DRIVE Act Boosts VA Travel Pay, Mandates Reimbursement Within 90 Days

The Driver Reimbursement Increase for Veteran Equity Act of 2025, or the DRIVE Act, is a short, focused piece of legislation aimed squarely at improving how the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pays veterans back for the cost of getting to their medical appointments. Essentially, this bill tackles two major pain points: the mileage rate itself and the agonizing wait time for reimbursement checks.

Matching the Federal Rate: Fair Pay for the Road

Right now, the VA sets its own mileage rate for veterans driving their personal vehicles to appointments. The DRIVE Act changes this by mandating that the VA’s rate can never be lower than the rate the federal government pays its own employees for official travel. This rate is set by the General Services Administration (GSA) under 5 U.S.C. § 5707(b). What does this mean in practice? It means that as the cost of gas, maintenance, and insurance goes up—and the GSA adjusts the federal rate to reflect that—the VA’s reimbursement rate for veterans will automatically follow suit. For a veteran in a rural area who might drive 200 miles round trip for specialized care, this adjustment ensures they are getting a fair shake on covering their actual costs, keeping pace with current economic realities.

The 90-Day Payment Guarantee

If you’ve ever had to wait months for a check from a large organization, you know the frustration. For veterans, waiting on travel reimbursement can mean delaying payment on bills or struggling with cash flow. The DRIVE Act directly addresses this by requiring the VA to process and ensure the veteran receives their payment within 90 days of submitting a complete and correct travel request. This is a hard deadline written into the law. While the VA will have to step up its administrative game to hit this target consistently, this provision is huge for financial certainty. It means veterans can plan their budgets knowing exactly when that money—which covers necessary medical travel—will arrive, rather than waiting indefinitely.

Real-World Impact and Administrative Lift

This bill is a clear win for veterans, especially those who rely on personal transportation to access care. It ensures equity by tying their rate to the standard federal benchmark and introduces accountability by setting a strict 90-day payment window. For the VA, meeting the 90-day deadline will require streamlining processes and potentially adding resources to the claims department. However, because the bill ties the reimbursement rate to an existing, objective federal standard (the GSA rate), the VA won't have to spend time debating what the rate should be—they just have to match it. This clarity, combined with the mandated payment speed, means less financial friction between veterans and the care they need.