Veterans Benefits and Medicare
VA benefits are primary to Medicare and Medicare should NOT be billed as the secondary insurance coverage:
- Medicare does not pay for services authorized under Veterans Health Administration (VHA) benefits.
- However, Medicare may cover and pay for services not authorized under VHA benefits.
Both Medicare and and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) may recover duplicate payments in situations where both agencies made payments on the same claim services. You should return Medicare’s payment for services that the VA paid, as this is considered a duplicate payment.
Medicare Secondary Payer (PDF) Booklet
Medicare Overpayments (PDF) fact sheet
Filing VA Claims Blog Post