SAIPAN — Veterans in the Northern Marianas and the Freely Associated States could qualify for federal travel reimbursement to reach Veterans Affairs medical care regardless of their disability rating under a bill introduced by Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds.
King-Hinds introduced HR 9316, the Travel Assistance for Veterans in Medical Deserts Act, to expand eligibility for VA beneficiary travel reimbursement for veterans living in the CNMI and the Freely Associated States, her office said in a release Tuesday.
Under current law, the reimbursement is generally limited to veterans with a service-connected disability rating of 30 percent or higher. The release said veterans in the CNMI and the Freely Associated States, where no VA medical facilities are located, often must undertake costly regional or international travel to reach VA care. The bill would let veterans in those jurisdictions qualify regardless of disability rating when no VA facility is located where they live.
King-Hinds said veterans should not face a financial penalty for living in places the federal government does not serve with local VA care.
“Veterans in the CNMI and the Freely Associated States often have no choice but to travel significant distances to receive care they have earned through their service to our country,” she said.
She said the bill recognizes the geographic realities facing veterans across the Pacific and seeks to remove barriers to needed care. She said obtaining care can mean buying airfare, arranging lodging and spending days away from work and family to attend a single appointment.
“When there is no local VA facility available, those costs and obstacles should not fall entirely on the veteran,” she said.
King-Hinds said the region has served in the military at some of the highest per-capita rates in the nation, and that Congress has a responsibility to ensure veterans there have meaningful access to the benefits they earned. She described the measure as a commonsense step toward fair treatment and access to care for Pacific veterans.
