WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, applauded passage of legislation extending the Veterans Choice Program. Originally created in 2014, the program allows veterans to access non-VA care when wait times are too long for medical appointments or veterans live too far away from VA medical facilities. The program is currently set to expire on August 7, 2017, but the Veterans Choice Program Improvement Act allows the Department of Veterans Affairs to continue the program.

“When veterans serve our country, the last thing they should have to do is wait for medical care at home. The Veterans Choice Program has made sure veterans can skip the long lines and get the services they deserve. We did the right thing to extend it,” said Murphy. “While there’s much more Congress should do to improve the program and continue to reduce wait times at the VA for all veterans, this bill is an important step in the right direction.”