How One 'Daily Show' Clip May Have Changed the Lives of Thousands of Veterans

Remember that great “Daily Show” video that we posted Tuesday of Jon Stewart criticizing the Department of Veterans Affairs and Congress for denying adequate care to veterans? Well, apparently, the VA may have been watching alongside us because it announced the same day that it would change a silly rule Stewart talked about:

Who knew comedy had such power to affect change?

Read more about the clip in question in our post, “Jon Stewart: Congress Only Cares About Soldiers When They’re Fighting Wars, Not When They’re in Need,” here.

The Huffington Post:

The Choice Program, which was put in place to speed access to medical care after it was revealed that some patients had been waiting months for treatment, allows veterans who live far from VA facilities to get out-of-network care closer to home.

The problem? To be eligible, you have to live 40 miles from the nearest VA facility using “as-the-crow-flies” miles…The rule kept many who lived far from hospitals by roads from using the program. But on Tuesday, seemingly in response to what Stewart called his “damning piece of investigative joke-a-lism,” the Department of Veterans Affairs changed the rule and will now use actual driven miles based on Google Maps rather than “as-the-crow-flies” miles.

The change in language will double the number of veterans eligible for the Choice Program.