Care for all Veterans is not what you think.

[Kaleva]

14. Access to health care has never been a right for vets

"Congressional Research Service, which provides analysis for Congress, issued a 2003 report that found veterans were not entitled to free medical care for life, even though they may have been promised exactly that by their recruiters.

Since 1956, veterans and their families can be treated at military medical facilities "subject to the availability of space and facilities and the capabilities of the medical and dental staff," the report found.

"They have no right to military health care and the military services have total discretion in when and under what circumstances retirees and their dependents will get care in military treatment facilities," the report said.

Several veterans have taken their claims to court, alleging that recruiters promised them free medical care, but one court ruled that such promises did not constitute a contract, the report said.

Moreover, since recruiters do not have the authority to make such promises, there is no way to enforce them, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in 2002. The Supreme Court later refused to hear the case, ending the matter."

https://www.stripes.com/blogs-archive/the-rumor-doctor/the-rumor-doctor-1.104348/do-veterans-have-a-right-to-free-health-care-for-life-1.161485