WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has expanded eligibility for the Veterans Choice Program, North Dakota Rep. Kevin Cramer announced Tuesday.
The department will use a new calculation to determine the distance from a veteran’s home to the nearest VA facility based on driving distance rather than straight-line distance.
Cramer, R-N.D., said he was grateful for what he called the VA’s “commonsense change in its regulations.”
“This is especially important in rural states like North Dakota where the driving distance between a veteran’s home and an eligible VA medical facility can be a great distance,” Cramer wrote in a statement Tuesday.
The congressman is a co-sponsor on the Veterans Access to Community Care Act of 2015. The bill would ensure the VA offers access to community care even if a veteran lives within 40 miles of a VA facility if the facility can’t provide the care a veteran requires.
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The change is expected to double the number of veterans eligible for the Veterans Choice Program, a new, temporary benefit that allows eligible participants to receive care in their communities rather than waiting for a VA appointment or traveling to a VA facility.
North Dakota’s only VA health care system is located in Fargo, though there are several community-based outpatient clinics, including ones in Dickinson, Bismarck, Minot and Williston.
