Isakson, Blumenthal Statement on VA’s Expansion of Veterans’ Choice Program
More sensible interpretation of 40-mile criteria will allow veterans better access to health care
WASHINGTON
– U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.,
chairman and ranking member of the Senate
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, respectively, today released the
following statement regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA)
announced change to the Veterans’ Choice Program's “40-mile rule:”
“We
welcome this important change to a program that is intended to help
ensure thousands of veterans have access to affordable, accessible,
quality health care. For elderly, ill or disabled veterans,
traveling long distances to VA medical centers can be difficult or
impossible. Veterans deserve the highest-quality health care, and should
not be denied this right simply because of where they live. The
Veterans’ Choice Act put in place reforms to address
these challenges and improve veterans’ ability to receive care. We are
pleased that Secretary McDonald is responding directly to concerns
voiced by the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and other members of
Congress to ensure those reforms are working for
all veterans throughout the nation. This is a common-sense adjustment
to a rule that has the potential to significantly impact the success of
the Veterans Choice Program.”
The
Veterans Choice Program allows veterans to receive health care outside
of the VA if they have to travel more than 40 miles to receive VA care
or if they face more than a 30-day wait time for
care at a VA facility. Currently, the distance eligibility is
calculated "as the crow flies,” leaving many veterans ineligible. The
change announced today will allow the 40-mile provision to be calculated
by driving distance, and will significantly increase
the number of veterans who can take advantage of this program.
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The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the 114th Congress.
Isakson
is a veteran himself – having served in the Georgia Air National Guard
from 1966-1972 – and has been a member of the Senate VA Committee since
he joined the Senate in 2005. Isakson’s home
state of Georgia is home to more than a dozen military installations
representing each branch of the military as well as more than 750,000
veterans.