40-Mile Rule Revised To Help Veterans

A technicality to a law that impeded certain veterans from getting health care is being revised.

In the Choice Act, passed last year to allow veterans more than 40 miles from a VA facility to get care from any local provider was interpreted to mean “as the crow flies” and not actual driving miles.

The 40-Mile Rule proved to be a challenge to many veterans, especially those in Northern Michigan, who had to drive farther than 40 miles via rural roads, sometimes in harsh winter conditions, in order to reach a VA facility.

Congressman Dan Benishek said he has been working with the VA urging them to reconsider their interpretation and he is pleased that they have changed the rules to better accommodate veterans like those in Northern Michigan who often had to travel long distances on account of a technicality.