WASHINGTON – During a Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs hearing today, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan shared veteran Tim Carignan of Lyman’s experience obtaining insurance coverage for his service dog Duchess. Carignan reached out to Senator Hassan’s office last year because he was having difficulty obtaining insurance coverage for Duchess through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Senator Hassan’s office was able to coordinate with local and regional VA representatives to fix the problem. This insurance coverage was made possible through the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers for Veterans Therapy Act (PAWS Act), a bipartisan bill that Senator Hassan cosponsored that passed into law in 2021.
During the hearing, Senator Hassan highlighted Carignan’s experience. She then pressed VA Assistant Under Secretary Dr. Miguel LaPuz to prioritize implementation of the law to ensure that veterans like Carignan don’t face challenges with their service dogs. Senator Hassan also discussed a follow-up to the PAWS Act that she cosponsored to further expand access to trained service dogs for veterans.
Senator Hassan then discussed the bipartisan Leveraging Integrated Networks in Communities for Veterans Act (LINC Act), a bipartisan bill that she introduced with Senator Sullivan (R-AK), which aims to improve the VA’s ability to coordinate wraparound services for veterans, for instance transportation, housing assistance, or support groups. Senator Hassan shared that the Manchester VA Medical Center has a Care Navigation Team at a nearby hospital to ensure that veterans know about and can get the additional services that they need, and she asked about how this model can be applied in other places to help better coordinate services for veterans.
Assistant Under Secretary Dr. LaPuz shared that the VA now has pilot programs mirroring the Manchester VA program.
To watch Senator Hassan’s questioning, click here.
Original source can be found here.
