Health Care for Vets on Nantucket

The 124 veterans eligible for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs who live on the island of Nantucket 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts truly illustrate the problem rural vets face in accessing VA clinics and hospitals – they need to take a one-hour ferry trip before hitting the road to a VA clinic in Hyannis, Mass., or the VA hospital in Providence, R.I.

That problem has now been solved, the Boston Globe reported today, through an agreement with the island’s Nantucket Cottage Hospital for services that could include primary care, specialty visits and emergency treatment.

Allowing vets to use private health care is one of the key provisions of the $16.3 billion VA bill signed Aug. 7 by President Obama – with language that covers rural veterans. 

(Image via CristinaMuraca/Shutterstock.com)