Guide to the Health-related Travel and Rehabilitation-related Expense Claim Form VAC752

The health-related travel benefit will help you pay for travel to attend health care treatment or rehabilitation appointments which are covered by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).

Who should use this form?

You should use the VAC752 form to claim eligible expenses if:

• You have expenses related to travel required to access health care treatment benefits which are covered by VAC;
• You are an active participant in VAC’s rehabilitation program and you travel to receive approved rehabilitation services.

Please note: rehabilitation-related travel must be approved before you travel to your appointment.

You should NOT use this form if:

• You have expenses related to medical appointments that were requested by VAC or the Veterans Review and Appeal Board for the purpose of disability pension or award entitlements, assessments, or reassessments; or
• You have expenses related to medical appointments to have forms (assessments) completed by your doctor in relation to VAC’s Financial Benefits program.

Please note: in both of these cases you should submit form VAC1018.

What appointments are included?

You can submit a health-related travel claim for any VAC-approved health care treatment appointment or pre-approved rehabilitation appointment that you attend.

In the case of health care treatment, VAC pays for travel to appointments that are covered by VAC . If a treatment is not a VAC benefit, VAC cannot pay for any costs incurred to travel to the appointment.

Appointment Verification

When you go to an appointment, you will need to request an "Appointment Verification" from your health provider’s office. You must keep this verification for 12 months after you submit your travel claim in case VAC asks for it. This type of request is part of VAC’s regular review process. Your health care professional or their office staff can provide this verification by using one of the following methods:

• Completing and signing or stamping your claim form (VAC752) in Section B;
• Provide you with an appointment card which includes the date and time of your appointment, as well as your health care professional’s address and signature or stamp;
• Provide a signed letter from your health care professional’s office confirming the appointment date, time, and address.

What types of expenses are covered?

VAC may cover the following travel costs:

• Transportation;
• Meals;
• Lodging; and
• Fees you paid to an escort, when an escort is medically necessary and pre-approved by VAC.

Transportation

VAC will reimburse you for the most convenient and economical means between your home and the nearest appropriate treatment centre within Canada. VAC takes your health condition into consideration when processing a health-related travel reimbursement. Some transportation costs that may be covered include:

• Private motor vehicle
  • When submitting a claim for travel in a private motor vehicle (either yours or someone else’s), you should include the round-trip distance in kilometers recorded from the vehicle’s odometer, or using an online distance calculator.

    Please note: you should submit the distance travelled to and from your appointment only. If you travelled extra distance for personal reasons, that distance cannot be included in your claim.

  • Once your claim is received, VAC will verify the distance using an online calculator. If there is a significant difference between the distance indicated in the online calculator and the distance on your claim, you will be contacted for additional detail.
• Air, bus, or train travel
  • Travel by air, bus (other than local transit), or train must be pre-approved by VAC in order to be covered as a health-related travel expense. When using these forms of travel, you must choose the most economical option, such as economy class, in order to receive reimbursement.
• Taxi
  • When appropriate, the cost of taking a taxi will be reimbursed, less $5 for each one-way trip.

    Please note: the Government of Canada does not recommend the use of ridesharing service, such as Uber.

• Ferry, parking, or tolls
  • VAC will reimburse the cost of ferry, parking or tolls where applicable.

Please note: transportation costs may not be fully reimbursed if the transportation you used was not the most economical means considering your health condition, or if it was not to the nearest appropriate treatment centre.

Meals

VAC will pay you a fixed meal allowance if you’re away from home for the entire meal period (meal periods listed below) because of a medical appointment.

Receipts for meals that you claim do not need to be kept or submitted.

Please note: when determining the time away from home, VAC uses an online distance calculator and considers the time it takes to travel to and from the appointment, the wait time and the time to attend the medical appointment.

The meal periods are:

• Breakfast: 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
• Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
• Dinner: 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

For example - a breakfast allowance will be paid if you leave home before 6:30 a.m. and return home after 8:30 a.m. to attend the appointment for which you are submitting a claim for health-related travel. If your travel time is extended for personal reasons or to eat, a meal cannot be included in your claim.

Please note: Meal allowances may be paid outside the hours noted above if a reasonable explanation is provided (for example, if you are undergoing tests where fasting is required).

Lodging

When the round-trip travel between your home and the nearest most appropriate treatment centre is more than 350 kilometers, VAC may reimburse the cost of lodging when you are traveling to attend a medical appointment.

Please note: pre-approval is required for lodging to be covered. Lodging will be reimbursed up to the maximum commercial accommodation rate. Refer to the accommodation “City Rate Limit”.

When, you are required to stay overnight due to the nature of your treatment, and the distance is less than 350 kilometers round-trip, lodging and related expenses may be covered. In this situation pre-approval is also required.

Please note: the Government of Canada does not recommend the use of private offerings, such as Airbnb.

What is an Escort?

An escort is a person who accompanies you and provides support while you are travelling to, waiting for, attending, and travelling home from medical appointments. Some things you should know about escorts are:

• For VAC to approve an escort, your health care professional must confirm that it is medically necessary that someone accompany you to your appointment(s).
• Travel expenses for your escort should be included in the travel expenses you enter in Section C of the claim form. Costs associated with travel in a vehicle (kilometric rate/mileage, parking, tolls, etc.) will be covered only once per eligible claim as you and your escort would be travelling together.
• If your escort is not your spouse, common-law partner, dependant, or any member of your household, including a live-in caregiver, you may be eligible for an escort fee.
• If you are submitting a claim for escort fee and expenses, the escort must complete and sign a VAC752D, Health-related Travel Receipt – Escort form for each appointment they attended with you.
• Escort-related expenses are reimbursed to you the claimant, not the escort.

Please note: Health-related Travel Receipt – Escort form is considered a receipt and you do not have to submit it with your claim, but you will need to keep it for 12 months from the date you submit your claim in case VAC asks you to provide your receipts. The amount you enter in Section D of the claim form and the amount you paid your escort must match the amount your escort enters on the Health-related Travel Receipt – Escort form.

Please note: the maximum remuneration VAC will reimburse for an escort is based on pension rates under the Pension Act and is adjusted each year. The rates for 2019 are $119.03 for a full day, and $59.52 for a half-day (four hours or less). If you pay your escort a lower rate, VAC will reimburse the amount you paid.

How do I submit my travel claim?

Online

By mail or in-person

Mail your completed form to:

You can also drop your completed claim forms off at any VAC office. To find the office closest to you, refer to the interactive map

How much time do I have to submit my claim?

Health-related travel claim for treatment benefits: within 18 months of the date of the medical or health appointment.

Rehabilitation-related expense claim: within 12 months of the date of service for rehabilitation services.

Do I need receipts?

Receipts must be obtained for:

• Verification of your medical appointment(s);
• Escort fees;
• Lodging; and
• Transportation costs other than kilometers/mileage.

Receipts are not required for:

• Meals,
• Kilometers when driving in a private vehicle, or
• Any amount claimed that is less than $10.

Some Veterans are specifically requested by VAC to submit receipts with each of their travel claims. Unless you fall into this category you do not need to submit receipts with your health-related travel claim.

However, you do need to obtain, appointment verification, receipts and other supporting documents at the time of the appointment, and keep them for 12 months from the date you submit your claim. At any time during those 12 months, you may be asked to provide them for review purposes.

If you do not want to keep your receipts for 12 months, you can submit them to VAC and we will keep them for you. If you choose, you may include your receipts and related documents with your claim, or upload them in My VAC Account. If you choose one of these options, you will not be asked to provide them again.

Where can I get more information?

If you have questions, you can contact VAC:

• By phone, toll-free, at 1-866-522-2122 Monday to Friday 8:30 to 4:30 local time;
• Via secure message through ; or
• In person at any Veterans Affairs Canada area office.

You will find additional information on the VAC website at the following links:

• General Program Information
• Health-related Travel Policy
• Rehabilitation-related Expenses Policy Document