New eligibility criteria a major improvement over existing rules - VAntage Point

I'd like to tell you one of my many stories about trying to deal with these rules in the Boston VA System. I get my primary care there. I live over 50 miles away. Because of the daily traffic conditions it takes me 2.5+ hours to get there, even at 6am. It's the same with the 24 Urgent Care which is in West Roxbury. I have been told that I do not qualify for community care because there is a VA facility in Portsmouth NH and in Manchester NH which are both under the 40 mile criteria. Note that these are in NH under the Manchester NH VA System, and my Primary Care is in the Boston VA system. I have a service connected disability. A few years ago I had an emergency situation that had to do with that condition. The VA national after hours phone line told me to go to Manchester NH. A friend drove me. I was told that I would be admitted, so my ride went home. Then I was told that I would be taken by ambulance to Concord NH hospital (not part of VA) because Manchester had no services for my affliction. I had tests done in concord and medication prescribed, but they decided I did not have to be admitted. I was put in a "free" taxi and driven to the Manchester VA. That was as far as they could bring me. I was left in the empty parking lot at 3am and had to find my own way home. To top it off, I couldn't get my "emergency" medication filled because it had to go through the Boston VA first. I went 2 days without. This is just one of the many situations I have found myself in because the rules say you have to live over 40 miles away from the closest VA. The closest VA to me is in another state and in another VA System. The different VA systems don't "talk". For instance, my primary care doctor can't put in lab orders for me in the Portsmouth VA because she is part of the Boston VA. Yet I get denied every time to go to a community VA because another VA is under 40 miles away. The law doesn't take into consideration that it is a different VA system and I can't get the services I need. This new law coming up still looks at the 40 mile rule. It needs to recognize that in some places that takes you to VA systems that aren't a part of each other. What can I do? The VA in Boston told me (after many different inquiries) every time that "I LIVE IN THE WRONG PLACE". That is unacceptable and I suffer great hardships and lack of care because of this.