Good morning Chairman Michaud and Ranking Member Brown.  Thank you for holding today’s hearing.  I appreciate having the opportunity to be here to discuss the “Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act.”

The “Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act,” which I introduced on February 26, 2009, along with the original cosponsor support of Health Subcommittee members Reps. Boozman and Moran, will take important steps to expand and improve Department of Veterans Affairs health care services for women veterans.  Before I talk more about the bill and the needs of women veterans, I also would like to take this opportunity to thank the DAV for their continued leadership in the effort to address the needs of women veterans and their support for this important legislation. 

As your Subcommittee knows, more women are answering the call to serve, and more women veterans need access to services that they are entitled to when they return.  With increasing numbers of women now serving in uniform, the challenge of providing adequate health care services for women veterans is overwhelming.  With more women seeking access to care, and for a more diverse range of medical conditions, in the future, these needs will likely be even significantly greater. 

I would like to share just a few statistics with you that highlight the need for a comprehensive update of VA services for women veterans.

• As of October 2008, there were more than 23 million veterans in the U.S.  Of this, women veterans made up 1.8 million or 8% of the total veteran population.
• There are increasing numbers of women veterans of childbearing age.  For example, 86% of OEF/OIF women veterans are under age 40. 
• The VA notes that OEF/OIF female veterans are accessing health care services in large numbers.  Specifically, 42.2% of all discharged women have utilized VA health care at least once.  Of this group, 45.6% have made visits 2 to 10 times. 
•  Finally, according to the VA, the prevalence of potential PTSD among new OEF/OIF women veterans treated at VA from fiscal year 2002-2006 grew dramatically from approximately one percent in 2002 to nearly 19 percent in 2006.

So the trend is clear, but not surprising:  More women are answering the call to serve. . . and more women veterans need access to services that they are entitled to.  Clearly, we must do everything we can from a public policy standpoint to meet this new challenge of women veterans. 

To address some of these issues, the “Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act” calls for a study of barriers to women veterans seeking health care, an assessment of women health care programs at the VA, enhancement of VA sexual trauma programs, enhancement of PTSD treatment for women, establishment of a pilot program for child care services, care for newborn children of women veterans, and the addition of recently separated women veterans to serve on advisory committees.

The VA must ensure adequate attention is given to women veterans’ programs so quality health care and specialized services are available equally for both women and men.  I believe my bill will help the VA better meet the specialized needs and develop new systems to better provide for the health care of women veterans – especially those who return from combat, who were sexually assaulted, suffer from PTSD, or who need child care services.

Chairman Michaud and Ranking Member Brown, thank you again for inviting me to testify.  I look forward to answering any questions you may have.