U.S. Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, and Juan Ciscomani, R-Arizona, Gabe Vasquez, D-New Mexico, and Don Davis, D-North Carolina, last week introduced the bipartisan Rural Veterans Transportation to Care Act, Gluesenkamp Perez stated in a news release.
The legislation would expand eligibility for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Highly Rural Transportation Grant (HRTG) Program, which provides grant funding for veteran service organizations and state veteran service agencies to provide transportation at no cost to veterans.
The VA’s HRTG Program is currently only available to counties with fewer than seven people per square mile. With updated 2020 Census data, there are only eligible counties in 13 states.
Skamania County lost eligibility for the program in 2023, just barely exceeding the threshold for qualification at 7.15 people per square mile. Skamania County veterans have relied on this service since 2014. A van made approximately 300 trips and transported between 40 and 60 veterans in 2022 alone, according to Gluesenkamp Perez.
This bipartisan bill would improve how VA measures rurality, helping more veterans living in rural areas get transportation to VA or VA-authorized health care facilities.
As a result, Skamania County would again become eligible, and Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Pacific, Lewis, Thurston and Clark Counties in Southwest Washington would become newly eligible.
According to Glusenkamp Perez, the Rural Veterans Transportation to Care Act would:
• Expand eligibility for the VA’s HRTG Program to both rural and highly rural counties
• Define rural and highly rural using RUCA designations to better take into account density, urbanization and commuting and align with how the VA otherwise defines rurality
• Include tribal organizations as eligible recipients
• Increase the maximum HRTG funding amount from $50,000 to $60,000, or up to $80,000 for grantees to purchase an ADA-compliant vehicle.
After Skamania County lost eligibility for the HRTG program, Gluesenkamp Perez sent a letter to then-Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis Richard McDonough in 2023 urging the VA to fill transportation gaps for rural veterans and work with Congress to redefine highly rural.
In a reply last year, the Department of Veterans Affairs expressed support for the provisions outlined in the Rural Veterans Transportation to Care Act.
Additionally, Gluesenkamp Perez sent a letter last year to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs urging the agency to reopen a VA clinic in Lewis County, after the Chehalis clinic was closed in 2021.
“It’s the responsibility of our federal government to ensure our nation’s heroes are well-supported after returning home and can access the benefits they’ve earned and deserve. As rural veterans across Southwest Washington face challenges accessing care, I’m fighting to make sure they aren’t left behind,” Gluesenkamp Perez stated in the news release. “This bipartisan bill will restore support for free health care transportation services for Skamania County veterans, while expanding eligibility to rural communities across Southwest Washington. The VA must uphold its promise to our rural veterans so they can access the care necessary to lead full, healthy lives.”
“Skamania County is nearly 1,700 square miles in size, with a population of a little less than 13,000 residents. An estimated 1,200 residents are U.S. military veterans, yet many of those have no form of transportation to get to and from medical appointments. Unfortunately, we in Skamania County no longer qualify for the federal rural veterans’ transportation funding because, apparently, we have 0.15 too many people per square mile to qualify as ‘rural,’” said Monty Buettner, commander of American Legion Coy-Catlin Post 137. “As commander of the American Legion Post in Carson, Washington, I was extremely pleased to see this bipartisan bill, introduced by U.S. Representatives Gluesenkamp Perez, Ciscomani and Vasquez. The Rural Veterans Transportation to Care Act redefines the way the VA measures ‘rural.’ If passed, this legislation would federally fund truly rural counties like Skamania, Wahkiakum, Pacific, Lewis and others providing transportation to and from medical appointments for those willing to sacrifice their very lives in order to protect the freedoms we all still enjoy in this great country. I can only hope and pray the remaining legislators can set aside their differences and quickly pass this legislation, supporting our veterans in need.”
Nearly one in four veterans in Washington live in rural areas, and there are roughly 2.7 million veterans in rural areas across the country who are enrolled in and rely on the VA’s health care system, Glusenkamp Perez stated.
Gluesenkamp Perez, Ciscomani and Vasquez previously introduced the legislation in the 118th Congress. It received the endorsement of the Problem Solvers Caucus.
