WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, today spoke on the Senate floor about his frustration with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as they continue to overlook rural veterans in their implementation of The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (VACAA).

Congress specifically included report language to the Choice Act that gives the VA the authority and flexibility it needs to provide veterans with access to care outside the VA when the care they need is “either unavailable or not cost-effective to provide at a VA facility.”

Even with this authority, it has become clear that the VA is implementing the Choice Act in a way that only takes into account distance to a VA medical facility, and not whether that facility can actually provide the medical services a veteran requires. This decision by the VA is forcing many rural veterans to travel hours to access care they could receive outside the VA in their communities – or go without care altogether.

This week, Sen. Moran introduced legislation, the Veterans Access to Community Care Act of 2015 (S. 207), requiring the VA to utilize existing authorities to offer community care to veterans who are currently unable to receive the healthcare services they need from a VA medical facility within 40 miles of where they live.