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As part of an ongoing reform of VA legislation, some veterans will receive "choice cards" this week. The cards will enable the former servicemembers to use private medical care providers and have Veterans Affairs pay the bill. 

According to Military Times, the program, which was approved by Congress in July, will last for two years. The first veterans to receive their cards must live at least 40 miles from the closest VA facility. Once they get their card in the mail, they can officially register for the program through private medical contractors and get a referral within 5 days. The second round of cards being sent out will go to veterans who are on a VA center waitlist that exceeds 30 days. 

Military Times reported that 700,000 veterans will receive cards between these two groups. After December, the 8 million remaining veterans who are signed up for government health programs will get cards as well. They will not be able to use them because they do not fit the card criteria, but they are receiving them in case their future circumstances change and they become eligible for the program. 

The initiative aims to help veterans get the care they need while the VA undergoes a vast makeover. This comes after this summer's VA scandal, when long wait times and improper care at the institutions were exposed. In addition to reevaluating facility staffs and implementing the choice cards, officials have started sharing wait times with the public electronically and issued 27 new leases to increase the amount of care available.

"We're hoping that for those veterans, this will all be pretty seamless," Dr. James Tuchschmidt, VA's acting principal deputy under secretary for health, told Military Times.