article_snippet: A mere six months after Veterans' Choice Act was signed into law, and only three months after veterans began to receive veterans Choice Cards, the President's budget attempts to reallocate law's emergency funds that are solely meant to pay for veterans' health care in veterans' communities.
article_snippet: VA VA says the law's emergency funds that are solely meant to pay for veterans' health care in their communities aren't being used quickly enough because veterans aren't interested in getting care from the law's emergency funds that are solely meant to pay for veterans' health care in their communities local physicians.
article_snippet: When Congress passed Veterans' Choice Act, the intent was that Veterans be allowed to access local health care if Veterans cannot receive the VA care Veterans need within 40 miles of Veterans home, or Veterans wait time for an appointment is more than 30 days.
article_snippet: Unfortunately, VA VA decided to narrow the interpretation of the 40-mile rule, choosing to take into account only the distance of a VA medical facility from a veteran's home and not whether the VA facility can actually provide the services the veteran needs.
article_snippet: Veterans are being told Veterans cannot use Veterans Choice Cards because Veterans live within 40 miles of a VA facility, even though the VA facility does not offer the care Veterans require.
article_snippet: In my hometown of Hays, Kansas, a veteran is forced to drive 200 miles several times a month for routine cortisone shots because the VA outpatient clinic just 25 miles from a veteran home does not offer the shots a veteran needs.
article_snippet: One would think a veteran could use a veteran Choice Card to visit a local physician or local hospital to get the shots he needs -- but VA VA is denying access to this care.
article_snippet: Congress specifically included language in the Choice Act that gives VA the authority and flexibility VA needs to provide veterans with access to care outside VA when the care needed by a veteran is "either unavailable or not cost-effective to provide at a VA facility.
article_snippet: The Veterans Access to Community Care Act of 2015 (S. 207) would require VA VA to utilize VA authorities, including the Choice Act, to offer community care to veterans who are currently unable to receive the health care services veterans who are currently unable to receive the health care services they need from a VA medical facility within 40 miles of where they live need from a VA medical facility within 40 miles of where veterans who are currently unable to receive the health care services they need from a VA medical facility within 40 miles of where they live live.
article_snippet: The Veterans Access to Community Care Act of 2015 (S. 207) enjoys broad bipartisan support in Congress and has been endorsed by numerous veterans' organizations, including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, Vietnam Veterans of America and the National Guard Association of the United States.