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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The United States Department of Veterans Affairs
3(VA): Veterans Health Administration facilitates health care
4for U.S. veterans that include both physical and mental health
5services; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Veteran Health Administration hospitals and
7health care clinics are located throughout the United States to
8offer high quality care to our nation's veterans; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Basic eligibility for veterans to qualify for
10health benefits through the VA are, serving in active military
11service and being separated under anything other than a
12dishonorable discharge; current and former members of the
13reserves or National Guard who were called to active duty by a
14federal order and completed the full period for which they were
15called or ordered to active duty may also be eligible for VA
16health benefits; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The VA operates an annual enrollment system that
18helps to manage the provision of health care and applies a
19variety of factors during the application verification process
20when determining a veteran's eligibility for enrollment; once a
21veteran is enrolled, he/she remains enrolled in the VA health
22care system with access to certain VA health benefits; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Recent studies on veteran access to health care
2have shown that former members of the reserves and National
3Guard face greater barriers to access through the VA health
4care system; these veterans face a more complex set of
5eligibility rules and barriers to gain access; and
 
6    WHEREAS, These studies have shown that despite lengthy
7periods of service, many reserves and National Guard veterans
8are not eligible for health care and other basic benefits
9provided by the VA because they have not met the complex
10"active duty" and "length of service" requirements to meet the
11legal definition of "veteran" used by the VA; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Veteran status for VA benefits depends on a number
13of factors, such as having served during wartime (which
14requires 90 continuous days of service), or peacetime (which
15requires 180 continuous days of service), and whether the
16veteran was called to duty under state or federal law; and
 
17    WHEREAS, These complex rules often lead to unfair results
18and make it difficult to receive proper health care for
19veterans that were in the reserves or National Guard, who
20served in the U.S. Armed Forces both during times of peace and
21war; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
2NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
3urge the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to make
4changes to eligibility for health care through the Veterans
5Health Administration to allow for a better rules process to
6assist veterans from the reserves and National Guard in
7receiving the proper health care they have earned for serving
8in the United States Armed Forces; and be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
10presented to the President of the United States, Barack Obama,
11the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Robert McDonald, President
12of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, and the Speaker of the House of
13Representatives, Paul Ryan.