Any veteran more than thirty miles away gets travel pay from the V A to get to a medical center. State and counties provide vans every day to the medical centers. All they have to do is call. Veteran organizations like the DAV will come and get them.
It's a fake problem invented by the republicans to ruin the V A .
McCain should ask, why so much money for so few veterans. And it is only a small amount using this program compared to the millions getting care at the V A.

They offer free transportation but you need to call days in advance to schedule a ride. One should expect to spend the entire day at the VA hospital as you have to wait for all the other passengers to complete their appointments. And even though the van goes right past my home, it's against the rules to pick me up or drop me off at my home. I have to go to a designated pick up point to be picked up before dawn and dropped back off close to evening.

I like Choice because I can use the clinic that's within walking distance of my home.

Unless there is a v a clinic close that you chose not to use. You have to go to the travel office at every medical center to get it. If you don't ask you won't get it. It's usually downstairs. Yes there is some inconvenience waiting for other vets when you use the van, but the access is there. My trip to a medical center is 30 miles round trip so I don't qualify for any travel pay, but I know a lot of guys who do well with it. They would rather see a v a doctor more familiar with veterans needs. But whatever is good for you. peace.

I don't think you know what you're talking about

Correct me if I'm wrong

What's usually downstairs??? Travel office, we don't even have a travel office

At the desk where you sign in for your appointment you take care of travel pay if you qualify.

Oh and choosing if you want to use the local VA or not has nothing to do with the choice program. You don't have a choice in the matter. Its only available if you meet certain criteria

Guess what, they ask me and have since day one when I check out, if I get travel pay, even long before I qualified for it. Years before and every visit.

Dis-information is worse than no information

You get your slip at the window and do go downstairs to the travel office and you could get cash or have a check sent in the mail. It's all new again and now you can have it direct deposited to your account and soon that will be required according to the web site. Don't ask me how with so many older vets not even having checking accounts. Still haven't been able to find the disability requirement, maybe you could help me out with that one. Still looking for that, wouldn't want to dis inform anyone. Thanks.

Any one of a half dozen or so would qualify a vet for travel reimbursement but I didn't meet a single one. But looking at the list of requirements, it's possible I may qualify now as my status has changed since the last time I put in for travel pay and was rejected.

Thanks for bringing up this topic!

Nothing personal but I'm a vet and have used the Choice program to get a biopsy on a spot on my lung. I started getting travel pay once I went past 40 percent disability and it had nothing to do with the choice program.

Where are you getting your information???


Oh and yet I could call but its cheaper for the VA for me to drive my own ass down there and be reimbursed mileage than it is for them to send a van with a driver to deliver my ass then bring me back home afterwards.

I think you jive. Again nothing personal but you know...

Oh and I live more than thirty miles away and I never got travel pay until I passed the 40 percent disability threshold. My brother lives 50 plus miles away and he doesn't get travel pay due to the fact he isn't 40 percent disabled.

Actually the Choice program is a good thing and without it I would have been waiting for months not knowing if I had cancer or not. Try that sometime and tell me how you feel

Get back to you soon. But once they establish you qualify for travel pay then you automatically get you slip at the window right? You have to set it up first. Right? Wasn't aware of the disability rating being a factor so thanks for that. I'm 100% and don't qualify because of the distance being close. The vans and assistance available to get to a v a maybe you can tell me what I don't know what I'm talking about on that? It was a long time ago that I tried to get travel pay so they may have changed the requirement since then with the percentage thing and all but I know what I'm talking about unless policy changes thank you.
My v a if they can't treat something like your cancer send you to a close by private medical center for treatment fully paid for still within the system.
So choice is about distance from a v a facility, it has nothing to do with better care if that is what your trying to push here.

Type in travel pay and it all comes up. Basically it says what both of us said. Changes make us unaware, not spreaders of dis information.

events, he looks like he's about to stroke out or have a heart attack.

All of the programs we have in this country would be able to function if the 2% actually paid a bit more in taxes. Putting all of the burden on people making 50K to 100K a year will bankrupt the country, but the rich will have what they want and they will have turned us into a nation of serfs.

I still don't understand why vets have to travel to a VA Hospital, why can't they use Tri-Care where ever they live?

V A is for honorably discharged vets after their enlistment is up. Usually four years.

My dad and I both did single hitches (AF/USN), as 90+% of all veterans. Me thinks the Bush era promises panned out like I thought they would, worthless.