Rep. Welch Pushes Electronic Records Bill To Improve Veterans’ Health Care

Rep. Peter Welch visited the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Montpelier Monday to champion a bill aimed at improving access to health care for military veterans. And the Vermont congressman is not alone in his support of the measure.

The legislation, termed the “21st Century Health Care for Heroes Act,” was one of nine bills introduced last week by an 81-member, bipartisan group of congressmen, known as the “Problem Solvers.”  The bill would connect electronic health records at the Department of Defense with those at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“If you’re active duty in the military, you get a medical record. The day you leave, you become a veteran, and you’re eligible to get veteran administration benefits and the most important benefit among them, of course, is medical care,” Welch told a group of reporters on Monday. “The Veterans Administration is having an enormously difficult time getting the military person’s record from when they served in active duty.”