Update 1/7/14: We thought we could enroll in the VADIP plan because my spouse is a veteran but had never registered in the VA health system. Unfortunately, now, you cannot even register if your income is above a threshold of about $55,000. My spouse never bothered to register years ago -- because WE HAD IBM MEDICAL. The government income limit rules went into effect after 2003. If you registered before 2003 you are grandfathered. You must be registered in the VA health system to be eligible to buy the VADIP plans even though the VADIP is not means tested. Too bad.
The Veterans Administration is working with Delta Dental and MetLife to provide dental plans to eligible veterans next year. It is an experimental program that begins enrollment 11/15/13 for dental insurance effective 1/1/14.
You must enroll in the VA health system to be able to use this dental program. You can enroll in the VA health system online - it is quite easy and they respond really quickly. They will want to know your financial status but they do not ask for verification of your income statement if your annual income is more than about $50K/year. They only want verification for low income statements to determine subsidy benefits. The dental plans are not low income premium adjusted --- everyone pays the same premium. My guess is low income veterans will continue to go to VA locations for dental services. Here is two links to help you get started:
http://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/vadip/
https://www.metlife.com/VADIP/index.html
For VFWs there is already a program in place but to use this program you must prove you were in active combat in a foreign war. It looks to me like the benefits are not as good as the VADIP program described above. To find out more about the VFW program go to:
http://www.vfwinsurance.com/veterans-dental-insurance.html
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