Veterans' Health Care and Equitable Access Act of 2005

The Veterans' Health Care and Equitable Access Act of 2005 (S. 963) was designed to expand medical benefits and financial support for veterans and their families. If enacted, the bill would have increased travel reimbursements for veterans visiting VA facilities to match the rates given to federal employees and established a minimum 50 percent disability rating for veterans who lost a limb in service. Additionally, it proposed a pilot program to improve healthcare access for rural veterans and guaranteed that children of service members who died on active duty could remain in federal childcare programs for two years following their parent's death.

The bill also aimed to change how veterans' healthcare is funded by allowing Medicare to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs for services provided to Medicare-eligible veterans. While the bill sought to increase funding for medical programs, it specifically prohibited those funds from being used for the construction or acquisition of new medical facilities. Introduced in April 2005, the legislation was referred to the Senate Committee on Finance but did not advance further during that session of Congress.