By Carly Horton
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Federal legislation to improve health care for women veterans was introduced April 2 by a bipartisan group of senators. The measure is an effort to meet the unique mental and physical health care needs of women, particularly those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, federal officials said.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was one of seven U.S. senators to sponsor the legislation.

“Women make up one of the fastest growing subgroups of veterans,” Murkowski said in a written release. “As the Department of Veterans Affairs works to ensure that those who serve our nation are not left behind, it is essential for them to recognize the physical, mental and reproductive health challenges that face women veterans may require a different menu of services, delivered in a different way than the VA has grown accustomed to.”

Deemed the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act, the bill authorizes several new assessments of the care currently being provided, as well as new programs aimed at improving the VA's capacity to care for women veterans' comprehensive health care needs.

In 1948 President Harry Truman signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, making women a permanent part of all branches of the military. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 177,000 women have served the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan since September 2001 and nearly 27,000 are currently deployed in these wars.

Women comprise 14 percent of current active duty military, Guard and Reserves. There are roughly 1.7 million women veterans, representing 7 percent of the total veteran population. It is projected the number of female veterans who take advantage of the VA system will double over the next five years.

Those numbers are even higher in Alaska, which has the highest number of veterans per capita in the nation. Of the roughly 71,550 veterans in the state, 10 percent are women.

According to Marcia Hoffman-DeVoe, public affairs officer for the Alaska VA health care system, last year the Anchorage clinic saw more than 14,300 veterans. The Anchorage clinic has a designated women's health coordinator on site. The coordinator also travels to the VA's community-based outpatient clinics in Kenai and Fairbanks.

“The clinic offers comprehensive health checkups, mammography, contraception counseling, bone density testing and maternity benefits - basically all the services you'd find in a full-service medical clinic,” Hoffman-DeVoe said.

The clinic also offers social and behavioral health care for both men and women who have been affected by what is referred to as “military sexual trauma,” defined as sexual assault and rape experienced by military personnel. It is often accompanied by posttraumatic stress disorder.

“It doesn't get talked about that much in the military because it's a difficult topic to bring up,” DeVoe said.

The health care improvement act would require that the VA implement a program to train educate and certify VA mental health professionals to care for women with MST and post-traumatic stress disorder using evidence-based treatments. It also requires a full-time women veterans program managed at all VA medical centers.

For specific improvements outlined in the bill, go to Murkowski.senate.gov/pdf/women_veterans_health_act_2008.pdf.

Carly Horton can be reached at carly.horton@alaskajournal.com.