VA program gets necessary changes

In March, I wrote about working with Idaho veterans to press for needed changes to the Veterans Choice program to ensure that Idaho veterans can access the services they so greatly deserve.

Thankfully, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently made needed changes to its policy regarding private health care access for veterans that means more veterans can get health care closer to home without traveling distances to VA care facilities.

The Veterans Choice Program offers the alternative of care in a private medical facility if veterans live 40 miles or more from the closest VA medical center, clinic or facility. However, the VA’s original implementation of this program left many veterans unable to access the program’s benefits due to the VA measuring 40 miles “as the crow flies” rather than by driving distance. This was discriminatory for many veterans, including many in Idaho. Given our mountainous terrain, distances traveled by car can be far greater than simple air miles.

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