After hearing from veterans frustrated by a lack of timely access to quality health care, today Rep. Randy Feenstra (IA-04) sent a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough demanding answers. According to the VA, a veteran seeking mental health care in the 4th District is forced to wait 27 days on average.
“My office has been working with veterans whose cases range from being told to endure their ailments for months at a time, being forced to travel over 50 miles for their treatment, and a lack of mental health treatment and compassion after the fall of Afghanistan. No matter the case, the gap in the system that rural veterans are falling into is unacceptable,” Feenstra wrote.
Feenstra discussed the issues veterans face when attempting to visit private health care providers, after many have stopped seeing veterans because the VA has failed to reimburse them in a timely manner. Feenstra expressed optimism that the VA’s proposal to develop an Office for Integrated Veteran Care will result in a better system that closes gaps in rural areas. Additionally, he conveyed frustration on behalf of veterans in the 4th District who have felt the VA treated them with a lack of decency.
After raising attention to these issues, Feenstra demanded answers from Secretary McDonough on the following questions:
- How will the Office for Integrated Veteran Care minimize the wait times veterans in my district face?
- What is being done to streamline the reimbursement process, so more health care providers opt into the system?
- Is the Independence Line being considered a substitute for mental health care for veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq?
Background
Earlier this year, Feenstra joined the Iowa delegation in advocating for the Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans’ Mental Health Act, a bill named in honor of Sgt. Brandon Ketchum, an Iowan and Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tragically, Sgt. Ketchum took his own life after failing to receive the mental health care he needed from the VA. This bill, which seeks to expand mental health services for veterans in rural areas, was signed into law in June.
Feenstra is also an original cosponsor of the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Peer Support Program Act, a bill that authorizes the VA to establish a program for the development of peer-to-peer mental health programs for veterans.
Original source can be found here
