VA's 20/28-day standards vs. measured reality: 35.9-day primary care averages, 100+ day mental health waits at some clinics, three-month GI waits - with sources for every number.
How the VA Foreign Medical Program pays for service-connected care abroad under 38 CFR 17.35 - eligibility, covered services, claims, and the traps to avoid.
The 20-day and 28-day access standards, drive-time rules, and best-medical-interest pathway that let veterans see private providers at VA expense - and how to invoke them.
Step-by-step VA Foreign Medical Program registration - Form 10-7959f-1, online and fax filing, the benefits authorization letter, and why to register before you travel.
The FMP can't preauthorize care - but a treatment predetermination screening through Ask VA gives reasonable assurance your claim will be paid. Here's how to request one.
Your foreign provider can file the FMP claim and be paid by VA directly - meaning you may never front the hospital bill. How direct billing works and how to set it up.
Why Colombia fits FMP care for the most common service-connected conditions - musculoskeletal surgery, PT, and rehab at JCI-accredited hospitals with ReTHUS-verified surgeons.
New Brunswick patients wait a median 60.9 weeks for treatment - triple Ontario's 19.2. Why the East Coast waits longest, and the exits that actually work.
Every document an FMP claim needs - itemized bills, proof of payment, clinical notes tying care to your service-connected condition - plus the two-year deadline and fraud-era lessons.