By Bryant Jordan
The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed legislation instructing the Veterans Affairs Department to allow veterans living within 40 miles of a VA facility to get non-VA care if the department hospital or clinic cannot provide the service.
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, filed the bill as an amendment to the Senate Budget Resolution, Moran spokeswoman Garrette Tuner said. The vote was 100-0.
“We [expected] it to pass with broad support from both sides of the aisle,” she said.
Moran and other lawmakers backed the legislation even though many maintain the VA already has the authority to allow veterans within 40 miles of a VA clinic to use non-VA care when needed.
The VA has claimed otherwise, however, arguing that Congress’ intent – as spelled out last 
year in the conference report on the Veterans Choice Act – allows exemptions to veterans only when there are geographic problems accessing a VA facility.
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