Popular Name: Prosthetics Services
Objectives: To provide, through purchase and/or fabrication, prosthetic and related appliances, equipment and services to disabled veterans so that they may live and work as productive citizens.
64.013 ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant Eligibility: Any disabled veteran or authorized representative on his behalf meeting the criteria below may apply for prosthetic appliances or services.
Beneficiary Eligibility: Disabled veterans eligible for VA outpatient treatment for service-connected or nonservice-connected conditions requiring prosthetic services; veterans receiving hospital care in VA facilities or at VA expense, or receiving domiciliary, or nursing home care in VA facilities; veterans in receipt of 50% compensation for service-connected disabilities or special monthly compensation or increased pension based on being housebound or the need for regular aid and attendance; veterans in receipt of compensation for disabilities resulting from hospitalization, medical or surgical treatment, or the pursuit of a cause of vocational rehabilitation; veterans of the World War I; or former prisoner of war. Ineligible veterans are those not eligible for outpatient care or nonservice-connected veterans residing or sojourning in foreign lands.
Credentials/Documentation: None.
64.013 APPLICATION & AWARD PROCESS:
Preapplication Coordination: None.
Application Procedure: Eligible veteran may request prosthetic services by reporting in person at any VA Medical Center as well as by correspondence, phone, or community physician prescription.
Award Procedure: Not applicable.
Deadlines: None.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time: Usually immediately, although delays of 30 to 60 days have occurred in unusual cases.
Appeals: A veteran who is administratively refused prosthetics services by a local VA health care facility may appeal to the Board of Veterans Appeals. Determinations of the Veterans Health Administration involving the need or nature of medical treatment as distinguished from legal or basic eligibility for medical services, are not appealable.
Renewals: None.
Criteria for Selecting Proposals: Not applicable.
Examples of Funded Projects: Not applicable.
Range & Average of Financial Assistance: $10 to $25,000; $118.
64.013 RELATED PROGRAMS:
64.013 PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
The program has provided 2,000,000
prosthetic item/services in the form of prosthetic appliances, sensory
aids, medical equipment, medical supplies, implants, therapeutic
devices and repair services during fiscal year 1995. About the
same prosthetic item/services will be provided in fiscal year 1996.
64.013 FINANCIAL & ADMINISTRATIVE INFO:
Federal Agency:
VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS
Type of Assistance:
Sale, Exchange, or Donation of Property and
Goods.
Obligations:
(Value and Repair of Prosthetic Appliances) FY 95
$300,911,126; FY 96 est $297,714,000; and FY 97 est $312,203,000.
Budget Account Number:
36-0160-0-1-703.
Authorization:
38 U.S.C. Sections 1162, 1701, 1710, 1712, 1713,
1714, 1717, 1719, 1723, 1724, 3104, 3901, 3902, 3903, and 8123.
Regulations, Guidelines, & Literature:
38 CFR 17.150, 17.151,
17.152, 17.153, 17.154, 17.155, 17.156, 17.157, 17.158, 17.159.
Regional or Local Office:
Initial contact should be made with the
Prosthetic Representatives in 154 VA field stations, any VA hospital or
outpatient clinic, or any veterans' service organization
representative. See Appendix IV of the Catalog for the address of the
nearest Veterans Hospital Facility.
Headquarters Office:
Director, Prosthetic and Sensory Aids
Strategic Health Care Group (113C), Department of Veterans Affairs,
Washington, DC 20420. Phone: (202) 273-8515; Fax: (202) 273-9110.
64.013 ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula & Matching Requirements:
Not applicable.
Length & Time Phasing of Assistance:
For veterans eligible for
outpatient medical treatment and those in receipt of special monthly
compensation or increased pension based on the need for regular aid and
attendance, assistance is maintained for as long as eligibility
continues (usually for life). Veterans in receipt of compensation for
disabilities resulting from hospitalization, medical or surgical
treatment, or the pursuit of a course of vocational rehabilitation.
Veterans receiving hospital, domiciliary, or nursing home care,
assistance is available until discharge from such care.
Uses & Use Restrictions:
Appliances and services are provided
only for the use and benefit of the disabled veteran to whom they are
furnished. The program also includes the replacement and repair of
appliances and training in the use of artificial limbs, artificial
eyes, wheelchairs, aids for blind, hearing aids, braces, orthopedic
shoes, eyeglasses, crutches and canes, medical equipment, implants, and
medical supplies, and automotive adaptive equipment.
64.013 POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports:
None.
Audits:
Not applicable.
Records:
Not applicable.
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