Grassley Joins Bill to Improve Health Care for Women Veterans

Press Release

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation to ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adapts its health care programs to meet the needs of the expanding female veteran population.

"The Department of Veterans Affairs should offer health care that fits the population it serves," Grassley said. "Increasingly, the veterans population consists of women. Programs haven't always kept up, and this bill will help bring services up to speed. Women who have served our country should have modern, responsive, quality health care."

Today, nearly 2.3 million women are veterans of military service, and that number is expected to continually grow, as women comprise 15 percent of the U.S. military's active duty personnel and 18 percent of the National Guard and Reserve forces.

The Women Veterans Access to Quality Care Act requires:

* the VA to establish standards in VA health care facilities to meet the specific needs of women veterans and integrate these standards into prioritization for construction projects;
* analysis of women's health outcomes as a performance measure for VA medical center executives;
* every VA medical center to have a full-time obstetrician and/or gynecologist;
* improved outreach to veterans by requiring the VA to provide state veterans agencies with contact information for veterans; and
* a Government Accountability Office study of the VA's ability to meet the needs of women veterans and their privacy and security in VA facilities.

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