Type of content: News
The Military Coalition can make Congress tremble from time to time by presenting a united front of millions of members from more than 30 military associations and veterans’ service organizations in support of, or opposition to, legislation affecting military folks and veterans.
Type of content: News
he Veterans Affairs Department has asked for new legislation that would let it pay for private health care for veterans who live near a VA clinic but can't get the treatment they need because it's not offered at that location.
VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson told the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Tuesday that vets are "frustrated" with the VA Choice program, particularly the requirement that measures eligibility by a veteran's proximity to any VA health facility — even those that are not full-service medical centers.
Type of content: News
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- They signed up to fight for their country, and the state of Texas promised to pay for their education.
For decades, veterans went to public universities and colleges under the Hazlewood Exemption, which kicks in after federal benefits under the G.I. Bill are exhausted. But the price tag has increased sevenfold since 2009, when legislators in Texas - which has the country's second-highest veteran population, 1.7 million - allowed the benefit to be passed on to veterans' children under a legacy provision.
Type of content: News
WASHINGTON – Today, Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced the Homeless Veterans Prevention Act of 2015. This legislation would build on existing homeless veterans programs at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by investing in established programs that are proven to be effective and removing any residual barriers to housing for veterans.
Type of content: News
WASHINGTON — VA doctors could refer veterans to state medical marijuana programs under a landmark reform bill floated in the Senate on Tuesday.
The bill would end the federal prohibition against pot as a medical treatment, clearing away any ambiguity for patients in states that have approved its use. It mirrors a House bill filed last month and specifically allows physicians and health care providers at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities across the country to recommend it.
Type of content: News
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Elizabeth Davis saw three combat zones during one tour of duty and dodged bullets just like her male comrades. Still, the Enfield womant says she has never been treated as an equal in her 24 years as a soldier, and she doesn't believe that will change once she retires at the end of this year.
Type of content: News
Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald told lawmakers on Wednesday that the department is on track to meet two lofty goals set by his predecessor: End the disability claims backlog and veteran homelessness.
But McDonald, in testimony before the veterans' affairs panel of the House Appropriations Committee, offered a laundry list of figures and some projections indicating that whatever victories the VA may achieve in the next year or so, the pieces already are set for the making of another one.
Type of content: News
The House passed a bill Monday night that would authorize the Department of Veterans' Affairs to enter contracts with medical foster homes to pay for veterans' long-term care.
Type of content: News
The Department of Veterans Affairs is failing to make enough rural health care available to veterans who live far from VA medical centers, a breakdown that violates the intent of a 2014 federal law, more than two dozen senators say.
They helped pass the Veterans Choice, Access and Accountability Act, meant in part to improve health care access for veterans who live more than 40 miles from VA facilities or who must wait more than a month for VA care.
Type of content: News
Military advocacy groups showed a mixed reaction Wednesday to a plan to overhaul the Tricare health program, with some expressing conditional support for proposed reform and one pitching its own plan.