File a VA Foreign Medical Program claim
The Foreign Medical Program (FMP) covers medical care that you get in a country outside the U.S. for a service-connected condition. Read this page to find out how to file your claim.
What to know before you file an FMP claim
If your provider files your FMP claim for you, we’ll pay them directly for the cost of your service-connected care.
If your provider doesn’t file a claim, you’ll need to pay the provider and file a claim yourself. We’ll pay you back for the cost of your service-connected care.
Note: We only cover the cost of care for your service-connected conditions or conditions that relate to or make your service-connected condition worse. If you have other health insurance, you may be able to file claims with your other health insurance provider for care that’s not related to your service-connected disabilities.
How to file your claim if your provider doesn’t file for you
Supporting documents to send with your claim
You’ll need to send these documents with your claim:
- An itemized billing statement from your provider. Make sure the statement includes your provider’s full name and medical title, office address, billing address, and phone number. And make sure the statement includes a list of the health conditions you got care for and the dates you got that care.
- Proof that you paid the provider. You can send a receipt or a billing statement that’s marked as “paid.”
- Any more supporting documents you need for certain types of care. Keep reading to learn what you need to send for inpatient hospital care, medical devices, equipment, supplies, prescription medicines, or COVID-19 vaccines.
Note: To help us process your claim faster, ask your provider if they can provide any documents or notes in English. We’ll translate any information written in other languages. But translation may delay the processing of your claim.
More documents to send for certain types of claims
Inpatient hospital care
Send your discharge summary. You get this document when you leave the hospital. If you got an operation, include your operation report.
Medical devices, equipment, or supplies
Send the prescription for the device, equipment, or supplies. Make sure the document includes this information:
- Name and detailed description of the device, equipment, or supplies
- Related health condition
- How long you need to use the device, equipment, or supplies
If your equipment or device has modifications (changes) or nonstandard features, include a description of these changes or features and why you need them.
Prescription medicines
Send the prescription and a receipt from your provider or the pharmacy. If you don’t have your receipt, you can send a billing statement with the pharmacist’s signature and a stamp that says “paid.”
Make sure the receipt includes this information:
- Name, address, and phone number of the pharmacy
- Name, dosage, strength, quantity, and cost of the medicine
- Related medical condition
- Date the pharmacy filled the prescription
- Provider’s signature
COVID-19 vaccines
Make sure your itemized billing statement includes the name of the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer. If you don’t have an itemized statement, you can submit a receipt.
When to file your claim
You must file your claim within 2 years of when you got the care.
If you stayed in a hospital for care, you must file your claim within 2 years of when you left the hospital.
What to expect after you file your claim
We’ll review your documents. If we need more information, we’ll contact you. After we process your claim, we’ll send you a letter to explain our decision.
If we decide we can cover your claim under FMP
We’ll send your payment in 1 of these 2 ways:
If we have a U.S. bank account on file for you, we’ll deposit the claim amount into that bank account. To confirm you have direct deposit set up for FMP, you can submit a request through Ask VA.
Contact us online through Ask VAIf we have an international bank account on file for you, we’ll send a U.S. Treasury check for the claim amount. (We’re working to set up direct deposit for international bank accounts, but this isn’t available yet.)
If you’ve changed your direct deposit information, you’ll need to contact us to make sure we send your payment to the correct account.
Learn how to change direct deposit information for your VA benefits
Note: We’ll convert the claim amount into U.S. dollars when we pay your claim. We’ll use the conversion rate from the date you received care.
If we decide we can’t cover your claim under FMP
If you disagree with our decision, you can ask us to reconsider. We call this an appeal. You must request the appeal within 1 year of the original decision.
Mail a letter requesting an appeal to this address:
VHA Office of Integrated Veteran Care
Appeals
PO Box 600
Spring City, PA 19475
Include any new information or documents that support your claim.
How to contact us about FMP claims
You can contact us in any of these ways:
Option 1: Online
Contact us online through Ask VA
Option 2: By email
Email your claim-related questions to [email protected]. To protect your privacy, don’t send sensitive personal or health care information by email.
Option 3: By phone
Call
If you’re living in one of these countries, you can call the FMP office toll-free:
- U.S. and Canada:
- Australia: 1-800-354 965
- Costa Rica: 0
- Germany: 0800-1800-011
- Italy: 800-782-655
- Japan: 00531-13-0871
- Mexico: 001-
- Spain: 900-981-776
- United Kingdom: 0