VA to Deploy Traveling Doctors to Territories, Extending Key Pension Limits by 13 Months

The Territorial Response and Access to Veterans’ Essential Lifecare Act (TRAVEL Act of 2025) is a two-part bill designed to boost healthcare access for veterans living in U.S. territories while also managing the timeline for certain pension rules. The main goal is to give the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary the power to assign current VA doctors as “traveling physicians” to places like Puerto Rico, Guam, or the U.S. Virgin Islands for up to a year at a time. These doctors would work in VA facilities or other approved locations, ensuring veterans in remote areas get consistent care.

Bringing the VA to the Islands

Section 2 of the TRAVEL Act tackles a persistent problem: getting specialized VA care to veterans outside the mainland U.S. The bill authorizes the VA to take a doctor already on their payroll and assign them to a territory for up to 12 months. This is a big deal because it means veterans won't have to rely solely on fly-in clinics or travel long distances for specialized care. Crucially, the bill mandates that these traveling doctors must coordinate their services with local, non-VA medical providers. This ensures that when the VA doctor leaves, the veteran’s care plan is smoothly transitioned back to local providers, covering everything from routine check-ups to hospital services.

To make this assignment attractive, the VA is required to offer these traveling physicians a special bonus—either a relocation bonus to help them move or a retention bonus to incentivize them to stay for the full assignment. The law states this bonus must be similar to existing VA incentives, but the final amount is left up to the Secretary to determine what is “appropriate for the situation.” For a VA doctor, this could mean a significant financial incentive to take on a temporary assignment that fills a critical gap in veteran care.

The Pension Timeline Extension

Section 3 addresses a different part of the veterans’ benefits system: pension payments. Specifically, it deals with certain existing limits on pension payments defined in section 5503(d)(7) of title 38. Rather than letting these limits expire automatically on November 30, 2031, the TRAVEL Act pushes that expiration date back to December 31, 2032. This means the current rules governing those specific pension payments will remain in effect for an additional 13 months. For veterans who rely on these payments, this isn't a change in benefits—it's simply a maintenance of the current status quo for a little longer, potentially providing more stability for VA budgeting and planning.