Your Veteran Card pays for health care at the DVA rate. A Gold Card covers clinically necessary treatment for all conditions; a White Card covers your accepted conditions and, if you're eligible for non-liability health care, all mental health conditions. Providers who accept your card can't charge you a gap fee.
What your Veteran Card covers
- Medicare-listed treatment, such as GP and specialist visits, and allied health
- medicines on the PBS or RPBS
- other treatment and medicines if DVA gives prior approval
Before an appointment, ask whether the provider accepts your Veteran Card. Read about referrals and prior approval.
Seeing a GP or specialist
Check before your appointment that the GP will accept your Veteran Card for full payment and bill DVA directly. If they do, you pay nothing. Show your card at the start of the appointment. To see a specialist you need a referral from your GP, and the same check applies. If you can't find a doctor near you who accepts the card, DVA may be able to help you find one.
If you get a bill for treatment your card covers, don't pay it; contact DVA. If you choose to be treated as a Medicare or private patient instead, DVA won't pay for that service.
Read DVA's information on GP and specialist services
Veteran health checks
Anyone who has served in the ADF can have a One-Off Veteran Health Check with their GP at any time after leaving, with a Medicare rebate. DVA also fully funds an Annual Veteran Health Check every year for the first five years after you transition.
Hospital care
DVA has arrangements with every state and territory for treatment in public hospitals, covering emergency, admitted and outpatient services. It also has contracts with nearly 550 private hospitals and day procedure centres.
- You don't need DVA's approval to be admitted to a public hospital or a DVA-contracted private hospital or day procedure centre.
- Your doctor must get DVA's approval before admitting you to a private hospital that doesn't have a DVA contract.
- DVA pays whether you're in a shared or private room, and you shouldn't be charged for medicines while you're an admitted patient.
- DVA-contracted private hospitals have a Veteran Liaison Officer to support you, your family and your carer during your stay.
A Gold Card covers hospital treatment for all conditions. A White Card covers treatment for your accepted conditions, and may cover mental health conditions, cancer and pulmonary tuberculosis. Your choice of hospital usually depends on where your doctor can admit patients.
Read DVA's hospital services information
DVA health care, topic by topic
- Physiotherapy, allied health and dental
- Mental health treatment and Open Arms, including alcohol and drug treatment
- Transport to medical appointments
- Coordinated Veterans' Care for chronic conditions
- Community nursing at home
- Aids, equipment and home modifications
- Treatment while you wait on a claim (PAMT)
Read about the Gold Card and White Card, and help at home.
Checked against DVA's website on 25 September 2026.