WASHINGTON — January 3rd, 2025, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced a proposed rule to exempt Veterans from paying copays for certain inpatient and outpatient Whole Health well-being services, which are available at VA facilities nationwide.

Whole Health well-being services, which focus on the overall well-being of the Veteran independent of treatment for a specific medical condition or diagnosis, are an important aspect of the VA care. Copayment exempt services include Whole Health education, Health and Wellness coaching, skill-building programs, and complementary and integrative health services such as Yoga and Meditation.

These proposed changes are part of VA and the entire Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing efforts to expand access to VA health care — at a time when VA care is outperforming non-VA care, earning Veteran trust at record rates, and delivering more appointments than ever before. This year, VA also began waiving Veterans’ copays for their first three outpatient mental health care visits of each year, proposed a rule for waiving copays for all telehealth visits, and made tele-emergency care available nationwide. The proposed changes would advance VA and the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing efforts to lower costs and expand access to care for all those who served.

“Copayment exemptions for Whole Health services is a step forward in creating greater access to preventative care for Veterans,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal. “VA is the best and most affordable care in America for Veterans — and this proposed ruling is another step forward to ensuring that cost never prevents a Veteran from getting the care they deserve.”

Expanding access to VA care is an ongoing top priority. While only some Veterans require copays for VA care, VA has long acknowledged that copayments can deter Veterans from obtaining care, creating a barrier for participation in those programs. When Veterans become more actively involved in their medical care it leads to improved health care outcomes and, in turn, lower overall health care costs. There are currently multiple copayment exemptions for programs such as weight management counseling and publicly announced VA public health initiatives (for example, health fairs) or outpatient visits solely consisting of preventative screening and immunizations which has encouraged participation in these offerings.

The proposed rule exempting certain Whole Health well-being services from copayment aims to assist Veterans in becoming more actively involved in their health care and continue to seek services through these important programs. 

The rulemaking can be viewed in the Federal Register under public inspection tomorrow, and will be published and open for comment beginning January 6 (findable by searching for the rule on VA’s Federal Register webpage).