VA raises veteran travel reimbursement, ties it to federal employee rate
S. 599 — DRIVE Act of 2025 · Filed by Peter Welch (D-VT) · 18 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 13, 2025 · Hearing held
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What it does
This bill increases the mileage reimbursement rate that the Department of Veterans Affairs pays to veterans for travel to VA health appointments. It ties the VA's reimbursement rate to the federal government's standard mileage rate for employee travel (currently higher than the 41.5 cents per mile the VA was paying), and requires the VA to process mileage reimbursement requests within 90 days.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to raise the mileage reimbursement rate for veterans' VA-related travel and accelerate payment processing. It is a straightforward benefit expansion for a defined federal beneficiary class.
What the text implies
- Tying the VA rate to the GSA federal employee rate creates an automatic indexing mechanism — the VA reimbursement will rise whenever the federal government adjusts its employee mileage rate, without requiring future legislative action.
- The 90-day payment deadline may require VA administrative process changes and could create budget-execution challenges if claims spike or processing backlogs occur.
The full analysis lists 3 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
veterans receiving VA healthcare