Health Care Issues and Legislation
Lifetime TRICARE Sought for 'Unfit' Vets: A legislative proposal to provide lifetime TRICARE coverage to any service member discharged as "unfit" due to service-related physical or mental health conditions.
Increase Disability Pay/Disability Reform: A legislative proposal based on recommendations made by the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission to immediately increase veterans disability payments.
Help Reduce VA Wait Times: The Veterans Health Administration has repeatedly understated wait times for vets seeking medical care and in many serious cases forced them to wait over 30 days.
Boost Vets Medical Care: The Senate passed legislation containing big budget increases for medical care for vets. The bill now goes to conference to work out differences with the House version.
Senate to Vote on TBI, PTSD Funding: The Senate is scheduled to vote on bills to improve counseling and care for the tens of thousands of military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Clear the VA Claims Backlog: Rep. Mike McIntyre, a Democrat from Lumberton, signed on in May as a sponsor of a bill that, he said, could reduce the backlog of claims. The bill would create a pilot program to try to reduce the backlog.
Military Eye Trauma Treatment Act: U.S. Representative John Boozman (R-AR) has introduced critical legislation aimed at improving the care of American troops affected by combat eye trauma.
Mandatory Funding for VA Healthcare Opposed: Ranking Member Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) expressed stern opposition to replacing the current discretionary process for funding VA health care with an untried mandatory funding program.
Legislation Would Create Epilepsy Centers: The bill is an attempt to ensure that the VA is prepared and equipped to deal with one possible long-term impact of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) — the occurrence of epilepsy.
Education Benefits Issues and Legislation
Veterans' Education and Vocational Act: Veterans seeking high-intensity, short-term education would benefit under the Veterans' Education and Vocational Benefits Improvement Act of 2007.
Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance: A new benefits package proposed to cover costs of tuition, room and board, and a monthly stipend of $1,000 for service members who have served on active duty since September 11, 2001.
Montgomery GI Bill for Life: In an effort to extend the time veterans have to take advantage of their GI Bill benefits, Sen. Maria Cantwell has introduced the GI Bill for Life Act that would eliminate the 10-year time limit placed on GI Bill benefits.
Veterans Education Tuition Support Act : The Veterans Education Tuition Support Act (VETS), introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown, would financially help student-soldiers returning from deployment.
Expanding VA Loans, Education Benefits: The new legislation would eliminate the current requirement that servicemembers pay into the GI Bill program to receive educational benefits.
OJT Payment Rates Set to Increase: On October 1, 2008 the VA will increase the payment rates for all GI Bill related programs. This includes the Apprenticeship and On-the-Job Training (OJT) Program.
Community/Life Issues and Legislation
Medal Database to Prevent Fraud: A pair of congressmen want to establish the first database for military awards to help catch and prosecute military frauds. The database would be made available to law enforcement and certain researchers.
Veterans Benefits Awareness Act of 2007: The "Veterans Benefits Awareness Act of 2007" authorizes VA to purchase advertising in national media to promote awareness of benefits that are available to veterans.
Veterans' Personal Data Still at Risk: Veterans' personal data and health information remain at risk of identity theft because the Veterans Affairs Department has yet to implement several safety measures.
Bill to Allow Vets to Salute Flag: U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) has introduced a bill (S.1877) clarifying U.S. law to allow veterans and service personnel not in uniform to salute the flag.
Veterans Small Business Opportunity Act: The "Veterans Small Business Opportunity Act of 2007" would increase the amount of loans available to eligible small businesses when an essential employee is called-up to active duty.
Save the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: Officials at Arlington National Cemetery plan to replace the original Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with a new replica solely because of repairable cosmetic imperfections.
Find more military-related legislation and communicate with your elected officials at the Military.com Legislative Center.
