Veterans’ Access To Child Care Act

Among the bills on the House docket is HR-840, the Veterans’ Access To Child Care Act. Sponsored by Julia Brownley (D-CA 26), the act directs the Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs to “provide child care assistance” to veterans eligible for VA healthcare services who have to travel to receive those services.

What Does This Mean?

According to a Government Accounting Office report, about 50% of veterans live within 25 miles of a VA hospital… which means that about 50% live more than 25 miles away. That distance adds at least an hour to the time it takes a veteran to receive care from the VA. Another GAO report specifically calls out childcare responsibilities as a major reason veterans — especially female veterans — have difficulty receiving care.

HR-840 would allow the VA to help pay for childcare for veterans who have to travel long distances to receive medical care. In essence, this bill acknowledges that we can’t have a VA hospital everywhere, but that the VA has a responsibility to lower the barriers to care as much as possible.

Tell Congress What You Think

HR-840 has a hard fight ahead of it. When Republicans controlled the House, they voted this bill down twice and the GOP still holds the Senate. You can write to Congress about this or any other topic by sending the word Resist to Resistbot on Facebook Messenger, Telegram, or as a Twitter direct message. If none of those work for you, Resistbot also supports old fashioned SMS: text RESIST to 50409 to get started. It takes 2 minutes to do something great.