Ernst’s bill to upgrade healthcare for U.S. military veterans signed into law

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) bipartisan, bicameral Department of Energy Veterans’ Health Initiative Act recently became law. 

“This new law will allow for greater collaboration and innovation between government agencies and it will spur the development of new tools to improve the health and wellbeing of our veterans,” Sen. Ernst said on Jan. 5.

Sen. Ernst’s bill, S. 143, aims to improve veterans’ health by increasing collaboration between the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The departments will be tasked with applying innovative, data-driven, approaches to improving health outcomes for America’s military veterans.

“Our veterans deserve the best quality care possible, and in order to tackle the wide array of health concerns these heroes face — such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress — we need an all-of-the-above approach,” said Sen. Ernst.  

Specifically, the senator’s bill authorizes a program under DOE to support new research targeted on developing tools to solve large-scale data analytics and management challenges facing veterans’ health, and to support the VA’s efforts to identify potential health risks among veterans, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Ernst’s office. 

The measure also establishes partnerships to improve data sharing between federal agencies, institutions of higher education, and nonprofits, the summary says.

Sen. Ernst sponsored S. 143 on Jan. 16, 2019 with original cosponsors that included U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH). The identical bill, H.R. 617, was introduced on the same date in the U.S. House by U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL).