Thanks for the tag, Spartana!
While I served in the Army, I never had any service related disabilities or financial hardships, so I assumed I wouldn't qualify.
You don’t explicitly say, NorCal, so let me ask: have you filed a VA disability claim and gone through the Compensation & Pension screening exam by doctors to obtain a VA disability rating? Even if that rating is 0%?
If you have not gone through the claims process then you should. It’s not just for your benefit but to help your family claim all of the benefits for which you’ve already paid the price:
https://the-military-guide.com/file-veterans-disability-claim-not-just/Your VA disability rating qualifies you for free treatment of your service-connected disability issues. It also enables the VA to pay for your treatment (for service-connected issues) at emergency rooms. This is not much help if your service-connected disability is knee damage and you break your arm. However it’s essential for those vets who have diabetes caused by exposure to Agent Orange and require both maintenance insulin as well as occasional emergency treatment.
I recently learned that I do qualify, but at the absolute bottom of the VA priority list. I live close to a VA hospital.
Again, you might have already done this, but let me mention it: please register at your local VA hospital or clinic and have them formally classify you at the priority 8 level. When you register in their service area then they get credit for having another military vet in their region, which helps them get their fair share of funding. That funding flows directly to hiring more doctors & staff.
Does anyone here have experience with VA health care?
As you’ve noted from the other comments, the quality of the VA’s healthcare is unevenly distributed. If you have a good hospital or clinic in your area then use it as long as you’re happy with it.
-A flu shot whenever my wife guilts me into it.
Apparently it’s been a while since you’ve had a case of the flu.
If the potential pain (and small risk of respiratory damage) isn’t enough to persuade you to get an annual flu shot, then at least consider getting one to avoid passing the virus to your kids. The younger & more reactive your immune system, the more likely the flu virus is to cause complications.
I’ve been getting annual flu shots since 1978 and I’ve still had the flu. (And bronchitis. And pneumonia.) I can’t imagine how much worse it would’ve been if I’d not made the time for the shot.
What are people's practical experience with the VA, good and bad? Specifically, have you run into billing issues or payment challenges related to emergency care? Is availability and access to primary care decent? Anything else I should know while researching this?
I’d start by chatting with a Veteran Service Officer from a local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, or the Disabled American Veterans, or the American Legion, or even MOAA. You can find more info here:
https://www.benefits.va.gov/vso/ Here’s a directory:
https://www.benefits.va.gov/vso/varo.asp They’re not just for helping you file a VA disability claim, but also for figuring out whether you can be treated at your local VA clinic or hospital. (If they have the experience, they might also suggest why you wouldn’t want to be treated there.) They’ll be able to go over all of the cost shares and co-pays.
You can also try talking to your state Veterans Affairs office. (Depending on the size of the state there may be an office in a city near you.) They can also help you figure out what state options you might be eligible for.
By the way, if "NorCal" implies that you're a California resident, then your VA disability rating makes your kids eligible for the state's university scholarships:
http://gubmints.com/2016/09/05/the-122k-mistake-i-made-leaving-active-duty/#.XbN6hbJlDmo
