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Veterans Choice: Making It Work

Veterans Choice: Making It Work

Congress enacted the Veterans Choice program in 2014 to speed up the time it took for veterans to get care. It came in the form of a $16 billion influx to the department of Veterans Affairs. The program allows veterans to work with a third-party contractor to make appointments outside of the VA if a health-care appointment cannot be provided within 30 days, or if they live more than 40 miles from the closest VA medical facility.

In April 2017, the program was extended to provide funding past the August expiration date.

An analysis conducted by NPR revealed that, overall, wait times did not improve after implementation of Veterans Choice. In this series, we explore a view from the Midwest as it relates to how Veterans Choice was communicated to veterans and how it has been received by those seeking care in northern Illinois.