Moolenaar unveils bills to improve care programs for veterans

U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) introduced two bipartisan bills on Oct. 27 that would strengthen the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) care programs for patients by improving advocacy and transparency.

“Our veterans deserve to have better service from the VA, and I have heard from many veterans that there are simply not enough patient advocates at the VA,” Rep. Moolenaar said.

The Veterans Patient Advocacy Act, H.R. 5755, was sponsored by Rep. Moolenaar and lead original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI). The bill would require the VA to appropriately staff its patient advocacy programs at medical facilities by increasing the number of patient advocates for veterans, according to the text of the bill.

“The legislation we are introducing today will increase the number of patient advocates and improve accountability, so our veterans will receive better care and attention from VA staff,” Rep. Moolenaar said on Wednesday.

Rep. Dingell added that VA patient advocates are currently assigned to multiple medical centers at one time. “This bipartisan legislation would address this challenge by ensuring every veteran has easy access to a patient advocate and that patient advocates have the bandwidth to fulfill their duties,” she said.

Rep. Moolenaar also helped introduce the Patient Advocate Tracker Act, H.R. 5754, legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) and cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI). That bill would create an online portal where veterans can submit and track formal complaints about the delivery of health care services they received at the VA.

The bills are supported by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the Student Veterans of America (SVA).