The Department of Veterans Affairs runs exactly one medical facility outside the United States: the Manila VA Outpatient Clinic in the Philippines. Everywhere else in the world, there are no VA hospitals overseas and no VA provider network. Veterans living or traveling abroad get VA-covered care through the Foreign Medical Program (FMP), which reimburses you for treatment you receive from local providers for your service-connected conditions.1Veterans Affairs. Foreign Medical Program (FMP)
The One Overseas Clinic: Manila
The Manila VA Outpatient Clinic operates under the direct jurisdiction of the VA and is the only VA healthcare facility on foreign soil.2Veterans Affairs. Manila VA Clinic It provides primary care, mental health services (mostly by telephone), pharmacy, and specialty care including audiology, cardiology, dermatology, pulmonology, and ophthalmology.
The clinic has one unusual feature. Inside its walls, it can treat non-service-connected conditions, not just service-connected ones. Once care goes beyond what the clinic itself can provide, though, the veteran pays for any follow-up treatment for non-service-connected issues out of pocket.3U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Manila VA Clinic Any inpatient or referred non-VA care arranged through Manila is limited to service-connected conditions and runs through the Foreign Medical Program.
The statute authorizing overseas care, 38 U.S.C. § 1724, was amended in 2024 to let the Secretary of Veterans Affairs furnish hospital care in the Freely Associated States (the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau) under agreements with those governments.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 U.S. Code 1724 – Hospital Care, Medical Services, and Nursing Home Care Abroad Those agreements are still being implemented.
The Foreign Medical Program Replaces Hospitals Everywhere Else
Because there are no other VA hospitals overseas, FMP is how most veterans abroad get VA-covered care. The model is different from domestic VA healthcare in three important ways.
First, it works by reimbursement. You see a licensed local provider, pay the bill yourself, and then submit a claim to the VA for repayment in U.S. dollars.1Veterans Affairs. Foreign Medical Program (FMP) Second, there is no VA network and no pre-authorization requirement. You choose the provider.5Department of Veterans Affairs. FMP Handbook Third, you do not need to be enrolled in the general VA healthcare system to use FMP, but you do need a VA-rated service-connected disability and a discharge under conditions other than dishonorable.6eCFR. 38 CFR 3.12 – Benefit Eligibility Based on Character of Discharge
What FMP Covers and the Service-Connected Limit
FMP covers medically necessary care for your VA-rated service-connected conditions, including conditions the VA has determined aggravate a service-connected disability. Covered services include:5Department of Veterans Affairs. FMP Handbook
- Outpatient office visits, including mental health counseling for service-connected psychiatric conditions
- Medically necessary inpatient hospitalization
- Emergency care and ambulance transport when specialized equipment is medically required
- FDA-approved prescription drugs for a service-connected condition
- Durable medical equipment and prosthetics
- Physical therapy under the direct supervision of a licensed physician
- Short-term skilled nursing tied to a service-connected condition
- Dental care if the dental condition is service-connected, or within 90 days of discharge if your DD-214 doesn’t show a complete dental exam before separation7Veterans Affairs. Getting Care Through the Foreign Medical Program
FMP does not cover treatment unrelated to a service-connected disability, nursing home care, long-term inpatient psychiatric care, or long-term care in assisted living.5Department of Veterans Affairs. FMP Handbook This is the limit that catches most veterans off guard. A 30% rating for a knee injury does not entitle you to FMP reimbursement for unrelated diabetes care. Prescriptions are limited too. The VA’s mail-order pharmacy does not ship to foreign countries, so you fill prescriptions at local pharmacies and submit those costs with your other FMP claims.8Veterans Affairs. About Managing Medications Online
One narrow exception. Veterans enrolled in the Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program can get FMP-covered care for non-service-connected conditions if that care is needed to participate in or complete their rehabilitation. You must have a written referral from your VR&E case manager, listing the treatment plan, your enrollment dates, and the case manager’s signature. Without it, FMP will deny the claim.7Veterans Affairs. Getting Care Through the Foreign Medical Program
Registering and Filing Claims
Before you can be reimbursed, you register with FMP using VA Form 10-7959f-1, which you can submit online, by mail, or by fax.9Veterans Affairs. About VA Form 10-7959f-1 Once the VA processes registration, you’ll receive a benefits authorization letter listing the specific service-connected conditions FMP will cover. Keep it. That letter is your reference for what qualifies.
After you receive and pay for care, you file a claim online, by email, by mail, or by fax. Mail and fax submissions use VA Form 10-7959f-2, the FMP Claim Cover Sheet.10Veterans Affairs. File a VA Foreign Medical Program Claim Each claim needs an itemized billing statement (provider’s name, title, office and billing address, phone number, conditions treated, and dates of service) and proof of payment. Canadian claims go to a separate office in Ottawa; everything else goes to the FMP office in Spring City, Pennsylvania.
Claims must reach the VA within two years of the date of service, or within two years of hospital discharge for inpatient stays.10Veterans Affairs. File a VA Foreign Medical Program Claim Miss that window and the claim is dead. The exchange rate the VA uses is set by the date of service, not the date of filing.11VA.gov. VA Form 10-7959f-2, Foreign Medical Program (FMP) Claim Cover Sheet Reimbursements are paid by direct deposit, but only to U.S. bank accounts.12VA News. Foreign Medical Program Claims Will Be Paid by Direct Deposit If your bills or records are in another language, the VA translates them at no cost, though translation adds processing time.
If FMP denies a claim, you can file a Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence.13Veterans Affairs. Supplemental Claims Common denial reasons are non-service-connected treatment, missing documentation, or the two-year deadline. Call the FMP office at 833-930-0816 (weekdays, 8 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. ET) before appealing. Sometimes the fix is a missing receipt.
Emergency Care Abroad
FMP covers emergency care for service-connected conditions, including medically necessary ambulance transport, and no pre-authorization is required to seek treatment.5Department of Veterans Affairs. FMP Handbook The VA generally requires notification within 72 hours of when emergency care starts at a non-VA facility, either from the provider through the VA’s reporting portal or from you.14Veterans Affairs. Getting Emergency Care at Non-VA Facilities For emergencies specifically outside the United States, the VA directs veterans to contact FMP at 877-345-8179. After the emergency, you follow the same reimbursement process: pay, collect an itemized billing statement and proof of payment, and file within two years.
What Medicare, TRICARE, and CHAMPVA Do Overseas
Medicare almost never pays for care outside the United States. There are three narrow exceptions involving emergencies near the U.S. border or on a ship, but in practical terms a veteran retired in Portugal or Thailand gets nothing from Medicare, and Part D will not cover drugs bought abroad.15Medicare.gov. Medicare Coverage Outside the United States Private insurance may or may not follow you overseas. Because FMP will not touch non-service-connected care, many veterans abroad buy international health insurance to fill that gap.10Veterans Affairs. File a VA Foreign Medical Program Claim
FMP covers only the veteran. Family members have two possible paths. CHAMPVA covers dependents and survivors of veterans who are permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition, or who died from one; overseas, benefits mirror what they would be stateside, reimbursement is in U.S. dollars, and foreign-language billing is translated at no cost. If you are 65 or older and eligible for Medicare Part A, you must enroll in Medicare Part B to keep CHAMPVA, even though Medicare won’t pay for care received overseas; CHAMPVA then becomes the primary payer.16VA.gov. CHAMPVA Guidebook CHAMPVA’s Meds by Mail also doesn’t ship internationally.
Military retirees and their dependents may qualify for TRICARE Select Overseas, a self-managed plan administered by International SOS. Enrollment fees may apply, especially for Group A retirees, and you enroll through milConnect, by phone through the Global TRICARE Service Center, or by mail.17TRICARE. TRICARE Select Overseas TRICARE Select Overseas is separate from FMP.
If you have a service-connected mental health condition, FMP pays for outpatient counseling and psychiatric care from a licensed local provider. Long-term inpatient psychiatric care is not covered. Veterans in crisis overseas can reach the Veterans Crisis Line at 844-702-5495 in Europe, 844-702-5493 in the Pacific, and 855-422-7719 in Southwest Asia; on a military installation, DSN 988 connects directly. Callers dial the U.S. country code first and pay their carrier’s international rates.18Defense Media Activity. Veterans/Military Crisis Line Information
Extra Restrictions for Non-Citizen Veterans
Under 38 U.S.C. § 1724, a non-citizen veteran with a service-connected disability can only receive FMP-covered care in the Philippines or Canada, unless the Secretary of Veterans Affairs decides on a case-by-case basis that providing care elsewhere is appropriate and feasible.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 U.S. Code 1724 – Hospital Care, Medical Services, and Nursing Home Care Abroad U.S. citizen veterans face no such geographic limitation.