May 2022 — MHCE Newsletter

WWW.MHCE.US Monthly Newsletter | 29
Veterans to Get Improved
Access to Mammograms
Through Bills Headed to
Biden's Desk
Veterans, including those who
may be at increased risk for
breast cancer because of their
service near burn pits, could
have better access to breast
cancer screenings under a pair
of bills that cleared Congress
this week.
The House on Wednesday
night voted 418-0 to approve
the Dr. Kate Hendricks
Thomas Supporting Expanded
Review for Veterans in
Combat Environments, or
SERVICE, Act, which would
require the Department of
Veterans Affairsto conduct
mammograms for all women
who served near burn pits
or other toxic exposures,
regardless of symptoms, age
or family history.
The chamber also voted 419-0
to pass the Making Advances
in Mammography and Medical
Options, or MAMMO, for
Veterans Act, which would
require the VA to craft a
strategic plan to improve
breast imaging services within
a year, create a three-year pilot
program of telemammography
for veterans in areas where the
VA does not offer in-house
mammograms, and expand
veterans' access to clinical
trials through partnerships
with the National Cancer
Institute.
Both bills passed the Senate
unanimously in March,
meaning they now only await
President Joe Biden's signature
before becoming law.
The Dr. Kate Hendricks
Thomas SERVICE Act is
named after a Marine Corps
veteran who died in April after
being diagnosed with stage
4 breast cancer at age 38.
Thomas served near a burn pit
in Iraq and was unaware she
faced an elevated risk of breast
cancer, but was advised to get
a mammogram in 2018 during
a routine medical exam.
In written testimony last year,
Thomas told senators that she
"needed that mammogram
sooner."
"Early detection and treatment
are key in the fight against
breast cancer," Sen. John
Boozman, R-Ark., the lead
sponsor of the bill, said in
a statement when the bill
passed the Senate. "Given
the additional risk factors
associated with toxic exposure,
which we know has occurred
in recent combat settings, the
VA must update its policies
so vulnerable veterans can
receive mammograms."
Passage of the bill came the
same day senators announced
a bipartisan deal to greatly
expand health care and
benefits for veterans suffering
from illnesses related to toxic
exposure. While the full text of
the agreement has not yet been
released, the House-passed
bill upon which the deal is
based did not include breast
cancer as one of the ailments
for which benefits would
automatically be extended.
The two mammogram
bills were among a slate of
19 veterans-related bills,
including several others that
also focus on issues primarily
affecting female veterans, the
House passed this week, its
last before it goes on a twoweek
Memorial Day recess.
Bills approved Wednesday
included four meant to
improve support for survivors
of military sexual trauma.
One bill, approved 417-0,
seeks to improve coordination
between the Veterans Benefits
Administration and Veterans
Health Administration when
helping veterans file claims
related to sexual trauma.
Another, passed 405-12, would
add annual training on sexual
trauma for members of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals,
which hears veterans' benefits
claims after they've been
denied. The opposition came
entirely from Republicans.
The House also advanced a
bill in a 414-2 vote to require
the VA to have the National
Academies of Sciences,
Engineering and Medicine
conduct a comprehensive
review of VA medical
examinations for people who
submit claims for mental and
physical conditions related to
sexual trauma. The "no" votes
came from Reps. Sean Casten,
D-Ill., and Diana Harshbarger,
R-Tenn.
And the chamber passed a
bill in a 420-0 vote to create
a peer support program
at the Veterans Benefits
Administration for sexual
trauma survivors.
The House also voted 420-0
to require the VA to provide
lactation rooms for veteran
moms in all of its medical
centers. An estimated 90 VA
facilities across the country
already have nursing rooms,
but only VA employees can
access them.
"The bills passed today
address the unique needs of
women veterans, including
ensuring safe and discreet
lactation spaces for veteran
mothers who seek care at
VA facilities and providing
dignity to survivors of MST
as they go through the claims
process," House Veterans
Affairs Committee Chairman
Mark Takano, D-Calif., said
in a statement.
The MST bills and the lactation
room bill still need to be voted
on by the Senate before they
could be signed into law by
Biden.