FILE – A sign marks the entrance to the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital on May 30, 2014 in Hines, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) TOPICS: Veterans VA services Claims process Bipartisan bills Benefits Health care Survivors Advocacy (TNND) — House lawmakers gathered this week to discuss more than a dozen bills meant to improve services for veterans and their survivors.
Rep. Morgan Luttrell, a Texas Republican who chairs the subcommittee that held the hearing , said the slate of bills would help veterans and their survivors navigate the Department of Veterans Affairs claims and appeals process and improve access to VA benefits.
He said the bills would ensure veterans can be buried together with their family members, improve the VA appeals process, ensure there is medical research available to pave the way to compensate military pilots and air crew for conditions due to service-related radiation and other exposures, make the VA claims process more transparent and understandable, ensure that VA issues accurate decisions on claims based on military sexual trauma, and require the VA to give equal attention to the needs of veterans’ survivors. Luttrell introduced two bipartisan bills this month.
One would prevent VA from denying a veteran’s benefit claim just because of a missed claims exam.
“Many of these veterans have pursued their VA claims for years and appeared for multiple exams,” Luttrell said at the Wednesday hearing . “Veterans should not, should not be forced to start their claims over because they miss one exam.”
Luttrell’s other bill addresses cost-of-living adjustments.
“This bill would adjust certain VA benefits with inflation rates to help veterans and their families pay their bills and put food on the table,” Luttrell said.
Ranking Member Morgan McGarvey, a Kentucky Democrat, said their committee is focused on “veteran-centered policy” that’s “not right or left” but concerned with what’s “right and wrong.”
Jim Whaley, a 20-year Army veteran and the CEO of advocacy group Mission Roll Call , applauded the lawmakers’ efforts to improve VA services.“This has been something veterans, veteran support organizations, have been looking for and asking for for some time,” Whaley said. “And that is a […]
Over a dozen bills meant to improve VA services for veterans
