Full Text of HR0968 99th General Assembly
HR0968 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The United States Department of Veterans Affairs | 3 | | (VA): Veterans Health Administration
facilitates health care | 4 | | for U.S. veterans that include both physical and mental health | 5 | | services; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Veteran Health Administration hospitals and | 7 | | health care clinics are located
throughout the United States to | 8 | | offer high quality care to our nation's veterans; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Basic eligibility for veterans to qualify for | 10 | | health benefits through the VA are, serving in active military | 11 | | service and being separated under anything other
than a | 12 | | dishonorable discharge; current and former members of the | 13 | | reserves or National Guard who were
called to active duty by a | 14 | | federal order and completed the full period for which they were | 15 | | called
or ordered to active duty may also be eligible for VA | 16 | | health benefits; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, The VA operates an annual enrollment system that | 18 | | helps to
manage the provision of health care and applies a | 19 | | variety of factors during the application
verification process | 20 | | when determining a veteran's eligibility for enrollment; once a | 21 | | veteran is
enrolled, he/she remains enrolled in the VA health | 22 | | care system with access to certain VA health
benefits; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Recent studies on veteran access to health care | 2 | | have shown that former members of
the reserves and National | 3 | | Guard face greater barriers to access through the VA health | 4 | | care
system; these veterans face a more complex set of | 5 | | eligibility rules and barriers to gain access; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, These studies have shown that despite lengthy | 7 | | periods of service, many reserves and
National Guard veterans | 8 | | are not eligible for health care and other basic benefits | 9 | | provided by the
VA because they have not met the complex | 10 | | "active duty" and "length of service" requirements to
meet the | 11 | | legal definition of "veteran" used by the VA; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Veteran status for VA benefits depends on a number | 13 | | of factors, such as having
served during wartime (which | 14 | | requires 90 continuous days of service), or peacetime (which
| 15 | | requires 180 continuous days of service), and whether the | 16 | | veteran was called to duty under state
or federal law; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, These complex rules often lead to unfair results | 18 | | and make it difficult to receive
proper health care for | 19 | | veterans that were in the reserves or National Guard, who | 20 | | served in the
U.S. Armed Forces both during times of peace and | 21 | | war; therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 2 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 3 | | urge the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs to make | 4 | | changes to eligibility for health care through the
Veterans | 5 | | Health Administration to allow for a better rules process to | 6 | | assist veterans from the reserves and National Guard in | 7 | | receiving the proper health care they have earned for serving | 8 | | in the United
States Armed Forces; and be it further
| 9 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 10 | | presented to the President of the United
States, Barack Obama, | 11 | | the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Robert McDonald, President | 12 | | of the
Senate, Mitch McConnell, and the Speaker of the House of | 13 | | Representatives, Paul Ryan.
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