Senators Tom Udall D-NM) www.tomudall.senate.gov and Jerry Moran (R KS) www.moran.senate.gov have introduced the “Rural Veterans Improvement Act” (S-2265) to address the barriers that veterans can face when trying to access quality healthcare in rural communities. Today, more than 6 million veterans including a third of all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans live in rural areas.
The bill will expand transportation options for rural veterans, improve access to local mental healthcare, create incentives for doctors and nurses to work in rural areas, require the VA to evaluate maintenance needs at community clinics, and prioritize urgent projects.
A four pronged approach would:
- Improve mental healthcare access by going beyond the Veterans Choice Act to make fee-for-service care available when treatment at a local clinic isn’t an option, or when treatment options such as complementary or alternative medicine are not available at a VA facility
- Expand transportation options by establishing a grant to support innovative transportation options to help veterans in rural areas
- Build and retain a rural healthcare workforce by establishing a pilot program to provide financial incentives for providers to work in rural areas by streamlining the hiring of retired military doctors in the VA healthcare system
- Improve rural VA clinics by introducing a bill that would require a comprehensive assessment of clinics that would require expansion or improvements to the clinics
To view the bill “Rural Veterans Improvement Act” (S-2265), go to www.congress.gov