Health Care News
Silent Warriors: Can Tompkins Help Surging Number of Female Vets?
Monday, August 3, 2015 | Category: Health Care - New York
In Part VI of "Hope on the Homefront," the Ithaca Voice's 10-part series on the struggles of the area's veterans, Jenny Pacanowski, a combat medic who served in Iraq in 2004, shared how she essentially managed her recovery without any help from the community. Today in New York's Tompkins County there are projects for returning veterans focused on giving assistance and making sure others do not have to "go it alone" like Jenny did.
Senator Shaheen: We Must Provide Better Contraceptive Access to Women in the Military
Thursday, May 21, 2015 | Category: Health Care - National
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) wants to ensure military women are provided complete and current contraceptive information. More than 350,000 women currently serve on active duty today and 97% are of reproductive age. The rate of unintended pregnancy for servicewomen is 50% higher than the civilian population.
How We’re Failing Our Female Veterans
Thursday, May 21, 2015 | Category: Health Care - National
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is struggling to keep up with the influx of female patients. The number of women veterans almost doubled between 2003 and 2012, from 200,631 to 362,014. It’s expected to double again by 2020. Women veterans Ruth Moore, Katelyn Labbe, Stephanie Grant and Judy Atwood Bell share their past experiences within the Department of Defense (DOD) and the VHA to include sexual assault, lack of women-specific body armor as well as unavailability of female prosthetics and contraceptives. Today, these women veterans are active vet-to-vet peer advocates. Additionally, LaRhonda Harris, Maine VA Women Veterans (Health) Program Manager, shares her perspectives on the importance of VA women's clinics, gender-specific care, physician staffing, maternity care and psychological well being.
Congress Will Finally Help Military Women Get the Birth Control They Need
Wednesday, May 20, 2015 | Category: Health Care - National
The 2016 National Defense annual defense policy bill includes a provision mandating military clinics and hospitals to be able to fill prescriptions for any of the 18 Food and Drug Administration-approved methods of contraception for women in the military. If this bill passes, the pills, patches, rings, and more must be made available to military women. Overseas-deployed women service members have had difficulty getting their specific type of birth control dispensed.
Lawmakers Back Broader Access to Contraceptives for Women in the Military
Tuesday, May 19, 2015 | Category: Health Care - National
Congress moved to guarantee military women greater access to contraceptives. The legislation states that military clinics and hospitals must be able to dispense any Food and Drug Administration-approved method of contraception. Military women complained that they are sometimes unable to obtain physician-prescribed contraceptives, especially when they are deployed overseas.
DAV Calls for Congress to Set Firm Deadlines to Create Equitable Services for Women Veterans
Tuesday, April 21, 2015 | Category: Health Care - National
DAV's report, Women Veterans: The Long Journey Home, identified significant service gaps for women veterans across the federal landscape in health care services, housing options for homeless women veterans, transition assistance, employment, community support services, and specialized mental health services for survivors of sexual assault.
Senator Patty Murray Introduces The Women Veterans and Families Health Services Act of 2015
Wednesday, February 11, 2015 | Category: Health Care - National
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced the Women Veterans and Families Health Services Act of 2015. This bill would expand treatment and care at the Veterans Administration to include fertility treatment for spouses of severely wounded veterans, adoption assistance for veteran families and make permanent a veterans child care services pilot program at VA.
America’s Servicewomen, Military Families Need Congress to Pass Shaheen/Speier Bill
Wednesday, February 4, 2015 | Category: Health Care - National
The "Access to Contraception for Women Servicemembers and Dependents Act" t would require TRICARE to cover all Food and Drug Administration-approved methods of contraception without cost-sharing. The Department of Defense (DoD) would be required to use evidence-based standards when counseling on and prescribing birth control, to develop a uniform standard curriculum for family planning education programs, and to improve access to emergency contraception for servicewomen who survive sexual assault.
Compensation Commission Testifies on Health Issues
Tuesday, February 3, 2015 | Category: Health Care - National
Aligning the DOD and VA pharmacy formularies was presented as beneficial to service members and veterans and possibly prevent suicides.
America's Women's Veterans Deserve Better
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 | Category: Health Care - National
Current data indicates our country doesn't fully meet the unique physical, emotional and employment needs of women veterans. They receive less support than their male counterparts from government programs primarily designed for men.