Bills cover service dogs, chiropractic care - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Bills cover service dogs, chiropractic care

The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee voted Wednesday to require a major expansion of chiropractic care for veterans, and also approved a pilot program where veterans with mental health problems would train service dogs to assist other disabled veterans.

Also approved was a bill increasing reimbursement for Veterans Affairs Department health care workers who take continuing professional education courses.

The Chiropractic Care for All Veterans Act, HR 1017, would expand access to care and services that are now limited to about 25 locations where VA has chiropractors either working at medical centers or under contract to provide care. The goal is to have chiropractic care available at all medical centers in the future, with phased expansion. A similar but less ambitious expansion was approved by the Senate earlier this year as part of a package of veterans health care legislation.

The Veterans’ Dog Training Therapy Act, HR 3885, orders a five-year pilot program where veterans with post-deployment mental health issues would be given the opportunity to train service dogs for veterans with disabilities. Three to five medical centers would be part of the test, with locations to be determined based on whether the centers have suitable areas for training and grooming the dogs, outdoor exercise areas and accessibility for wheelchairs.

Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C., is the chief sponsor of the dog training bill.

Research already is underway to determine if training service dogs would be therapeutic for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental issues, but this program is slightly different because the veterans would be training dogs for use by someone else.

Veterans taking part in the program would be assisted by certified dog trainers, and would be expected to teach up to 90 commands to a dog that would end up being assigned to another disabled veteran.

Success or failure of the program would be based on several factors, including whether the veteran dog trainer’s emotional state improves — such as building patience or lessening anger — and if there were other positive changes, like being less socially isolated, using less pain medication and having better sleep patterns.

The bills passed the committee by voice vote, clearing them for consideration by the full House of Representatives. A date for the House to take up the bills has not been set.