Veterans, Congress passed the “Access to Care through Choice Act of 2014” this past June.
Some of the provisions that this new law provided are, a “Veterans Choice Card” to help veterans receive care from non-VA providers thereby expanding the VA’s ability to provide timely care to Veterans.
The Choice Card is available for veterans who live more than 40 miles (as the crow fly’s) from the nearest VA facility, or cannot get a procedure or appointment scheduled for more than 30 days. This program is set up to allow veterans to use non-VA providers including those that accept Medicare, Tricare, or U.S. Department of Defense health care facilities.
The closest VA facility to Fairplay is the Salida VA branch clinic which offers limited services, but which is 47.6 miles from Fairplay. The straight line distance from Bailey to the Golden VA facility is 27.7 miles and to the VA Hospital in Denver is 48.4 miles. Many Park County veterans will be eligible due to mileage alone to use the Choice Card.
I received my Choice Card in the mail last week, and most eligible county veterans should receive their cards shortly.
