Who pays for care at nonVA Hospitals? Strange BUT TRUE

If you have a medical emergency, the first thing on your mind is getting fast care. If that means going to a non-Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, so be it. It’s afterward, when the bills come due, that problems arise, especially if no one thought to call the VA to get permission for care at a non-VA facility.

A lawsuit by a veteran has resulted in a big change in the

• It was noted educator and civil-rights activist W.E.B. DuBois who made the following sage observation: “The theory of democratic government is not that the will of the people is always right, but rather that normal human beings of average intelligence will, if given a chance, learn the right and best course by bitter experience.”

• Those who make the finest wigs from human hair typically avoid buying hair from Americans. Evidently, hair grown in the United States is more likely to have damage rules. The veteran suffered a heart attack and strokes. He obviously needed quick treatment somewhere, and he got it. He was in no shape to think about calling the VA. He was hospitalized for a long time. Afterward, the hospital wanted a pile of cash from the veteran after his other insurance left a lot unpaid.

Until now, the VA was let off the hook for any non-VA medical facility costs if the veteran had ANY third-party insurance, including an auto insurance policy that provided even a tiny amount of coverage for medical care after a wreck. That loophole left the veteran liable for the whole unpaid balance at the non-VA hospital.

With the new rule, if a veteran caused by hairspray, hairdryers, dyes and pollutants.

• You might be surprised to learn that the tiny nation of the Netherlands, located barely 1,000 miles from the Arctic Circle, is the world leader in yield for tomato production, producing 144,352 tons of tomatoes per square mile under cultivation.

• In 1900, a prairie dog colony was found in Texas. That’s not surprising — prairie dogs are fairly common out West — but this colony was unique. Researchers say it was the largest colony ever discovered, providing a home to 400 million prairie dogs and stretching over 25,000 square miles.

• If you’re planning a summer trip to Maine, be sure to visit Peaks Island; the town is home has an emergency and has third-party insurance that pays part of the bill, the VA has to pony up a certain amount, based on whether the emergency had to do with service-connected versus non-service-connected conditions. That amount also will be determined by the type of insurance, including Medicare. The veteran won’t be let off the hook completely when it comes to deductibles, co-pays, etc.

If you’re being hounded for payment by a non-VA hospital, tell them about the new regulation and that the VA likely will have to be second payer. They’ll know what that means. If you have questions, there is a dedicated hotline: 1-877-466-7124. to what is quite possibly the world’s only museum devoted to umbrella covers.

• The first seven presidents of the United States were not born American citizens.

• Thanks to continental drift, the Atlantic Ocean is getting about a centimeter bigger every year, and the Pacific Ocean is shrinking by the same amount.

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Thought for the Day:

“Pride, like laudanum and other poisonous medicines, is beneficial in small, though injurious in large, quantities. No man who is not pleased with himself, even in a personal sense, can please others.”

— Frederick Saunders