[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 94 (Tuesday, June 24, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H5798-H5799]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE RURAL VETERANS ACCESS TO CARE ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, I represent a rural area, 64,000 square 
miles, 68 counties, and it goes without saying it is a long ways 
between towns. In an area like this, veterans ofttimes have a hard time 
accessing healthcare. Let me give a real example. Let us say a veteran 
lives in Ogalala, Nebraska, which is in the western part of the State 
but is by no means the most remote part of the State, and let us say 
that individual has to go to Omaha, Nebraska to a VA hospital which is 
350 miles away, and he may just be going for a routine blood test, 
diabetes checkup, blood pressure checkup, or any type of simple checkup 
of that nature. Ofttimes when he makes an appointment, the appointment 
will not be fulfilled for 6 months. So he waits for 6 months, and that 
veteran at that time then gets up at 4 a.m. and leaves for North 
Platte, Nebraska, which is 50 miles away. After he gets to North 
Platte, he boards a van to go to Grand Island, Nebraska, where he 
spends the night and that is another 140 miles, and early the next day 
he gets on another van, goes to the VA hospital in Omaha, a 3-hour 
trip. He completes the test that day and then he returns to Grand 
Island for the night, and the next day he takes the van from Grand 
Island to North Platte, another 140 miles, and then he gets a ride to 
Ogalala, another 50 miles. So he has waited 6 months, he has had a 3-
day trip to go 660 miles for routine tests. This is ridiculous.
  Had the veteran driven his own car or had somebody drive his own car, 
he still would have had an 11-hour trip and it would have taken at 
least 2 days, if not 3.
  Let me give an urban example. Let us say that someone, a veteran with 
the same health problem lived in Richmond, Virginia. It would be the 
same as if that individual from Richmond, Virginia drove to New York 
City and back for basic medical care. Those same tests that were 
performed in Omaha, Nebraska at the VA hospital could have been done at 
the local hospital in a matter of three or four blocks away or maybe a 
couple of minutes away from that veteran, and sometimes because of 
their age some of our World War II veterans are having a hard time 
traveling today, maybe a disability, maybe the weather, a blizzard or a 
snowstorm, and the veteran simply does not get the healthcare at all. 
He does not even try because he is not able to make the trip.
  So that is why I have introduced H.R. 2973, the Rural Veterans Access 
to Care Act. H.R. 2973 would allow the VA to contract for care with 
local medical facilities. The only stipulation is that the veteran must 
travel at least 60 miles or more for the care. Some people say that 
only happens in Montana or North Dakota or South Dakota or Nebraska. 
And it is true. Those States would be hard hit. But there probably are 
hardly any States in the Union with the exception of maybe Rhode Island 
or Connecticut or someplace like that where we do not have at least 
some veterans who are somewhat isolated from VA hospitals and are 
having to go great lengths to get their medical care. H.R. 2973 would 
set aside 5 percent of the VA funding to contract with local medical 
facilities for veterans living in rural areas. By contracting with 
local clinics in remote areas, number one, medical care would be 
prompt, it would not be a four to five to six-month wait. Number two, 
veterans who have difficulty traveling would be served. They would not 
have to just simply give up on getting medical care. Number three, 
there will be no additional cost and might even cost

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less. And number four, the local hospital or clinic, which is often 
struggling to survive in a small town, would receive added funds.
  So I think this bill makes sense. I would urge my colleagues to 
support it.

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