)
- Mail or Fax your completed VA Form 10-10EZ and the member 4 copy of your DD 214 to the Transition Program at
VA Healthcare Services Offered:
- Primary Care
- Nursing Home
- Mental Health
- Residential Rehabilitation Treatment
- Dental
- Optometry
- Audiology
- Podiatry
- Neurology
- Specialized Women's Healthcare
- Pharmacy
- Prosthetics
- Post-Deployment Readjustment Counseling
- Sexual Trauma Counseling
- Alcohol and Drug Dependency Treatment
- Vocational Rehabilitation
- Case Management/Care Coordination
Special Eligibility and Coordination of Care for Combat Veterans Serving in Combat Theater After 11/11/1998- Returning Servicemembers (OEF/OIF/OND)
The Post-9/11 Transition and Care Management Program offers transitional assistance, case management and outreach services to all Veterans who have served after September 11, 2001 in their transition to civilian life. For more information about the various programs available for recent returning service members, log on to the Returning Servicemembers web site.
Veterans who served in a theater of combat operations also have special eligibility for VA health care. Under the "Combat Veteran" authority VA provides cost-free health care services and nursing home care for conditions possibly related to military service and enrollment in Priority Group 6 or higher for 5 years from the date of discharge or release from active duty, unless eligible for enrollment in a higher priority group.
Combat Veterans who enroll with VA under this enhanced Combat Veteran authority will continue to be enrolled even after their enhanced eligibility period ends, although they may be shifted to Priority Group 7 or 8, depending on their income level, and required to make applicable copays. Additionally, for care not related to combat service, copays may be required depending on their financial assessment and other special eligibility factors.
NOTE: The 5-year enrollment period applicable to these Veterans begins on the discharge or separation date of the service member from active duty military service, or in the case of multiple call-ups, the most recent discharge date.