The Department of Veterans Affairs wants to extend a pandemic-era program that has provided more than 750,000 Uber or Lyft rides for veterans so they could get to their jobs, attend medical appointments or access support services.
The VA began offering rideshare benefits to homeless veterans in August 2021 following passage of the fiscal 2020 Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D., Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act, which temporarily authorized the program.
Under the legislation, homeless veterans could contact the VA's National Call Center for Homeless Veterans to access resources, including rides from services like Uber and Lyft. The VA also provided the benefit to other veterans who did not otherwise qualify for free transportation under other VA programs.
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But the rideshare benefit was tied to the declaration of the public health emergency for COVID-19, which will sunset on May 11.
Without the authorization to continue the program, it will end, VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal told reporters Tuesday.
“This is a service that I'm concerned will really hit these veterans hard because they have depended on this rideshare program since August of '21,” Elnahal said in a roundtable. “We need Congress to help us out with this.”
According to Elnahal, the VA has provided more than…
