Rural Veterans Transportation to Care

Summary#

This bill amends a Department of Veterans Affairs grant program that helps veterans in rural and highly rural areas get transportation to medical care. It changes the program to cover both "rural" and "highly rural" places using the USDA RUCA coding system. The bill adds new eligible recipients, including county veterans service organizations and tribal organizations. It changes language so grants can go to any recipient that meets the rules. It sets a usual maximum grant of $60,000 and allows up to $80,000 when a recipient must buy a vehicle to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act. It replaces a prior fixed funding level ($3,000,000 for fiscal years 2010–2022) with "such sums as may be necessary."

What it means for you#

  • Veterans who live in rural or highly rural areas may have more local groups able to get VA grants to provide transportation to care.
  • County veterans service organizations and tribal organizations can now apply for these grants.
  • Some recipients may get larger grants if they need to buy an ADA-compliant vehicle to transport veterans with disabilities.

Expenses#

  • The bill sets individual grant limits: normally up to $60,000, and up to $80,000 if the grant is used to purchase an ADA-compliant vehicle.
  • The bill removes the previous specified program funding amount ($3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010–2022) and replaces it with "such sums as may be necessary."
  • No publicly available information on total cost or estimated budgetary impact is provided in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.