IAM UNION ADVOCATES FOR HEALTH COVERAGE OF VETERANS' SERVICE DOGS

The following information was released by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM):

IAM Veterans Services Coordinator Rich Evans and Assistant Coordinator Bryan Stymacks are helping Guide Dogs of America | Tender Loving Canines recipient Brennon Groves get congressional support for his petition: Establish a Dedicated Veterans Administration Department for Service Dog VHIB Application.

As it stands now, veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder service dogs are unable to get veterinary insurance benefits through the VA unless they also have a mobility disability because a federal regulation has not been updated to implement the PAWs Act as intended and there is no office dedicated to issuing this benefit.

Recently, IAM Assistant Legislative Director Ty Richardson joined Evans, Stymacks, and Groves to meet with U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer's (D-Md.) staff about Groves' proposal to establish a Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterinary Health Insurance Benefit (VHIB) program.

With Groves, the IAM Union supported and lobbied for H.R. 1448, the PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act (2021-2022) that was passed and authorized the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide service dogs to veterans with mental health conditions.

VHIB eligibility remains limited to Veterans with mobility impairments, excluding those whose only disabilities are mental health, simply because the regulation for this code has not been updated to reflect the intent of the law.

"Under the PAWs Act, veterans with only mental health conditions have the right to this benefit," said Evans. "But without updating the regulation for it, these veterans don't qualify for it. All we need is for Congress to make an amendment to the regulation to correlate with the intent of the PAWs Act, which was passed."

IAM International President Brian Bryant wrote two letters to Congressman Hoyer regarding PAWS Act Implementation and VHIB Improvement.

"We're going to keep lobbying members of Congress to explain the situation and pressure our legislators to make sure veterans with mental health disabilities can access the benefit according to the law's intent," said Groves.