Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HCR44 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R6398 BPG-D
2	2	By: Metcalf, Keough, Bell, Darby, Flynn, H.C.R. No. 44
3	3	et al.
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6	6	CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
7	7	WHEREAS, The Veterans Administration is charged with
8	8	ensuring the health and well-being of the nation's veterans, but in
9	9	recent years, its failure to adequately perform its mission has
10	10	been the source of scandal; and
11	11	WHEREAS, In 2014, the United States Congress responded to
12	12	unconscionable delays and denials of care at VA facilities by
13	13	passing the Veterans' Access to Care through Choice,
14	14	Accountability, and Transparency Act, which allows access to
15	15	private medical care providers for veterans who have been waiting
16	16	more than 30 days for an appointment or who live more than 40 miles
17	17	from a VA facility; the law is set to expire in 2017, but U.S.
18	18	Senator John McCain of Arizona has filed the Care Veterans Deserve
19	19	Act of 2016, S.2896, which enhances and expands the major reforms of
20	20	the Veterans' Choice Act; and
21	21	WHEREAS, Provisions of S.2896 include allowing access to
22	22	walk-in clinics without preauthorization or copayment, the
23	23	expansion of VA pharmacy hours and telemedicine, and extending the
24	24	Veterans Choice Card program to permit all qualified veterans to
25	25	see the doctor of their choice; moreover, the bill encourages
26	26	best-practices peer review for VA facilities; the act would broaden
27	27	access to timely health care while offering greater choice and
28	28	flexibility to every eligible veteran; and
29	29	WHEREAS, Our nation's veterans have made enormous sacrifices
30	30	to guarantee our freedoms, and although the nation can never fully
31	31	repay its debt of gratitude, it can and should ensure timely access
32	32	to the highest quality of medical care; now, therefore, be it
33	33	RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas
34	34	hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to pass S.2896,
35	35	the Care Veterans Deserve Act of 2016; and, be it further
36	36	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
37	37	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
38	38	the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
39	39	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
40	40	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
41	41	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
42	42	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.