What a DVA health card covers
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To help you identify our clients, we issue health cards to our veterans and their dependants.
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About our health cards
We issue health cards to veterans and their:
- widowed partners
- dependents
We will pay many of the health care costs for people who have our health cards. To have us pay you to provide health care to people who have a DVA health card, you will first need to become a provider with us.
We issue 3 types of cards that entitle the holder to different care services:
Each card will have the client's:
- full name
- file number
People can now access digital versions of their plastic DVA White or Veteran Gold Card through the online portal MyService. You will be able to check the health conditions we cover for each person on their digital card.
Back to topTreat a client who has a Veteran Gold Card
A person who has a Gold Veteran Gold Card may be veteran or a veteran's:
- widowed partner
- dependent
We will only cover health care costs for the person whose name is on the card. Their health condition or injury does not need to be from war service.
Generally, people who have Veteran Gold Cards can access all health care services that the government lists on the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). The MBS time and service limits still apply to people who have a Veteran Gold Card.
The Veteran Gold Card covers:
- medical and surgical care
- medical consultations and procedures that the MBS covers
- medical services and surgical procedures the MBS lists and which a health care professional performs in public and private hospitals and day surgery facilities
- medical specialist services the MBS lists
- medication reviews
Sometimes we may allow medical services that the MBS does not list. You will need us to approve these services before you provide them.
The Veteran Gold Card covers other types of care such as:
- allied health services
- optical services
- dental services
- community nursing
- veterans home care
- rehabilitation aids and appliances
- pathology and x-rays
- nuclear medicine imaging
- ultrasound and computerised tomography
A person who has a Veteran Gold Card can also get:
- free transport to the place where a health care professional will see or treat them
- access to the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
Treat a client who has a Veteran White Card
A person who has a Veteran White Card may be a:
- veteran
- current or former member of the Australian Defence Force (ADF)
We cover a person with a Veteran White Card for disabilities and health conditions that came from military service.
When we accept cover for someone's health condition we list it against their Veteran White Card record. To find out if we accept cover for someone's health condition you can do 1 of the following:
- have the client show you a digital version of their Veteran White Card that lists the conditions we accept
- contact us on 1800 550 457
Any Veteran with a White Card is entitled to access Mental Health treatment within Australia. They may also be eligible for treatment of Cancer (malignant neoplasm) and pulmonary tuberculosis, depending on their service.
These health conditions do not need to be from war or military service.
A person who has a Veteran White Card can also get:
- free transport to the place where a health care professional will see or treat them
- access to the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
Treat a client who has an Veteran Orange Card
A person who has an Veteran Orange Card may be a Commonwealth or allied veteran who:
- has qualifying service from the First World War or Second World War
- is aged 70 years or over
- has been a resident in Australia for 10 years or more
A person with an Veteran Orange Card will pay less for medicines under the Repatriation Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme (RPBS).
The RPBS contains:
- all items that the general public can access
- an extra list that people who hold an Veteran Orange Card can access
How you can claim for your service
There are steps you can take to invoice us.
Back to topUse a health card image
If you want to use a health card image in advertising, complete a D9208 application form.
Email the form with a mock-up image of the publication the health card will be in to publications [at] dva.gov.au
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