Navigation Potential Legislation to Increase Community Services for Veterans
There has been additional legislation introduced to increase community services for our Veteran community. In the Senate, House and Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs leaders Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.), Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Ranking Member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), introduced H.R. 8371, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act. In the House, the Act is sponsored by Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz. At this point the bill has 21 Republican co-sponsors, but no democratic co-sponsors.
Senator Moran says that the Act will make “critical changes to VA and provide life-saving support to veterans, caregivers and survivors across the country. This legislation will improve access to health care and benefits, expand long-term care programs and make it easier for veterans struggling with mental health and addiction to get needed treatment.” A very important provision is that the Act also stops the Veterans Health Administration from overriding a physician’s recommendation for non-VA care when it is in the best medical interest of the veteran.
The Act has been described as a “harmful privatization package” by some of its detractors. However, as most Veterans know, the VA healthcare system needs improving and the ability of a Veteran to use community services is of paramount importance. As of now, the Act has received support from numerous Veterans’ organizations, including the Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
