House Veterans Affairs Committee Approves Bill To Establish Access Standards for Veteran Health Care

The House Veterans Affairs Committee on Thursday passed by unanimous voice vote a bill (HR 2357) that would establish standards for veterans' access to medical care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to CongressDaily Markup Reports. Although the bill was not strongly debated, committee member Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.) said that the bill failed to address veterans' access to prescription drugs. Under current law, veterans cannot fill a prescription written by a civilian physician in a VA hospital unless the veteran is already receiving a pension or housebound benefits. The committee postponed a discussion on a proposal to improve veterans' prescription drug access because the proposal's sponsor, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.), was unable to attend the markup session (Steines, CongressDaily Markup Reports, 6/26).