VA to provide care to veterans with OTH discharges
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin made news on March 7 when he announced that VA will start providing mental health care to veterans with other than honorable discharges. VA has previously recognized that this population needs services, but said they are prohibited by law from caring for them. The announcement came during a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on expanding the Choice program and reforming the department.
During the same hearing, Shulkin also made news by stating that he wants the VA to use a commercial, off-the-shelf system to modernize VA’s electronic health record and medical appointment scheduling systems. Shulkin touted the VA’s Office of Compassionate Innovation as a route for implementing treatments that appear to help veterans, even without firm scientific evidence. The office’s first project has been to increase the availability of service dogs for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury. Shulkin also told a member of the House of Representatives that he is “open” to looking at using hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat TBI, despite previous studies which have not found an impact.
House passes three veterans’ measures
On March 16, House passed H.R. 1259, the VA Accountability First Act of 2017, by a vote of 237-178. This measure will provide Shulkin the tools he needs to discipline employees who fail in their mission to provide world-class health care and services to the men and women who served. This legislation doesn’t just build back the trust of America’s veterans; it gives VA employees the trust to know that bad actors within the department will no longer have the power to taint the VA’s good name.
On the same day, the House approved by a vote of 240-175, H.R. 1181, the Veterans’ Second Amendment Protection Act. The bill would prohibit VA from considering any beneficiary who is assisted by a fiduciary as “mentally defective” without a magistrate or judicial authority ruling that the beneficiary is a danger to themselves or others. This would stop VA from allowing these veterans to have their legally owned firearms confiscated.
On March 17, the House by a 412-0 recorded vote, passed H.R. 1367, legislation to improve VA’s ability to recruit and retain high-quality health care providers and other professionals. The measure contains a number of provisions that would strengthen VA’s ability to identify staffing shortages, recruit employees to fill vacant positions, quickly on-board new hires, and retain high-performing workers across the country. It also contains provisions that would improve leadership and accountability throughout VA and increase the number of veterans in the federal workforce.
All three measures now await action by the Senate.