IAM Veterans Services Coordinator Rich Evans and Assistant Coordinator Bryan Stymacks are working with Guide Dogs of America | Tender Loving Canines recipient Brennon Groves to gather congressional support for a petition seeking the creation of a dedicated Veterans Administration department to manage service dog veterinary health insurance benefits (VHIB).
Currently, veterans who have service dogs for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) cannot access VA veterinary insurance benefits unless they also have a mobility disability. This is due to an outdated federal regulation that has not yet implemented the PAWs Act as intended, and because there is no specific office assigned to issue these benefits.
IAM Assistant Legislative Director Ty Richardson recently joined Evans, Stymacks, and Groves in a meeting with staff from U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer’s (D-Md.) office to discuss Groves’ proposal for establishing a Department of Veterans Affairs’ VHIB program.
Groves and the IAM Union previously supported and lobbied for H.R. 1448, known as the PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act (2021-2022), which was passed and authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide service dogs to veterans with mental health conditions.
Despite this legislation, eligibility for VHIB remains limited to veterans with mobility impairments. Those whose only disabilities are related to mental health remain excluded because regulations have 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 has written two letters to Congressman Hoyer regarding implementation of the PAWS Act and improvements needed in VHIB.
“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.
