Veteran Affairs health benefits have been extended to more than 142,000 veterans living in rural Alabama. The action is being taken as an extension of a federal program to allow vets living more than a certain distance from a VA facility to seek private medical care outside of the Department of Veteran Affairs. The program will last until the 1 billion dollars funding the program is used up. The new Mobile VA clinic should be operational by summer 2018 and is expected to increase services for the 65,000 veterans living in South Alabama.