The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a grant program for telehealth access portals in non-VA facilities, an initiative that will end copayments for all of the department’s telehealth services.
Focused on rural and medically underserved veteran communities, the program—called Accessing Telehealth through Local Area Stations, or ATLAS—would fund nonprofits and private businesses offering veterans comfortable venues providing high-speed internet access for remote consultations with VA healthcare providers, the department said Monday.
The ATLAS grants would also allocate funds for training onsite support personnel for the program.
Public Input on Grant Guidelines
The VA is publishing its proposed program guidelines in the Federal Register for public comment starting Wednesday. The department will release a notice on the ATLAS funding opportunity after the publication of the program’s final guidelines.
ATLAS is part of the U.S. government’s current efforts to expand healthcare access and lower its costs for veterans. In September, tele-emergency care was opened nationwide for all veterans enrolled in VA Health Connect, a phone service that enables immediate medical consultations with healthcare professionals.
The VA has also started waiving copays for the first three outpatient mental healthcare consultations of veterans each year and expanded the clinic schedules available to them.
