Vets bill reflects Boozman efforts

WASHINGTON — The Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, which passed in the Senate last week, reflects the work of U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. The two lawmakers had teamed up to introduce the Deborah Sampson Act designed to remove obstacles to health care services that many women veterans encounter.

Language from the Boozman-Tester bill, first introduced in 2017, was included in the larger piece of legislation.

The bill had

strong backing from veterans groups.

Arkansas has an estimated 19,000 women veterans, and Boozman said they deserve quality care.

“VA facilities need to be updated to accommodate the growing number of women veterans so we can meet their needs. Ensuring the VA has the capability to provide more equitable care and services is key to fulfilling our promise. Passage of this bill will enable us to better support women who answer the call to serve their nation in uniform,” he said in a written statement.

Tester said the nation has “a sacred duty” to provide better care for the nation’s nearly 2 million women veterans.

Currently, roughly one in 10 veterans are women. They’ll account for one in six veterans by 2045, according to one estimate.

The Deborah Sampson Act is named after a Massachusetts woman who disguised herself as a man so she could serve in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

Wounded in battle, the U.S. Congress eventually awarded her a pension.

Tester

Boozman