Forgiv
Forgive my lack of knowledge of the US (though I am landing there to find work at the end of Jan) but why would Penny not be covered? I mean if nothing else he is a veteran is he not? He may not have served well or been a hero but he did serve in the army so would he not be able to access some form of medical care/welfare as a result of his veteran status?
I served in my country's military once upon a time (I was in the navy) and I can certainly call myself a veteran and get at least some help if I need it (its crappy but it is there).
Oh my sweet summer child. Let me tell you about the hell that is the Veterans Administration.
So let's first divide the sheep and the goats. There are lifers and there is everyone else.
For lifers, that is guys who put in 20 years and retired with an Honorable, of those who got out with a 100% disability, they get full coverage (kind of. I'll get into caveats below)
For people who did less than 20, that is one tour through 19 years, the VA only covers service-related injuries. That is, to get covered you need to link what's wrong with you to your time in service, you need to have that reviewed by VA doctors, and then and only then can you enter the hellish labyrinth that is the VA system.
The VA only covers medically necessary procedures. Anything cosmetic, like dentistry, you are on your own (there is limited allowance for being disfigured in IEDs, but good luck). You must first get an appoint with a VA doctor to review what is wrong with you. The doctor makes a determination of if they'll treat you, and how (and if you aren't fully covered, if the thing they are treating is related to your service). This decision is then reviewed by a panel of other VA doctors to make sure they agree with the assessment. IF they don't, you need to get examined again by a different doctor. This review takes time to schedule, and the board to meet. IT might be a couple weeks before they crack your folder.
So its a few weeks, the board says you're covered! hurray!
Now you need to book your procedure. Be prepared for a wait of upto a year, and often even longer. Because they can't fully book doctors incase there is an emergency so there needs to be free slots in the schedule to handle life-threatening treatments.
In summary, if was relying on the VA for dentistry, I'd start trying to learn the art of porcelain making since I'm likely to have learned how to cast and fire my own dentures before I got an appoint to actually fix my teeth.