On June 4, the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health approved, by voice vote, the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act (H.R. 1211). The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee approved a bill with similar provisions (S. 252) on May 21 (see The Source, 5/22/09); the day before, the House Veterans Affairs Committee convened a panel to address the need for specialized services for women veterans (see The Source, 5/22/09).
Sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), H.R. 1211 would require the secretary of Veterans Affairs to issue a report on the “barriers to the provision of comprehensive health care by the Department of Veterans Affairs encountered by women who are veterans.” The report would assess the impact of various barriers, including perceived stigma in accessing mental health services; transportation and geographic isolation; child care; perception of personal safety at veterans’ services locations; sensitivity of staff; and the effectiveness of department outreach.
A second report to assess all health care programs provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the health care needs of women veterans also would be required. The report would include “assessments of specialized programs for women with post-traumatic stress disorder, women who are homeless, women who require care for substance abuse or mental illnesses, and women who require obstetric and gynecologic care.”
A program “to provide graduate medical education, training, certification, and continuing medical education for mental health professionals who provide counseling, care, and services” to women veterans, including those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and sexual trauma, would be created.
The measure also would create a pilot program to assess the feasibility of providing child care subsidies to veterans who are the primary family caretakers and receiving regular or intensive mental health care services. The measure would authorize $1.5 million for FY2010 and FY2011 to carry out the pilot program.
An amendment by Chair Michael Michaud (D-ME) to reduce the number of days the secretary of Veterans Affairs would be authorized to provide routine health care services to the newborn of any woman veteran from 14 days to seven days was adopted by voice vote.
