TRAVEL Act of 2025
Click any stage to learn more about the legislative process.
The TRAVEL Act of 2025 would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs to assign physicians to temporarily serve as traveling doctors in U.S. territories — including American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands — for periods of up to one year, with required pay bonuses for those who serve.
The bill addresses a persistent gap in veteran healthcare access in U.S. territories, where VA facilities often struggle to retain permanent physicians, by creating a formal rotating-physician program with financial incentives.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would authorize the VA Secretary to assign one or more physicians — already appointed within the Veterans Health Administration — to serve as "traveling physicians" in U.S. territories for up to one year at a time. Covered territories include American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and any other U.S. territory or possession. Multiple physicians could be assigned simultaneously, each designated to a specific territory. Traveling physicians would be required to coordinate with non-VA medical providers to ensure high-quality, continuous care for veterans receiving hospital care and medical services. The VA would be required to provide a relocation or retention bonus to each traveling physician, modeled on existing VA bonus authority.
The bill would also extend a deadline in a separate VA pension payment limit provision from November 30, 2031, to December 31, 2032, and make minor technical corrections changing the term "retention allowances" to "retention bonuses" in two existing code sections. It would not create a new standalone agency or program outside the existing Veterans Health Administration structure.
Key provisions
- 1Would authorize the VA Secretary to assign VHA-appointed physicians as traveling physicians in U.S. territories for up to one year at a time, at VA or approved facilities.
- 2Would allow multiple traveling physicians to be assigned simultaneously, each designated to a specific territory or possession.
- 3Would require traveling physicians to coordinate with non-VA medical providers to ensure high-quality, coordinated care for veterans.
- 4Would require the VA to provide a relocation or retention bonus to traveling physicians, modeled on existing VA bonus authority.
- 5Would extend the pension payment limit deadline in 38 U.S.C. § 5503(d)(7) from November 30, 2031, to December 31, 2032.
Who would be affected
Veterans residing in U.S. territories — American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands — who receive care at VA or VA-approved facilities. VA physicians in the Veterans Health Administration who may be assigned to temporary territorial postings, and non-VA medical providers in those territories who would coordinate with traveling physicians.
Why it matters
Veterans in U.S. territories often face limited access to VA physicians compared to those on the mainland. If enacted, the program would give the VA a formal mechanism to rotate doctors into territorial facilities, potentially reducing gaps in specialty and primary care. The mandatory bonus requirement is designed to make temporary territorial assignments financially attractive enough to recruit volunteers.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Creates Title 38, United States Code, Chapter 74 (Veterans Health Administration — Personnel) (Sec. 2)
Adds new section 7415 establishing the traveling physician program for U.S. territories, including assignment authority, coordination duties, and bonus requirements.
Amends 38 U.S.C. § 7410(a)(1) (Sec. 2)
Changes the term 'retention allowances' to 'retention bonuses' and removes a punctuation error.
Amends 38 U.S.C. § 7431(e)(5)(B) (Sec. 2)
Changes the term 'retention allowances' to 'retention bonuses' for conformity with other amendments.
Amends 38 U.S.C. § 5503(d)(7) (Sec. 3)
Extends the deadline for a pension payment limit provision from November 30, 2031, to December 31, 2032.
Agencies directed to act
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.R. 3400 would reduce the federal deficit by a net $44 million in direct spending over the 2025–2035 period, while also requiring about $20 million in discretionary appropriations over that same window.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3400 (the TRAVEL Act of 2025) would decrease net direct spending — mandatory spending that does not require annual congressional approval — by $44 million over the 2025–2035 period, primarily because the bill extends through December 2032 a rule that limits VA pension payments to $90 per month for veterans and survivors living in Medicaid nursing homes, saving roughly $52 million, partially offset by $8 million in new mandatory spending for physician bonuses paid through the Toxic Exposures Fund. The bill would also increase spending subject to annual appropriation by about $20 million over the same period to cover relocation and retention bonuses for VA traveling physicians assigned to U.S. territories. CBO found no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
How implementation would work
The VA Secretary would identify eligible physicians already appointed under existing VHA authority and assign them to specific territories on up to one-year rotations; multiple physicians could serve concurrently in different territories. Traveling physicians would be responsible for coordinating with local non-VA providers to maintain continuity of care. The VA would set bonus amounts "substantially similar" to existing relocation and retention bonuses, giving the Secretary discretion on the precise structure. No new rulemaking timeline is mandated, and no reporting requirement to Congress is specified in the bill text.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to assign a physician who has been appointed in the Veterans Health Administration to serve as a traveling physician for a period of not more than one year. Such physician must provide health care to veterans at VA facilities located in American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and any other territory or possession of the United States.
Traveling physicians must coordinate with non-VA providers when necessary to ensure high quality and coordinated care for veterans receiving hospital care and medical services.
The VA must provide a relocation or retention bonus to traveling physicians.
Legislative subjects
American Samoa; Armed Forces and National Security; Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management; Guam; Health personnel; Northern Mariana Islands; Puerto Rico; Travel and tourism; U.S. territories and protectorates; Veterans' medical care; Virgin Islands
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-263