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1 1 (March 11, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govecpe0001 and id is 1 raw text is: UpdatedMarch 11,2021 Veterans Health Administration: Gender-Specific Health Care Services for Women Veterans Introduction VHA had predominately provided generalhealth care and gender-specific services (e.g., prostate exams) that were geared to men, because the demographics of the veteran population had been predominately male. The U.S. Census Bureau began asking women about their military service in 1980 and found that women veterans accounted for less than 3% of the U.S. veteran population at the time. (VA, Women Veterans Report, https://go.usa.gov/xPzNC).In 1981, Congress requested reports fromthe Government Accountability Office (GAO) on women veterans' accessto VA benefits (https://go.usa.gov/xEBkM). At that time, GAO found that there was in adequate access to general health, gynecological, and obstetrical care. Since then, Congress passed a number of laws, such as the Women Veterans Health ProgramAct of 1992 (Title 1 of P.L. 102- 585, as amended), to specifically increase women veterans' access to gender-specific health care services throughthe VHA. Recently, Title III of the Veterans COMPACT Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-214) required VA to report locations where women veterans usehealth care, among other things. Today, VHA offers a full suite of gender-specific health care services for women veterans. Gender-specific care is specialized care thatis sensitive to the unique needs of women. It includes not only reproductive systemspecific care but also general care that is s ensitive to gender differences. Of the totalpopulation of about 2.03 million women veterans, 755,807 were enrolled in the VA health care systemin FY2019. The states where the largest numbers of women veteran VHA enrollees resided in FY2019 were Texas, Florida, California, Georgia, and Virginia. Demand for gender-specific care may grow, as the proportionof women veterans to the totalveteranpopulation is projected to increase by 0.6% annually through2045. (Report to Congress, Locations Where Women VeteransAre Using Health CareFrom the Departmentof Veterans Affairs, February 2021). Transitioning to VA Care The VA and the Department of Defense (DOD)jointly administer the Women's Health Transitioning Training (WHTT) Program, which aims to prepare servicewomen and women veterans for VHA enrollment. The free training is delivered in-person and virtually. During the interactive training sessions, servicewomen and women veterans receive information on, butnotlimited to, the process of becoming a service-connected veteran, differences in the delivery ofhealth care services between VA and DOD medical facilities, various types ofwomen's health care services that can be accessed through the VA, and available support for other concerns, such as homelessness. Since its inception in the summer of2018 through August 2020, more than 1,100 women had completed the training. VHA Enrollment Requirements The VHA enrollment requirements are the s ame for all veterans, whether women, men, transgender (whose gender identities are different fromtheir sex assigned at birth), or inters exveterans (who are born with sexual and reproductive anatomies that are outside the definition of the male and female sexcategories as signed at birth). The Veterans' Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-262) required the VA to establish an enrollment system that all veterans must meet in order to be eligible to receive VA health care services. Enrollment in the VA health care systemis basedprimarily on veteranstatus (i.e., previous military service), service-connected disability, and income. Veterans can apply to enroll in VA health care by mail, telephone, and in person at a VA medical facility. Access to Gender-Specific Health Care Services The VHA operates more than 1,700 VA medical facilities where veterans can access gender-specific health care services. Veterans can also access these services fromVA- contracted providers in their communities and fromDOD providers at DOD medicalfacilities. (Veterans can access certain gender-specific services such as infertility treatments only fromnon-VA providers.) In addition, veterans can access gender-specific health care services through telehealth. Telehealth refers to a health care s ervice that is provided via a technological method. The VHA provides women's gender-specific telehealth services such as gynecology throughthe VA Tele-Women's Health program. Overall, in FY2019, women veterans completed 5.6 million in-person appointments, 224,584 telehealth appointments, and 1.7 million telephone appointments. Gender-Specific Health Care Services All veterans access gender-specific health care services through the VA as specified in the VA medicalbenefits package. The VA medical benefits packagerefers to a suite of health care services thatthe VA covers andprovides to eligible veterans, generally at no cost to theveterans under certain circumstances. In FY2019, the VA spent $6.3 billion on health care services for women veterans. Discussed below are some gender-specific health care https ://crs repe