Veterans Health Equity Act of 2011

Mr. President, one of our greatest national priorities is ensuring that all students in all schools are in settings that are safe; classrooms that support learning; situations that ensure our children will be successful.

To be a successful student, to be a contributing citizen to our democracy, to be prepared for college and the workforce of tomorrow, our students need to be of sound mind, of sound body, and have access to resources that will support their success.

Students who travel to school safely; who attend classes in structurally sound buildings where the adults model positive teamwork and collaboration skills; where good nutrition is available and where opportunities for physical activity are available and expected; where they have a safe, supportive social environment, students who have all of these conditions in their schools will be prepared to achieve high academic standards.

In a country where almost one in every five children is obese, where thousands of students are bullied and harassed daily, and where access to high-quality mental and physical health care is limited, students must have these basic conditions for learning in order to be successful.

While the Department of Justice reports that the rate of serious incidents of school violence continue to decline, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, bullying remains a pervasive problem that affects almost one in four students each year. As

we have seen in recent times, sometimes bullying results in the worst possible tragedy, the death of a child.

Fifteen-year-old Phoebe Prince, a freshman at South Hadley High School in Massachusetts, endured nearly three months of routine torment by classmates. On January 14, 2010, Phoebe hanged herself in the stairwell of her family's home, following weeks of taunting by classmates. The day before she died, she told a friend: ``School has been close to intolerable lately.'' In California, thirteen-year-old Seth Walsh committed suicide this past October because of the bullying he experienced in his school. We need to have the expectations in all of our schools that all students will be valued and all students will have a safe haven to learn and achieve. In New York City, middle schooler Gurwinder Singh was targeted by bullies who bashed his head into a metal pole while bystanders watched, because of his Sikh religion. Luckily, Gurwinder survived, and has become an outspoken proponent of bullying prevention. We cannot stand idly by when school becomes a hostile place for kids.

Thus, today, I am introducing the Successful, Safe and Healthy Students Act. This legislation will advance student achievement and promote the positive physical, mental, and emotional health of students throughout the nation. It will help to reduce violence in schools, prevent bullying and harassment, help students make responsible choices about drugs, tobacco, and alcohol, and create the type of school environments where students can do their best work and achieve the highest possible academic outcomes, while also becoming healthy, happy and productive members of their communities.

Essential conditions for learning include schools that provide for adequate physical activity, positive mental health, and safe environments. Those conditions include physical and emotional safety for both students and school personnel and promote positive character development in our youth. Schools with the essential conditions for learning also provide for opportunities for good nutrition and healthy living, and are free of violence, harassment, bullying and other forms of interpersonal aggression. Schools that have the right conditions for learning are free of weapons and prevent the use and abuse of drugs and alcohol. And schools with good conditions for learning have positive adult role models with high expectations for students' development, conduct, and academic achievement.

For those who might be skeptical about these critical conditions for learning, we only need to look to the States and their efforts to improve school performance and accountability. Many States are moving beyond the limited measures of school performance required by No Child Left Behind and have started to collect data on school-wide factors that are associated with student success. Some of these areas include school climate, physical activity of students, and physical and emotional safety. In fact, a March 2011 report from the RAND Corporation indicated that many States are now establishing accountability systems that include school safety, school climate, family involvement, and student engagement.

This legislation will provide to each State the support necessary to measure the conditions for learning in each school in each school in the State. Resources will also be available to offer grants to school districts to establish policies and activities to improve the conditions for learning in each of their schools. This legislation gives State and local school districts the resources and opportunities to create safe, healthy schools that will enhance the academic achievement of students.

This legislation is an essential tool for our States and local schools to support students who are prepared for college, a career, and to be world-class citizens.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today I rise to introduce legislation to amend title 38, related to this Nation's obligation to provide benefits to our veterans. Specifically, the bill I introduce today with my distinguished colleagues, Senator Grassley of Iowa and Senator Tester of Montana, will waive collection of copayments for telehealth and telemedicine visits for Veterans.

More than 42,000 veterans are receiving care in their homes, enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration's, VHA, Telemedicine program as one form of treatment. In Alaska, as of March 2010, there were 226 veterans receiving this service. Just over a 100 of those live in rural Alaska.

Home Telehealth programs provide needed care for the 2-3 percent of veterans who account for 30 percent or more of agency resources. These men and women are frequent clinic attendees and often require urgent hospital admissions. VHA programs have demonstrated reduced hospital admissions and clinic and emergency room

visits, and contribute to an improved quality of life for our veterans.

For no group of veterans is this service more important than for those who live in rural and remote America. Telemedicine has become an increasingly integral component in addressing the needs of veterans residing in rural and remote areas, and is critical to ensuring they have proper access to health care, especially in rural areas.

While the VHA is saving taxpayers money by usingtelemedicine, currently all telemedicine visits require veterans receiving these treatments to make copayments. My legislation would implement a simple fix. It would waive the required copayments--sometimes up to $50 per visit--to lessen the burden on our veterans, who have sacrificed in service to our great nation. I believe that waiving these fees may encourage more veterans to take advantage of VHA's telehealth programs, which can be a godsend for rural veterans with few other viable options.

For rural veterans in Alaska, who have to travel by small float planes or boats or even snow machines to get to the nearest clinic for monitoring of their diabetes, high blood pressure, or other chronic conditions, Congress can go a long way in repaying this Nation's debt to our veterans by passing this legislation.

The VHA plans to expand Home Telehealth for weight management, substance abuse, mild traumatic brain injury, dementia, and palliative care, as well as enabling veterans to use mobile devices to access care. I would hate to see these vital services go unused by veterans living in remote villages and communities because of the cost of copayments. But, this is not primarily about saving veterans money. This is about the federal government doing what is good for our veterans. The monetary benefits for veterans are a plus.

Basically, this legislation will amend title 38 to authorize the waiver of the collection of copayments for telehealth and telemedicine visits of veterans by giving the Secretary the authority to do so.

In closing, I must say it is an honor for me to serve as a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. I feel very privileged to be involved with policy formation that helps our veterans. I appreciate my distinguished colleagues on the committee.

This is a bipartisan bill to address an issue with no partisan connection. I strongly encourage my colleagues to join Senators Grassley, Tester, and me in cosponsoring this legislation, and I urge expeditious consideration of the legislation to address a growing need for our rural veterans.

Mr. President, today I am introducing the Veterans Health Equity Act of 2011. This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that every State has either a full-service veterans hospital or, in the alternative, that veterans in every State have access to comparable in-state hospital care and medical services. I am pleased that my colleague from New Hampshire, Senator Ayotte, has agreed to be an original cosponsor of this measure.

New Hampshire is currently the only State that does not have either a full-service veterans medical center or a military hospital providing comparable services to veterans. While the staff of the Manchester VA Medical Center does an excellent job of caring for our State's veterans, this facility does not provide inpatient surgical care, emergency services or care in a number of critical specialties. This imposes a great burden on many New Hampshire veterans who are forced to travel out of state for a range of medical services.

New Hampshire has over 130,000 veterans and this number continues to grow as our troops return from major deployments in the Middle East. It is unconscionable that our veterans must board shuttles to larger VA facilities in Massachusetts or Vermont to get the medical care they have been promised in exchange for their service. Often, especially during the winter months, travel is difficult in New England, and our veterans should not be forced to drive long distances in order to receive the medical care they have earned and deserve.

Our goal is to ensure that New Hampshire veterans get the care they need as close to home as possible. This legislation provides the Department of Veterans Affairs with the flexibility to achieve this end in the most cost-effective manner. If it is not feasible for the VA to construct a new full-service hospital in New Hampshire or to provide the full panoply of hospital services at its existing medical center in Manchester, the legislation simply requires the VA to contract with other health providers to offer comparable in-state care.

I introduced similar legislation in the 111th Congress with our former colleague, Senator Judd Gregg. Since that time, the VA has established an effective contractual relationship with one hospital in New Hampshire, Concord Hospital, to expand in-state care for our veterans. I believe this type of partnership could be readily expanded. I have begun working with officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs to

find innovative ways to enhance public-private health care partnerships in New Hampshire and look forward to furthering that dialogue.

Our veterans deserve access to first-rate medical care, regardless of where they live. There are full-service veterans hospitals in 47 States and veterans in Alaska and Hawaii are able to receive care at military hospitals. New Hampshire alone has neither. I am hopeful that my colleagues will recognize this inequity and support this effort to provide New Hampshire veterans with the same access to quality local health care that veterans in every other State enjoy.

I look forward to working with the entire New Hampshire congressional delegation, with my Senate colleagues and with the Obama administration to end this injustice.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today I am introducing the Veterans Health Equity Act of 2011. This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that every State has either a full-service veterans hospital or, in the alternative, that veterans in every State have access to comparable in-state hospital care and medical services. I am pleased that my colleague from New Hampshire, Senator Ayotte, has agreed to be an original cosponsor of this measure.

New Hampshire is currently the only State that does not have either a full-service veterans medical center or a military hospital providing comparable services to veterans. While the staff of the Manchester VA Medical Center does an excellent job of caring for our State's veterans, this facility does not provide inpatient surgical care, emergency services or care in a number of critical specialties. This imposes a great burden on many New Hampshire veterans who are forced to travel out of state for a range of medical services.

New Hampshire has over 130,000 veterans and this number continues to grow as our troops return from major deployments in the Middle East. It is unconscionable that our veterans must board shuttles to larger VA facilities in Massachusetts or Vermont to get the medical care they have been promised in exchange for their service. Often, especially during the winter months, travel is difficult in New England, and our veterans should not be forced to drive long distances in order to receive the medical care they have earned and deserve.

Our goal is to ensure that New Hampshire veterans get the care they need as close to home as possible. This legislation provides the Department of Veterans Affairs with the flexibility to achieve this end in the most cost-effective manner. If it is not feasible for the VA to construct a new full-service hospital in New Hampshire or to provide the full panoply of hospital services at its existing medical center in Manchester, the legislation simply requires the VA to contract with other health providers to offer comparable in-state care.

I introduced similar legislation in the 111th Congress with our former colleague, Senator Judd Gregg. Since that time, the VA has established an effective contractual relationship with one hospital in New Hampshire, Concord Hospital, to expand in-state care for our veterans. I believe this type of partnership could be readily expanded. I have begun working with officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs to

find innovative ways to enhance public-private health care partnerships in New Hampshire and look forward to furthering that dialogue.

Our veterans deserve access to first-rate medical care, regardless of where they live. There are full-service veterans hospitals in 47 States and veterans in Alaska and Hawaii are able to receive care at military hospitals. New Hampshire alone has neither. I am hopeful that my colleagues will recognize this inequity and support this effort to provide New Hampshire veterans with the same access to quality local health care that veterans in every other State enjoy.

I look forward to working with the entire New Hampshire congressional delegation, with my Senate colleagues and with the Obama administration to end this injustice.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today to highlight the Veteran's Health Equity Act, a bill I am introducing with my colleague from the Granite State, Senator Jeanne Shaheen. I am pleased to support this bipartisan legislation that addresses an issue of importance to our Nation's heroic military veterans, especially in my home State of New Hampshire.

As a military spouse, I personally understand the commitment and sacrifice required of our service members and their families, and I am fully committed to ensuring that our heroes have access to the support and care they have earned. The bill we are introducing would level the playing field for veterans by requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to guarantee that veterans in every State have access to hospital care within their borders. As it stands now, New Hampshire is the only state in the nation without a full-service VA hospital or military hospital providing equivalent care to veterans. Specifically, the Veteran's Health Equity Act would require the VA to either provide a full-service VA hospital in every State or contract with civilian hospitals to provide veterans with a comparable level of care.

While some States, like Alaska and Hawaii, rely on large military medical facilities to compensate for gaps in VA medical care, New Hampshire lacks the military medical facilities to compensate for a lack of a full-service VA hospital. Yet, New Hampshire has one of the highest rates of veterans per capita in the country. New Hampshire veterans must travel out of State to Maine, Massachusetts, or Vermont to access certain kinds of specialty care. Elderly veterans are often bused by volunteers during the treacherous winter months to an out of state service provider only to have their appointment canceled. Simply put, the lack of a full-service VA hospital in New Hampshire is unacceptable and our veterans deserve better.

As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I will continue to press for a full-service VA hospital in New Hampshire and explore all legislative remedies to ensure that our New Hampshire veterans receive the care they deserve. My 95 year old grandfather, John Sullivan, a World War II veteran, and veterans like him who have selflessly served our country, have earned high-quality medical care that is commensurate with their courageous service. We must honor our commitments to America's brave veterans. The Veteran's Health Equity Act will help ensure every veteran in the United States can access quality medical care without having to travel to another State.