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Travel Assistance for Veterans in Medical Deserts Act
To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand the eligibility of veterans with service-connected disabilities who reside in certain territories or the Freely Associated States for payments or allowances for beneficiary travel.
Summary
- Expands eligibility for beneficiary travel payments and allowances for veterans with service-connected disabilities.
- Allows veterans with any disability rating (not just 30 percent or higher) to receive travel assistance if they reside in a covered jurisdiction with no VA medical facility.
- Defines "covered jurisdiction" as a U.S. territory or Freely Associated State.
- Applies to veterans who reside in territories or Freely Associated States where the Department of Veterans Affairs has no medical facility located.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor
- Rep. Takano, Mark [D-CA-39] (D-CA)
Actions (3)
- Jun 26, 2026 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. · house
- Jun 15, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. · house
- Jun 15, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 15, 2026
Ms. King-Hinds introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand the eligibility of veterans with service-connected disabilities who reside in certain territories or the Freely Associated States for payments or allowances for beneficiary travel.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Travel Assistance for Veterans in Medical Deserts Act”.
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY OF VETERANS WITH SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES WHO RESIDE IN CERTAIN TERRITORIES OR THE FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES FOR PAYMENTS OR ALLOWANCES FOR BENEFICIARY TRAVEL.
Section 111(b) of title 38, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)(B)—
(A) by striking “rated at 30 percent or more.” and inserting an em dash; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new clauses:
“(i) rated at 30 percent or more; or
“(ii) without regard to rating in the case of a veteran who resides in a covered jurisdiction in which no medical facility of the Department is located.”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(5) In this subsection:
“(A) The term ‘covered jurisdiction’ means a territory or the Freely Associated States.
“(B) The term ‘Freely Associated States’ has the meaning given such term in subsection (h).
“(C) The term ‘territory’ has the meaning given such term in section 5 of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (Public Law 114-187; 48 U.S.C. 2104).”. <all>
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