One thing legislators on both sides of the aisle can usually agree on is that our veterans deserve good healthcare. A bipartisan effort from four Michigan legislators has been introduced with the goal of improving the lives of veterans.
Michigan members of the United States House of Representatives, Republicans Lisa McLain and John Moolenaar and Democrats Elissa Slotkin and Debbie Dingell, worked together on the bills.
The Patient Advocate Tracker Act would create an online portal where veterans can check the status of formal complaints filed through the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Veterans Patient Advocacy Act would require the VA to effectively staff its patient advocacy programs.
Both Slotkin and McLain said that the Tracker Act would increase transparency and work toward giving vets the best healthcare possible while streamlining the process. Moolenaar and Dingell said the Advocacy Act would increase the number of patient advocates available to veterans.
The idea for the legislation came from Cameron Zbikowski, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Student Veterans of America.
Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland
