On Jan. 15, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reopened health care enrollment for some Veterans who had been barred from enrollment in its health care system since 2003. This change in regulations means that nearly 266,000 Veterans could be enrolled in VA's health care program by October 2010.

As many as 4,000 new Veterans could be enrolled in the next few weeks, as the department will send out letters to nearly half a million others asking them to reapply and see if they qualify under the new rules.

Veterans who applied for enrollment in the VA health care system on or after Jan. 1, 2009 and were denied enrollment because of their income exceeded the VA income threshold, will now be reconsidered and contacted by mail if they qualify.