VA health care is not one benefit — it is eight priority groups with very different price tags. In 2026, a veteran with no compensable rating can pay $15 per primary care visit, $50 per specialty visit, $5 to $11 per prescription fill, and $1,736 plus $10 a day for each 90 days of hospital care. A veteran with any compensable rating, even 10%, pays none of those visit or hospital copays, for any condition, under 38 CFR 17.108(d)(1). At 30% the VA reimburses mileage for every appointment; at 50% medication copays end; at 100% dental care opens; at Permanent & Total, CHAMPVA covers the veteran's spouse and children. Post-9/11 combat veterans also get ten years of free enrollment from discharge, a window that quietly expires. This tool assigns your priority group, builds your personal copay profile, and shows exactly which rung of the ladder your next claim unlocks.
What brings you here?
How this tool works
Priority group assignment follows 38 CFR 17.36(b) — rating first (50%+ or TDIU is Group 1, 30–40% is Group 2, 10–20% is Group 3), then special statuses, then income — with the highest qualifying group controlling per 17.36(d)(3)(ii). Copay rules apply the actual exemption lists, which differ by copay type: care copays under 17.108(d), medication copays under 17.110(c), urgent care under 17.4600(d). Dollar figures are the rates effective January 1, 2026 from VA's copay schedule; the inpatient rate is pegged by regulation to the Medicare Part A deductible. The combat-veteran window applies 38 U.S.C. 1710(e)(3) as amended by the PACT Act; community care standards are the codified drive-time and wait-time rules at 38 CFR 17.4040; travel rules come from 38 CFR Part 70. Every rule in our data layer carries its citation and an August 5, 2026 verification date. This is an educational estimate, not an eligibility determination — VA makes those. Confirm your case at VA.gov or with a free accredited VSO.