House Passes Soldier, Veteran Care Improvements in Wake of Walter Reed Flap

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http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002480578.html

House Passes Soldier, Veteran Care Improvements in Wake of Walter Reed Flap
By Alex Wayne, CQ Staff

Without opposition, the House passed legislation Wednesday that aims to improve the care of wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bill (HR 1538) is Congress’ initial response to problems reported in the military’s overburdened medical bureaucracy, especially at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Passed on a roll call vote of 426-0, the bill would add caseworkers and counselors to the military’s medical system and force the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department to better coordinate the transfer of service members between the two bureaucracies.

More than 25,000 servicemembers have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon. Veterans groups have reported that many wounded soldiers have complained that the military provides improper or inadequate care.

The VA has come under fire as well, particularly for providing inadequate screenings and care for head wounds, which have become the signature injury in the two wars.

“There is no doubt that the military medical system has been overwhelmed in meeting the demands of war over the past four years,” Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., said Wednesday.
In the Senate

There is no Senate version of the bill. But Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., have offered an amendment to a war spending bill (HR 1591) that the Senate is considering this week.

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[Monkeyman]

1. Its about time