The Mid-Atlantic Regional Group
Blinded Veterans Association
Legislative News
July 16, 2009
News from
House Votes to Strengthen Work Study Program for Returning Veterans
Veterans’ Affairs Committee Passes Bill to Provide Training and Support for Veteran Caregivers
“Today, this Committee passed a slate of bills that will have a significant impact on the lives of veterans when they become law,” said Chairman Filner. “I would specifically like to thank the freshman Members of this Committee for their ability to get right to work and address the needs of our Nation’s veterans.”
The Committee approved a comprehensive bill to expand necessary life insurance options for veterans and their families, as well as improve medical services at VA hospitals and clinics around the country. Also passed were bills to streamline the process for nonprofit research and education corporations to participate in VA research endeavors, increase the amount available to disabled veterans for structural improvements for their homes, and provide essential support and training to those caring for this Nation’s wounded veterans.
H.R. 3219 – To make certain improvements in the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs relating to insurance and health care. (Filner)
This comprehensive bill would expand options for veterans and service members to obtain life insurance policies that better fit their needs, and the needs of their families. The bill also improves health services for veterans by increasing participation of physician assistants at the Veterans Health Administration, prohibiting the collection of copayments for certain veterans who are catastrophically disabled, establishing a ‘Committee on Care of Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury’, expanding nursing home care for certain veterans, and allowing Medal of Honor recipients to receive a priority status for medical services.
H.R. 3219 includes provisions from eight bills previously approved by Subcommittees of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. The bills are H.R. 2774 (Halvorson), H.R. 2379 (Buyer), H.R. 2968, as amended (Kirkpatrick), H.R. 1197 (Mitchell), H.R. 1302 (Hare), H.R. 1335, as amended (Halvorson), H.R. 1546 (McNerney), and H.R. 2926, as amended (Nye).
H.R. 2770, as amended – Veterans Nonprofit Research and Education Corporations Enhancement Act of 2009 (Filner)
This bill would modify and update provisions of law relating to nonprofit research and education corporations so they can better support VA research. Specifically, this bill expands the general authorities on establishing nonprofit research corporations by authorizing the creation of multi-medical center research corporations where two or more VA medical centers share one corporation and improves accountability of the corporations by detailing the audit requirements.
H.R. 1293 – Disabled Veterans Home Improvement and Structural Alteration Grant Increase Act of 2009 (Buyer)
This bill provides an increase in the amount available to disabled veterans for improvements and structural alterations furnished as part of home health services.
H.R. 3155, as amended – Caregiver Assistance and Resource Enhancement Act (Michaud)
This bill would provide support services to family and non-family caregivers of veterans, including educational sessions on how to be a better caregiver; one-stop access to support services via a dedicated caregiver support Internet website; and information and outreach. The bill would also make counseling and mental health services available to family and non-family caregivers of veterans.
Chairman Filner offered the following support for H.R. 3155: “Today, the Committee passed a vital bill that will provide immediate support for our wounded warriors – by providing support to their caregivers. VA often relies on caregivers to deliver essential health care services and there is no question that they should be appropriately trained and supported. These caregivers provide necessary physical and emotional support to injured and sick veterans as they work towards recovery. I thank Mr. Michaud for his hard work to address the needs of the caregivers who sacrifice so much to attend to the needs of our veterans as they heal from the wounds of war.”
The bills will next be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives.
1) H.R. 1037 –
H.R. 1037 directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a five-year pilot project to test the feasibility and advisability of expanding the scope of qualifying veterans' work-study activities and authorizes student veterans to participate in work-study positions in academic departments.
Chairman Filner provided the following statement in support of H.R. 1037: “As a former university professor, I understand the financial hurdles of paying for a college education and strongly support all methods to make education more affordable for our veterans. This legislation provides an additional avenue for a student veteran to help pay for college and places them on par with other students in the same financial situation. Furthermore, these new work-study positions would provide student veterans with much needed job skills they can use in their professional career.”
2) H.R. 402 – To designate
the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in
H.R. 402 honors William C.
Tallent, a veteran who served his country as an infantryman with the 28th
Infantry Division in World War II. In December 1944, he was captured and became
a prisoner of war after being wounded and missing in action. After four months
of captivity, he was successful in escaping enemy hands. He was awarded two
Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for his bravery and service to our country. The
bill would designate the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in
Chairman Filner said, “Naming a
VA facility after William C. Tallent is a proper honor for an honorable
soldier. While the story of his service in World War II reads like a Hollywood
script, his life-long devotion to fellow veterans, humble demeanor, and career
as a public servant make him the perfect candidate for the naming of the
Veterans Outpatient Clinic in
Deadline Looms for VA-DOD Interagency Office on Military Electronic Health Records
Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, July 14, 2009, the House Veterans’ Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, led by Chairman Harry Mitchell (D-AZ), conducted a hearing to examine the progress of electronic health record interoperability between the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD).
Section 1635 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 mandated the establishment of an Interagency Program Office (IPO) to act as the single point of accountability in the rapid development and implementation of the electronic record systems that allow for full interoperability of personal health care information between the DoD and VA. The deadline to achieve this interoperable health record is September 30, 2009.
“As the September 30 deadline
for electronic health record interoperability approaches, it is imperative to
ensure that both the DOD and VA are organized and working together to deliver a
comprehensive system that will modernize and simplify record sharing between
Departments,” Chairman Mitchell said. “As a growing number of men and women
return from the battlefields in
Valerie Melvin of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) discussed the progress in setting up the IPO as well as apparent challenges that prevent the office from fulfilling key information technology management responsibilities. GAO stated in a March 2009 report that “VA and DoD have succeeded in increasing their ability to share and use health information. In particular, they are sharing pharmacy and drug allergy data in computable form—that is, in a format that a computer can understand and act on….the departments are now exchanging this type of data on over 27,000 shared patients—an increase of about 9,000 patients between June 2008 and January 2009.”
GAO states that the departments still have more to do: not all electronic health information is yet shared, and although VA’s health data are all captured electronically, information is still captured on paper at many DoD facilities. Further shortcomings include inadequate tools for performance measurement, project planning, and scheduling. Currently, according to GAO, IPO has developed performance goals for only one of six identified interoperability objectives.
The biggest challenge with meeting the mandated deadline is the clarity and interpretation of the language “fully interoperable.” GAO defines in their March 2009 report that “interoperability is the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged.” Rear Admiral Gregory Timberlake, Acting Director of the Interagency Program Office, testified that the September 30, 2009 deadline for an interoperable health record would be met. Subcommittee members expressed disappointment that the IPO would only be capable of interoperability, and would not be ready to execute “full interoperability” by the looming deadline.
“Although progress has been made toward our goal of shared electronic health records, I am disheartened at how little has been done,” said Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “Today’s testimony leads me to believe that the Interagency Program Office may meet the deadlines of the mandate, but clearly the spirit of the law has been ignored. Of particular concern is the inability to fill key leadership positions within the IPO. This is a leadership issue and must be given immediate attention.”
Witness List
Panel 1:
· Valerie C. Melvin,
Director, Information Management and Human Capital Issues,
Panel 2:
· Rear Admiral Gregory Timberlake, SCHE, USN, Acting Director, DOD/VA Interagency Program Office
Accompanied by:
o Cliff Freeman, MA, MS, Deputy Director, DOD/VA Interagency Program Office
· Mary Ann Rockey, Deputy
Chief Information Officer, Military Health
Accompanied by:
o Captain (Select) Michael Weiner, MC, USN, Chief Medical Officer, Defense Health Information Management System, U.S. Department of Defense
· Honorable Roger W.
Baker, Assistant Secretary for Information and
Accompanied by:
o Paul A. Tibbits, M.D., Deputy Chief Information Officer, Office of Enterprise and Development, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
o Scott Cragg, Executive
Director and Program Manager, Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record
o Douglas E. Rosendale,
DO, FACOS, Enterprise System Manager for Joint Interoperability Ventures, Office
of Health Information, Veterans Health Administration,
o Ross D. Fletcher, M.D., Chief of Staff, Washington, DC, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Prepared testimony for the hearing and a link to the webcast from the hearing is available on the internet at this link: http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx?newsid=427.
Tom Zampieri
Blinded Veterans Association
BVA's Legislative Alerts Group
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