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CIVIC HERALD
HR 3400 · 119th Congress · HouseIn committee

TRAVEL Act of 2025

In plain language: This bill allows the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to deploy traveling doctors to U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands, for up to one year to treat local veterans. Doctors who accept these assignments will receive extra relocation or retention bonuses on top of their regular salary and must coordinate with local private providers to manage patient care. To help offset costs, the legislation extends through December 2032 an existing $90 monthly cap on VA pensions for certain veterans without dependents who receive Medicaid-covered nursing home care.

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

Provisionalunreviewed: impact, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affected—The bill does not state the number of physicians who will be assigned or the number of veterans in U.S. territories or Medicaid-covered nursing homes who will be affected.
Fiscal magnitude—The bill text authorizes retention/relocation bonuses and extends a statutory pension cap, but does not provide specific appropriation amounts or fiscal figures.
Reach28provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
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Issues

What this bill touches.

Spending vs. restraint−12Veterans' care delivery+28

The sign shows the bill's direction on each issue (+ toward, − away); the number is its magnitude. Color never encodes good or bad, and never party.

Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Who it helps

  • Veterans residing in U.S. territoriesGain increased access to health care through VA traveling physicians assigned to provide medical services for up to one year at a time in American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and other territories (Sec. 2(a)).provisional
  • VA physicians serving as traveling physiciansReceive mandatory relocation or retention bonuses in addition to their standard pay when serving as traveling physicians in U.S. territories (Sec. 2(a)).provisional

Who it burdens

  • Department of Veterans AffairsMust provide relocation or retention bonuses to traveling physicians and ensure those physicians coordinate care with non-VA medical providers in U.S. territories (Sec. 2(a)).provisional
  • Veterans receiving Medicaid-covered nursing home careHave the statutory cap on their VA pension payments extended for an additional 13 months, through December 31, 2032 (Sec. 3).provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

  1. Authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to assign physicians for up to one year at a time to travel and provide medical care to veterans residing in Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other U.S. territories.

    Sec. 2(a)provisional

  2. Requires traveling VA physicians in U.S. territories to coordinate with non-VA medical providers to maintain consistent care for veterans.

    Sec. 2(a)provisional

  3. Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide relocation or retention bonuses to physicians who serve as traveling physicians in U.S. territories, in addition to their regular compensation.

    Sec. 2(a)provisional

  4. Extends through December 31, 2032, the statutory cap on VA pension payments for veterans receiving Medicaid-covered nursing home care.

    Sec. 3provisional

How your members of Congress line up

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Timeline

How it moved.

  1. Sep 16, 2025Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  2. Sep 15, 2025Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  3. Sep 15, 2025On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 371 - 21 (Roll no. 266). (text: CR H4284)
  4. Sep 15, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 371 - 21 (Roll no. 266). (text: CR H4284: 1)
  5. Sep 10, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. H. Rept. 119-263.
  6. Sep 10, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. H. Rept. 119-263.
  7. Jul 23, 2025Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  8. May 14, 2025Introduced in House
  9. May 14, 2025Introduced in House

The original text

Read it for yourself.

Read the original text →

Sources & provenance

Congress.govrefreshed 9 days ago

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