VA Beneficiary Travel Costs

A request was made for the General Accounting Office(GAO) to review and comment on the statutory requirement contained in 38 U.S.C. 111(e),(1970) which requires that the Administrator of Veterans Affairs (VA), in consultation with the Comptroller General and certain other heads of departments and agencies, conduct periodic investigations of the actual cost of travel (including lodging and subsistence) to beneficiaries while traveling to or from a Veterans Administration (VA) facility or other place, and the estimated cost of alternative modes of travel, including public transportation and the operation of privately owned vehicles. The statutory provision requires such investigations to be conducted immediately following any alteration in the rates for per diem, mileage allowances, and expenses of travel for employees of the United States. GAO concurred with the Veterans Administration's recommendations affecting certain VA beneficiary travel allowance rates.