{"id":80372,"date":"2023-11-30T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/11\/30\/lawmakers-press-va-for-stronger-rules-against-discrimination\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:53:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:53:26","slug":"lawmakers-press-va-for-stronger-rules-against-discrimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2023\/11\/30\/lawmakers-press-va-for-stronger-rules-against-discrimination\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers press VA for stronger rules against discrimination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Congressional Democrats are pushing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/military-honor\/salute-veterans\/2023\/11\/08\/mcdonough-wants-va-to-reach-every-veteran-in-the-country\/\" target=\"_blank\">Veterans Affairs leaders<\/a> to provide new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/11\/28\/lawsuit-accuses-va-of-racial-discrimination-in-benefits-decisions\/\" target=\"_blank\">anti-discrimination protections<\/a> for patients in their health care system amid concerns that veterans could be denied some services without clearer rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a letter to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/11\/14\/va-secretary-makes-promise-we-will-be-vets-best-advocates\/\" target=\"_blank\">VA Secretary Denis McDonough<\/a> on Thursday, the group of 51 House and Senate lawmakers urged the department to follow the lead of the Health and Human Services authorities who have already issued regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move was mandated under the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, but VA officials have not put in place similar protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe believe that our nation\u2019s heroes are entitled to the same anti-discrimination protections as civilians using other federal health programs,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. \u201cIt is of utmost importance that the VA act without delay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2023\/11\/21\/transgender-vets-threaten-to-sue-va-over-delay-in-surgery-options\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP23233644796663.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Transgender vets threaten to sue VA over delay in surgery options<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">VA officials announced plans to provide gender conforming surgeries more than two years ago, but have not moved ahead on the promise.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The effort was led by Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. In a statement, Cherfilus-McCormick said the change is an opportunity for VA leaders to \u201csend a clear, resounding, and enforceable message that no form of discrimination is ever to be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Department officials did not have an immediate response to the letter. Since President Joe Biden\u2019s inauguration, VA leaders have repeatedly promised to make department services accessible and welcoming to all veterans, regardless of their background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The congressional letter follows a petition from 14 veteran and civil rights groups pushing for the changes, saying the anti-discrimination policies are long overdue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese rules should be diligently communicated, leaving no room for ambiguity, and enforced across all levels of the organization,\u201d said Rachel Branaman, interim executive director of the Modern Military Association. \u201cVeterans, regardless of their background, deserve health care experiences that are uniformly positive, accessible, and responsive to their unique needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blumenthal said that minority veterans are particularly vulnerable to refusal of care or discrimination in services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2023\/06\/22\/spending-plan-for-vets-programs-gets-senate-support-but-fights-loom\/\" target=\"_blank\">medical options for transgender veterans<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2022\/11\/22\/va-stands-by-abortion-policy-after-legal-threats-from-state-leaders\/\" target=\"_blank\">reproductive health care services<\/a> for women veterans have faced renewed scrutiny from conservative lawmakers in recent budget bills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congressional Democrats and outside advocates say updated policies for the department are long overdue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":69950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,7,23,12,25,68,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3334],"class_list":["post-80372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-education-transition","category-home","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"45MHTA6GMVF6NFRK67T5BLRBQ4","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2023\/11\/30\/lawmakers-press-va-for-stronger-rules-against-discrimination\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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