Getting care outside the VA (community care)

Do you qualify?

You must be enrolled in, or eligible for, VA health care and meet at least one of six criteria, including the drive and wait time standards: 30 minutes or 20 days for primary and mental health care, 60 minutes or 28 days for specialty care.

Check in one minute

Get approval first

Ask your VA care team for a community care referral. Preparing it can take up to 14 days. The authorization letter is your approval, and the VA won’t pay for services that aren’t in it. If you schedule the appointment yourself, tell your care team within 14 days. Only urgent and emergency care skip the referral.

Community care referrals

Urgent care

If you’re enrolled and have had VA or community care in the past 24 months, you can use an urgent care clinic in the VA’s network without a referral. Don’t pay at the visit. From January 1, 2026: Priority Groups 1–5 get their first 3 urgent care visits each calendar year free, then $30 a visit; Groups 7–8 pay $30 a visit; Group 6 depends on the condition. A visit only for a flu shot has no copay.

Urgent care help lines: 888-901-6609 (eastern states) and 866-620-2071 (western states).

Urgent care benefit · Copay rates

Emergencies

In an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. If it isn’t a VA facility, the VA must be told within 72 hours. The hospital should do this, but you or someone for you can if they don’t. Missing the 72 hours doesn’t mean an automatic denial; different rules apply.

Emergency care at non-VA facilities

If a community provider bills you

You should never pay a community provider directly; any copay goes to the VA. Call the VA’s Community Care customer service line at 877-881-7618 and keep a copy of the bill.

Billing problem? Ready-to-send letter