CLEVELAND, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)– The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System (VANEOHS) is set to host a virtual town hall at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24, to discuss the recent expansion of Veteran health care eligibility and answer questions from Veterans regarding benefits and health care they are due for their service.

The VA has recently expanded health care eligibility for millions of Veterans nationwide, years earlier than called for by the PACT Act. As of March 5th, all Veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving in the military and meet certain requirements became eligible to enroll directly in VA health care. This includes all Veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror, or any other combat zone after 9/11. Veterans who never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty in the United States are also eligible to enroll. The VA has also recently expanded health care to all World War II Veterans.

The town hall will review reasons to reconsider VA enrollment – including the fact that VA hospitals outperformed non-VA hospitals on all 10 core patient satisfaction metrics — including overall hospital rating, communication with doctors, communication about medication, willingness to recommend the hospital, and more in Medicare’s latest nationwide survey of patients. VA health care has also consistently outperformed non-VA care in peer-reviewed studies, overall quality ratings, and affordability for Veterans.

VANEOHS serves nearly 140,000 Veterans enrolled across 21 counties in northeast Ohio and seeks to have all eligible Veterans enroll for primary and specialty care from the Cleveland VA Medical Center and/or the 12 other clinic locations including Canton and New Philadelphia.

This town hall is an example of how the VA continues to aggressively reach out to Veterans to encourage them to come to the VA for the benefits they have earned. VA encourages all Veterans, family members, caregivers, and survivors to learn more about VA, to understand how VA fits into their lives, and apply for their world-class health care and earned benefits today. Veterans in Stark and Tuscarawas counties will be called to be advised of the town hall in advance.

The town hall will be an audio/phone-dial-in event with visuals available within a simultaneous Facebook Live event. Participants are encouraged to call 855-962-0953 early to be assured of one of the 10,000 slots available for the call and to follow along at facebook.com/ClevelandVAMC.