Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The gap between the health care received by men and women veterans is closing. So says the Department of Veterans Affairs.
According to its website, women’s health care through the Women Veterans Health Program focuses on a number of areas:
Comprehensive primary care: The plan is to include gender-specific care at every VA site, including physical rehab, maternity care, acute and chronic illness, disease prevention and screening, and more.
Women’s health education:The VA is training more and more health care providers to work specifically with women.
Reproductive health: The VA is increasing its coordination of female-specific treatments to provide a full range of medical services, including Pap tests, birth control, mammograms and breast cancer care.A recent press release by the VA says that it leads the nation in breast cancer screening rates with 87 percent of eligible women veterans receiving screening. It has 45 facilities with digital mammography, and mobile mammography in rural areas of the country.
Special populations: Women veterans who live in rural areas or are homebound can take advantage of mobile clinics, e-clinics and home-based services. Older women veterans can take advantage of treatments for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and menopause.
If you’re a female vet and youhaven’t hooked up with the VA for any of your health care, check it out. You can start online at the Women Veterans Health Care website: www.womenshealth.
va.gov. You can apply online and fill out the VA Form 10-10EZ. Look for the video that will walk you through the enrollment process.
Or you can call the VA Health Benefits Call Center at 877-222-8387 if you have questions about enrolling or any other benefits.
At the website you can locate a facility in your area. For a nonemergency, it’s required that you be scheduled for an appointment within 14 days.
Write to Freddy Groves in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475, or send email to [email protected].
(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.
Entertainment, Pages 19 on 11/07/2012