Lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee are demanding that the Department of Veterans Affairs take steps to improve the care it delivers to women veterans, and say the VA still faces “challenges” in this area that need to be addressed.
Among those problems is difficult carrying out “the medical procedures that women expect” when visiting their doctor.
“[T]he committee requests an analysis of the challenges facing female veterans within the VA health care system and the means within VA to address those challenges,” House appropriators wrote in a report accompanying the VA spending bill it passed Wednesday. “The report should include what VA has accomplished and how it plans to bring more services to women.”
Appropriators said they want that report within 90 days. While that request isn’t a part of the VA spending bill, agencies typically comply with these kinds of requests when made by the committee that approves funding.
The report language highlighted several problems, including “inadequacies” in VA facilities for female patients. “In many cases, facilities lack the equipment and cannot execute the medical procedures that women expect when visiting their healthcare providers,” it said.
It indicated that the VA can’t deliver “gender-specific care” to female patients. “The committee is concerned that VA is not adequately addressing the health needs of female veterans, including obstetrics and gynecological care, and treatment for gender-specific conditions and diseases,” it said.
The other problems the committee identified included the lack of attention currently paid to the unique female-oriented treatment of PTSD, and particular problems with providing care to women in “underserved” rural or urban areas.
“The committee urges the Secretary to seek to hire more female healthcare professionals in order to provide female veterans greater opportunities to choose the gender of their healthcare provider,” the report added.
The report outlined the entire VA spending proposal, which calls for $176 billion, a $13 billion increase over current spending levels. The same report also highlighted that the national opioid epidemic that has been a focus of this Congress has not left veterans unscathed.
“The committee notes that, with the problem of opioid use disorders escalating among veterans, it is important that VA continue its efforts to partner with states to ensure that they have the capacity to exchange prescription drug information with VA,” the report said. It again demanded an analysis of this problem within 90 days on this issue.
