Florida Senate - 2020 SM 420
By Senator Diaz
36-00676-20 2020420__
1 Senate Memorial
2 A memorial to the Congress of the United States and
3 the United States Department of Veterans Affairs,
4 urging Congress and the department to ensure that the
5 VA MISSION Act of 2018 is implemented in a manner
6 consistent with the legislative intent and purpose of
7 the act.
8
9 WHEREAS, Florida has the third largest veteran population
10 in the United States, at approximately 1.6 million veterans, and
11 WHEREAS, the health and well-being of Florida’s veterans
12 are of utmost importance to the members and body of the Florida
13 Legislature, and
14 WHEREAS, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
15 has been charged with ensuring the health and well-being of
16 Florida’s veterans, but in recent years it has failed to deliver
17 the quality and timely care our veterans deserve, and
18 WHEREAS, on June 6, 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed
19 into law the VA MISSION Act of 2018, Public Law No. 115-182,
20 after the legislation had passed both houses of Congress with
21 strong bipartisan support and had received the support of over
22 30 veteran and military service organizations, and
23 WHEREAS, upon its full implementation, the VA MISSION Act
24 of 2018 will improve the health and well-being of veterans in
25 Florida and throughout the entire country and will preserve the
26 beneficial aspects of the Veterans Health Administration while
27 giving veterans increased options in community care programs,
28 and
29 WHEREAS, the VA MISSION Act of 2018 requires an overhaul
30 and modernization of the Veterans Health Administration to
31 provide veterans with more choices for where they receive
32 medical care through a new and consolidated Veterans Community
33 Care Program, and
34 WHEREAS, the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs
35 operates six skilled nursing facilities and one assisted living
36 facility for veterans, and the VA MISSION Act of 2018 authorizes
37 the Veterans Health Administration to enter into community
38 provider agreements with these facilities to better serve
39 veterans, which will result in allowing these facilities to
40 seamlessly partner with the administration without becoming
41 subject to additional federal regulations, and
42 WHEREAS, the VA MISSION Act of 2018 establishes an
43 information-sharing process to ensure that safe opioid
44 prescribing practices are used by community care providers from
45 which veterans are receiving care, and
46 WHEREAS, the VA MISSION Act of 2018 expands access to the
47 VA caregivers program to all veterans who have incurred or
48 aggravated serious injuries while serving in active duty, not
49 just those serving since September 11, 2001, and
50 WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature urges the Federal
51 Government to further improve the quality of veterans’ health
52 care available to the state’s veteran population, NOW,
53 THEREFORE,
54
55 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
56
57 That the Congress of the United States and the United
58 States Department of Veterans Affairs are urged to ensure that
59 the VA MISSION Act of 2018 is implemented in a manner consistent
60 with the legislative intent and purpose of the act.
61 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Congress and the United
62 States Department of Veterans Affairs are urged to ensure the
63 law’s deadlines are timely met so veterans can gain access to
64 the highest quality of health care both inside and outside of
65 the Veterans Health Administration system. Successful
66 implementation requires the timely publication of clear access
67 and quality standards, seamless access to walk-in care,
68 innovation in care delivery and claims processing, and meeting
69 key deadlines as the Veterans Health Administration reviews its
70 infrastructure needs.
71 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State dispatch
72 copies of this memorial to the President of the United States,
73 the Secretary of the United States Department of Veterans
74 Affairs, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on
75 Veterans’ Affairs of the United States House of Representatives,
76 and the United States Senate, respectively, and to each member
77 of the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.