Underwood Questions VA Secretary on Health Care Priorities, Pushes for Proactive Communication on Coronavirus

WASHINGTON— Today, in a House Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) questioned the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert Wilkie on the VA's priorities, and how it will work to improve the quality of care veterans receive following the department's Fiscal Year 2021 budget request. In her questioning, Underwood expressed concern that the VA's budget request may not be sufficiently targeted to address ongoing gaps in care for women veterans.

Additionally, Underwood pressed Secretary Wilkie on the current steps that VA and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) are taking to ensure veterans have the information they need to protect themselves and their families from the spread of coronavirus.

"The President has recently submitted a supplemental appropriations request in order to respond to COVID-19, or coronavirus. This package does not include any specific funding to assist VHA facilities in the event they need to respond to COVID-19 cases. Given the diverse population of patients, VA facilities interact with on a regular basis, this is obviously something that we need to ensure we are planning for," said Underwood.

Full video of Underwood's remarks can be found here.

As a member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the Servicewomen & Women Veterans Congressional Caucus, and the Women Veterans Task Force, Underwood is an advocate for improving veterans' access to quality care and has worked to help ensure veterans receive the care they have earned. Last August, Underwood introduced the bipartisan Veterans Preventive Health Coverage Fairness Act to make health care more affordable for veterans. The legislation would ensure preventive health services including contraception, immunizations, and cancer screenings would be available to veterans without copays. In May 2019, Underwood's bipartisan legislation to ensure high-quality mental health and suicide prevention care for veterans passed the U.S House of Representatives unanimously. The Veterans' Care Quality Transparency Act helps ensure both the VA and outside providers are offering veterans high-quality mental health and suicide prevention services. In September, Underwood introduced the ACE Veterans Act and the Post-9/11 Veteran Suicide Prevention Counseling Act to improve access to quality care for veterans.