Travel pay?

[Buck52]

Anyone know if you get travel pay if the Dr you go see is less than 20 miles away?

I go to an outside Dr  the VA Out source it via Mission Act CCP (community care program) from tri west 

ok its little over 7 miles to this Dr from my house  however I go 3 times a week. for Rehab on my hand  they rehab me 3 times a week for an Hour.  those short trips add up in Gas. little over 14 miles per trip.

I filled for travel pay   but wonder if they will pay it?

another veteran at my VAMC said the mileage to the Dr  office or medical facility needs to be 20 miles from your home?

is this right? anyone know.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Buck52

[Vync]

Yes! But there are a some important things to know...

You only have 30 days to file for it, otherwise you're out of luck.

When I had my heart attack, the VA referred me to cardio therapy just a couple of miles away from my house. They wrote me a letter every couple of weeks listing each appointment and duration (usually one hour). The facility was in the opposite direction from the VA (this can matter).

For regular Mission Act referrals, I was told that I needed to get a work excuse from the doc that included the times when I arrived and left. The VA gave me a lot of trouble if the arrival and departure times were not present for days where I also had an appointment at the VAMC and could have claimed mileage. They claimed that I might not have been able to claim all the mileage. It was a one-off visit so I just told them to deduct the difference because I didn't have time to fuss with them. Yes, it sounds stupid, but in the end it makes sense to keep veterans from potentially double-dipping. I complained to the VAMC patient advocate about not being told this ahead of time. After that, they put a small sign up on the travel window telling veterans what they need to do. I don't know if that improvement was implemented at other facilities.

You can mail or take the letters to the VAMC travel office. If you mail, I highly recommend you send it return receipt if you are sending a bunch. They will process each letter or work excuse and then mail you some travel vouchers to sign and return. 

 

[Buck52]

Roger that Vync

I filed for it  guess next month I'll see if they paid it   if not?

  I am  not going to cause a fuss about it probably not that much anyway  41.5 cents a mile there and back.....

I do file travel pay when I go to my VAMC THE DATE OF MY APPOINTMENT  they take out the co-pay on one visit and pay the rest  at 52 miles for both ways.

  We have to give them one travel pay per month  then the rest of them month is yours.

  example if you have 4 scheduled appointments during the same month but on different days  you get paid for 3 of them.

[Richard1954]

I don't think your going to get travel pay for 7 miles.   I had been attending pulmonary rehabilitation a while back  three times a week. I was able to call in my travel days and for three months I was paid the going rate Over 25 dollars a day at that time ( 2018).... I have also gone to C/P exam from 12 miles to 45 miles from home... but we always get paid complete travel pay going to C/ P exams... I had an interesting thing happen to me last week. The VA farmed pout an open MRI for my back issues,  I talked to Tri-west the contractor tasked to get me an appointment, and I told them over and over again that it had to be an Open MRI. When I arrived at my appointment I had to wait 1.5 hours.... when I was finally called in for the MRI.. I was dumbfounded to see it was not an open MRI.... I told the tech that this was supposed to be an open MRI, and the tech wanted to argue with me that this was an open MRI..... I told him I wasn't born yesterday.. and we left. Now the interesting question will I get travel pay? Usually, when I go to an appointed scheduled by Tri-West they send a check to me... I should get paid but I am not holding my breath.. and they are still trying to find someone else to do an open MRI on my back....  One other though,  if  I go to the VA without an appointment I only get paid travel pay for one way unless  I am seeking treatment at the Emergency room.... I argued with one cashier and they called the supervisor we explained to me the policy... she even agreed the policy was misguided.... but it is what it is.. Now I donate all my travel pay to the DAV drivers program but I still want what I am due....

[Buck52]

About the not getting the travel pay   Yeah I agree I probably won't be getting that , but it was in my instructions when they set up this outside Dr  that I could file for travel pay so I did.

Anyway about your MRI  go tell your VA PCP about the issue with that MRI Tech   if you have an order for an open MRI  then the VA Should do that.

your VA  PCP can re -order it to be an open MRI.