Guthrie Votes to Support Veterans, Streamline VA Bureaucracy

Press Release

Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02) today voted for key measures that will help veterans get the benefits and health care they have earned, while making it easier for veterans to navigate the complicated bureaucracy at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

"One of our most important responsibilities as members of Congress is to make good on the promises made to those who have served us in uniform,"said Guthrie. "I hear every day from constituents about their experiences trying to get health care and benefits from the VA. Many report that they are satisfied with the service received from their local VA providers, but far too many veterans are still facing the nightmare of ongoing delays and excessive hurdles. Today, Congress voted to make it easier for veterans and their families to navigate the VA's complicated bureaucracy -- a necessary first step to ensuring that all veterans have access to the services they have earned."

The House passed the following pieces of legislation to help veterans:

· The Veterans TRICARE Choice Act of 2016 (H.R. 5458) would make it possible for certain veterans who are eligible for TRICARE benefits to also contribute to Health Savings Accounts.

· The No Hero Left Untreated Act (H.R.5600) would require the VA to carry out a one-year-pilot program to increase treatments available to veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, chronic pain, opioid addiction, or who have experienced military sexual trauma.

· The WINGMAN Act (H.R.5166) would allow veterans to authorize qualified congressional staffers to access their claims information, cutting out the VA as a middle-man when veterans seek help from their members of Congress.

· H.R.4757 would allow the VA to provide headstones for Medal of Honor recipients who are buried in private cemeteries.

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