For years the Department of Veterans Affairs has been under scrutiny for its understaffed team of medical professionals, an issue made worse by the fact that veterans' access to private doctors outside the VA has been notoriously restricted. But on Tuesday the VA announced new rules to change that.
According to The Washington Post, the number of veterans eligible for the Veterans Choice Program will expand with the new rules – effective immediately – as the criteria for determining whether or not a veteran can be referred to a doctor's office or private clinic have become more flexible. Changes include consideration of geographic barriers, including the distance to the nearest VA center accepting military benefits, debilitating medical conditions, environmental factors and the need for frequent care.
If a VA hospital has no primary-care doctor available, or a veteran lives more than 40 miles away, they may obtain a referral for private care. This change will apply to around 160,000 veterans alone. New guidelines also stipulate that private care is now open if air or boat travel is required to reach a VA facility.
"As we implement the Veterans Choice Program, we are learning from our stakeholders what works and what needs to be refined," said VA Secretary Bob McDonald, the Military Times reported. "It is our goal to do all that we can to remove barriers that separate veterans from the care they deserve."
Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, stated that the changes come from conversations with McDonald about what veterans needed most. "We locked arms, we sat down and decided to agree rather than disagree, and we found a solution to the problem. And today, the VA Choice program is working better, and our veterans have better access because of that day and that meeting."