Travel Allowances for Dependent's Outpatient Medical Care

GAO was asked to determine whether the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR's) may be amended to authorize reimbursement for the cost of local transportation or other transportation required to transport a military dependent between the carrier terminal, the medical facility, and the dependent's place of lodging, when a dependent was receiving outpatient care at a medical facility outside the locality of the member's duty station. GAO held that, under applicable statutes other than JTR's, dependents residing with members of the uniformed services stationed outside the United States are entitled to transportation to the nearest appropriate medical facility at Government expense when adequate care is not available in the locality. The statutes' legislative history indicated a congressional intent to allow reimbursement of all transportation expenses necessary under the circumstances. Therefore, the JTR's may be amended to allow reimbursement for actual exenses of local transportation of a dependent receiving outpatient medical care outside the locality of the member's duty station, when such care is determined to be medically necessary. Accordingly, there were no objections to amending the regulations.