Removing Net Worth Requirement From Health Care Enrollment

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is removing the regulatory provisions regarding the veteran's net worth as a factor in determining the veteran's eligibility for VA health care. Prior to January 1, 2015, VA considered a veteran's net worth and annual income when determining a veteran's assignment to an enrollment priority group for VA health care. Reporting net worth information imposed a significant burden on veterans and VA dedicated substantial administrative resources to verify the reported information. VA changed its policy regarding net worth reporting in order to improve access to VA health care to lower-income veterans and to remove the reporting burden from veterans by discontinuing collection of net worth information. As VA no longer considers net worth in making eligibility determinations, this final rule amends the regulation to remove reference to VA's discretionary statutory authority to consider a veteran's net worth as a factor in determining eligibility for VA health care. Because of the net worth reporting requirement, certain veterans who would have been eligible to receive VA health care based on their annual income were ineligible for such care, or they were placed in a lower priority category, because their net worth was too high.