The American Legion believes funding for the nation's largest category of veterans could be endangered if those veterans fail to enroll in the Department of Veterans Affairs health-care system.

Priority Group 7 — VA's designation for non-indigent veterans without service-connected disabilities or injuries — need to enroll in the system lest Congress decide the funding no longer exists to accept them. By enrolling, veterans will have access to a health-care system that includes a pharmacy benefit with a $7 co-payment for each 30-day supply of medication.

American Legion department service officers are available to help with the process. A complete list of department service officers can be found on the Web at www.legion.org.

When enrolling, Priority Group 7 veterans agree to make co-payments and identify their private health-insurance companies. It also is important to choose a specific VA health-care facility as a preferred facility to receive primary care. If a selected facility is unable to provide the health care needed by an enrolled veteran, then that facility will make arrangements for referral to another VA health-care facility or to one of VA's private-sector affiliates to provide the required care.

Veterans not required to enroll in the system include:
• Those whose service- connected disabilities are rated at 50 percent or more.
• Those who were discharged from military service less than a year ago for a disability that the military determined was incurred or aggravated in the line of duty but not yet rated by VA; and
• Those seeking care from VA for a service-connected disability only, even if the rating is only 0 percent.

Veterans normally will remain enrolled in the system for one year. Enrollment will be reviewed and renewed each year depending upon priority-group assignment and available resources.