Driving Distance Eligibility for the Veterans Choice Program

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends its medical regulations implementing section 101 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, which directed VA to establish a program to furnish hospital care and medical services through eligible non-VA health care providers to eligible veterans who either cannot be seen within the wait-time goals of the Veterans Health Administration or who qualify based on their place of residence (hereafter referred to as the Veterans Choice Program, or the "Program"). VA published an interim final rule implementing the Veterans Choice Program on November 5, 2014. Under current law, VA uses a straight-line or geodesic distance to determine eligibility based on place of residence. This interim final rule modifies how VA measures the distance from a veteran's residence to the nearest VA medical facility. This modified standard will consider the distance the veteran must drive to the nearest VA medical facility, rather than the straight-line or geodesic distance to such a facility.