VA to ease ’40-mile’ rule for private medical care

The Veterans Affairs Department will revise how it implements a rule that limits veterans from seeking private medical care if they live within 40 miles of a VA facility.

Following congressional scrutiny, the agency announced it would measure the 40-mile distance by driving miles, how far veterans would actually have to travel to reach a medical facility. The agency currently measures that limit by point-to-point distance or “as the crow flies.”

{mosads}“We’ve determined that changing the distance calculation will help ensure more veterans have access to care when and where they want it,” VA Secretary Robert McDonald said in a statement.

The change will be formally announced on Tuesday at a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on the rule.

The rule involves the VA’s “choice card” program, which allows veterans to seek medical care at non-VA providers if they live more than 40 miles from an agency facility.

But veterans groups and lawmakers argued VA’s interpretation of the rule was too strict and prevented many patients from getting the outside care they need. 

Last month, a bipartisan coalition of 41 senators, led by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), sent a letter to McDonald urging him to alter how the program’s distance criteria is calculated “without delay.”

The leaders of the House and Senate VA panels welcomed news of the change.

“This is a common-sense adjustment to a rule that has the potential to significantly impact the success of the Veterans Choice Program,” Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and ranking member Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in a joint statement.

“I think it’s a great interpretation,” added House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.).

“My hope is that we can remove or decrease the 40 miles based on the amount of people that are using the choice program now,” he told The Hill. “The intent of the law is to give choice to the veteran and anything that the secretary can do to liberalize the provision of fee-for-care service is a good thing.”