Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA)

This document affirms amendments to VA's medical regulations to extend CHAMPVA eligibility to persons age 65 and over who would have otherwise lost their CHAMPVA eligibility due to attainment of entitlement to hospital insurance benefits under Medicare Part A, implement coverage of physical examinations required in connection with school enrollment for beneficiaries through age 17, and reduce the catastrophic cap for CHAMPVA dependents and survivors (per family) from $7,500 to $3,000 for each calendar year. These amendments were made by an interim final rule and were necessary to implement provisions of the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 and the Veterans' Survivor Benefits Improvements Act of 2001.