If you are a CHAMPVA recipient, you can now get your prescriptions refilled via the VA's myHealtheVet website.

If you are a CHAMPVA recipient, you can now get your prescriptions refilled via the VA's myHealtheVet website.

The Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) is a health benefits program in which the VA pays part of the cost of certain health care services and supplies. The program is available to:

1. The spouse or child of a veteran who has been rated permanently and totally disabled for a service-connected disability by the VA.
2. The surviving spouse or child of a veteran who died from a VA-rated service-connected disability.
3. The surviving spouse or child of a veteran who was rated permanently and totally disabled at the time of death.
4. The surviving spouse or child of a military member who died in the line of duty, not due to misconduct. (In most of these cases, these family members are eligible for Tricare, not CHAMPVA.)

Like most insurance plans, you can get your prescriptions filled at a local pharmacy or through the provider's mail-order pharmacy. Effective immediately, CHAMPVA recipients can also use the MyHealtheVet site in addition to the other two options.

Using MyHealtheVet adds a level of convenience to filling and renewing prescriptions. You are able to refill, review and track your prescriptions online using your computer or smartphone. You also have a record of all medications you are taking available at your fingertips.

You can still get your urgent medications filled at your local pharmacy, but getting long-term or maintenance medications via the MyHealtheVet website is faster and easier than using the mail-order pharmacy.

By Jim Absher