S. 4304 — TRAVEL Act of 2026

This section establishes authority for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to appoint physicians as traveling physicians for up to one year at a time to provide health care to veterans in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, or other U.S. territories or possessions at Department facilities or other approved facilities. Traveling physicians must coordinate with non-Department providers to ensure high-quality care, and the Secretary may assign multiple physicians to specific locations. The section further authorizes relocation or retention bonuses for such physicians—in addition to pay under current law (38 U.S.C. §7431) and similar to those under 38 U.S.C. §7410(a)—makes conforming changes from "retention allowances" to "retention bonuses" in current law, and updates the table of sections for chapter 74.