International U.S. Veterans registered with the Foreign Medical Program (FMP), based in Denver, Colorado have the privilege of seeing any licensed provider and obtain any FDA-approved prescription from a licensed pharmacist or laboratory test from a licensed lab.
However, the International U.S. Veteran must pay upfront and then request reimbursement from the FMP by following the Veteran’s Administration’s strict rules of petition as defined in the FMP Guide and the FMP filing FactSheet 2023 (use the documented email with all documents saved in .pdf format!) and remember that ALL provider or prescription claims require your service-connected disability diagnosis with the four (4) digit code available from the VA codes for ALL Diseases-Alphabetical listing
See this sample “itemization of provider (or prescription) services” memo, a detailed “explanation letter” to the FMP that incorporates all the required, scanned .pdf supporting data for the prescription or provider/laboratory claim with the FMP claim form, VA Form 10-7959f-2 (link below in RED) to help the FMP evaluator quickly approve (not deny) your claim.
IF YOU, the overseas U.S. Veteran have completed the three (3) initial tasks of securing the .pdf scanned provider invoice, provider consult (English-only) that briefly reviews the provider’s interaction with the veteran in 3-4 sentences, which includes the service-connected disability, and the identically-dated and signed FMP claim form, VA Form 10-7959f-2 (revised JUNE 2021, or later),
BUT… YOU are having significant challenges completing the fourth (#4) task, the FMP-mandated “itemization of provider or prescription services” memo…maybe due to its medical complexity.
Fortunately, there is help.
IvyLeagueConsulting is a medical coding and itemization memo specialty service that is dedicated to solving this one, single FMP reimbursement issue for clients, specifically editing for better FMP acceptance of their “itemization of provider (or prescription) services” memo prior to the client assembling and emailing the four (4) item (minimum) submission to FMP for reimbursement.
Remember, from your reading of the FMP Guide the provider and laboratory claims must be on a separate page (or pages) from the prescription page (or pages) of the FMP-mandated “itemization of provider or prescription services” memo should you find yourself hospitalized in a non-FMP hospital or accumulate multiple claims.
That is, unless the International U.S. Veteran can find a FMP Preferred Provider that accepts payment directly from the FMP using the FULLY-INTERACTIVE, FMP claim form, VA Form 10-7959f-2 FOR EACH provider DATE OF SERVICE “DOS” (see attached, revised JUNE 2021 that requires the veteran to write/insert the unique DATE OF SERVICE “DOS” -below, regardless if a clinic or pharmacy or provider tells the veteran to “disregard” the requirement.)
VA FMP CLAIM FORM vha-10-7959f-2 NEW – 6-2021
Veterans who reside in the Republic of Panama have a central hospital in the City of Panama, Hospital Nacional, which maintains an international insurance office located on the third (3rd) floor (Oficina de Seguros Internacionalales).
The international insurance office maintains the LATEST Preferred Provider List for the Republic of Panama, which is updated periodically. Hospital Nacional is NOT the only FMP-approved hospital in the nation (see “Urgent” below), but it is the hospital that maintains the roster.
Caveat: the availability of providers continually varies over time as one provider may decide to accept FMP one month and not the next.
The most current Preferred Provider List is posted here:
FMP Preferred Provider List – Hospital Nacional of Panama
URGENT NOTE:
The FMP released a letter based on a major decision by the VA after several years of investigation by the Department of Justice into a network of providers, pharmacies, and clinics within Panama, Columbia and Ecuador.
According to the attached 16AUG2024 VA letter of suspension, each documented provider, clinic, pharmacy or hospital is now placed under permanent suspension and forbidden to receive reimbursements from the FMP for any of its providers or for a veteran to file a claim for reimbursement. The brief followup VA alert website (as reported in the Panamá news) further stated that the 16AUG2024 VA Letter of suspension is completing action on each provider documented as permanently suspended to ensure loss of operating permit, license, and/or dissolution of its corporation.
