Bill > S4304

This bill, known as the TRAVEL Act of 2026, aims to improve healthcare access for veterans living in U.S. territories and possessions by allowing the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to assign physicians from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to temporarily serve as "traveling physicians" in these locations for up to one year at a time. These physicians will provide healthcare to veterans at VA facilities or other approved sites in places like American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and will coordinate care with non-VA medical providers to ensure quality services. To incentivize physicians to take on these assignments, the bill mandates that the Secretary provide a relocation or retention bonus, similar to those offered under existing VA physician pay provisions, and also makes technical changes to related sections of the law regarding these bonuses.