By Carl Surran

Legislation Aims To Improve Military Medical Care

Spring 2007

In the wake of the fiasco at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the House of Representatives unanimously passed the Wounded Warriors Assistance Act to provide the personnel, training and oversight mechanisms needed to address the inadequate living conditions and administrative snafus reported at Walter Reed and perhaps other military and veterans’ facilities.

Among the requirements outlined in the Act:

Assignment of a case manager for all outpatients to oversee their medical and dental care. No case manager will be responsible for more than 17 patients at a time.
Twice-yearly surveys to review the quality and timeliness of care, adequacy of living conditions and case management, and effectiveness of the disability evaluation process.
A toll-free hotline for outpatients and their families to report any problems they encounter with medical facilities.
Assignment of independent medical advocates for servicemembers to help them navigate their care options and the disability rating process.
A 5,000-member pilot program to help streamline the problem-plagued transition of wounded servicemembers from the military’s care to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Here’s something we must not forget in spite of the tsunami of criticism heaped on the military bureaucracy after the Walter Reed discoveries: Once you cut through all the red tape, the doctors and nurses at military hospitals are every bit as good as, and perhaps better than, their civilian counterparts. Too often, however, that red tape ties their hands.

We will continue to follow the fate of similar legislation in the U.S. Senate as well as additional proposals to improve the treatment of military members and their families during recovery.

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