VA Reacts to Pressure; Changes How the Veterans’ Choice 40 Mile Rule Is Calculated
Twice As Many Veterans Will Be Eligible
Today the Department of Veterans Affairs bowed before Congressional and VSO pressure (including TREA President Hyland’s testimony last week) and changed their method of calculating the 40 mile distance required by the Veterans Choice Program from the nearest VA facility from a straight line (as the crow flies) to actual mileage driven.
The VA had been using a method that did not take into account whether there were mountains, lakes, cities, etc. between a veteran and the VA facility.
The Veterans Choice Program is part of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (VACAA) which was signed into law last August to try to correct the excessive waiting times for medical care that numerous veterans throughout the country were, and still are, facing. The Veterans’ Choice Program allows veterans who have been told by their local VA medical facility that it will be over 30 days before they can have an appointment or if they live over 40 miles from a VA facility.
The VA has put out a fact sheet on their new 40 mile rule. To find it please go to:
www.va.gov/opa/choiceact/documents/FactSheets/March-2015-40-mile-rule-change-factsheet.pdf.
Numerous bills have already been proposed to require this change and a Senate hearing on this issue was previously scheduled for today. This change should approximately double the number of veterans who will be able to receive medical care from civilian doctors under the program.