One of the recurring themes you’ve heard in the realm of veterans affairs dating about as far as you can remember is the claims backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the long amount of time it takes for veterans to get the help they need for disability claims
Two bills are working to shorten that time in different ways.
In the Senate we’ve got The Medical Disability Exams Improvement Act being sponsored by Senator Jon Tester of Montana. It would in part..
– Require the VA to improve rural veterans’ access to disability examinations and strengthen VA’s ability to hire medical disability examiners to conduct exams.
-Eliminate redundant exams for toxic-exposed veterans filing for conditions and develop a mechanism for contract examiners to transmit evidence introduced by veterans during their exam for their claim.
And in the House of Representatives from my home state of Florida (when the rent in Orlando allows me to live there), Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Rep. Juan Ciscomani from Arizona have filed the “Veterans Exam Expansion Act” which would “expand the pool of providers eligible to cross state lines when conducting disability exams for veterans.” Both sponsors are part of the House Committee of Veterans Affairs.
Both of these pieces of legislation deserve our support.
This is about eliminating obstacles which should have been addressed years ago. And with the PACT Act the demand for more examinations will only increase.
And both bills have support from both parties.
As written, there really isn’t a reason to not support these initiatives.
It’s all about working to ensure that all of our veterans receive the benefits they’ve earned.
Call your members of congress and tell them to support both the “The Medical Disability Exams Improvement Act” and the “Veterans Exam Expansion Act” today.
Many of the veterans in the communities I write about don’t have a voice. I look to highlight their struggles, many which overlap my own. If you’d like to help the blog, you can below.
Plus: Another bill that would protect veterans who are trying to become homeowners HERE