House panel backs military health bill banning privatization

The House Armed Services Committee Tuesday unanimously approved a measure intended to improve the quality of care for wounded service members undergoing treatment at the military's outpatient facilities.

The bipartisan Wounded Warriors Assistance Act (H.R. 1538), which passed 59-0 and is expected on the floor in the next several weeks, is a direct reaction to recent revelations by the Washington Post, which detailed substandard conditions and bureaucratic red tape confronting injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan who are being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The bill also would place a moratorium on new reviews under Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76 for potential privatization of operations at military hospitals.

The American Federation of Government Employees praised that move. "The Office of Management and Budget's obsession with privatizing federal employees cannot be allowed to undermine the health of military personnel," said John Gage, president of AFGE, which represents workers at Walter Reed.

Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee Chairman Vic Snyder, D-Ark., called the bill a "first step" in what he hopes will be a broader effort to correct problems at Walter Reed and other military medical facilities.

Indeed, Personnel Subcommittee ranking member John McHugh, R-N.Y., said the problems at Walter Reed are only one example of bureaucratic frustrations and hurdles experienced at the military's many hospital facilities.

Several lawmakers from both sides of the aisle hailed the bill as a chance to make a significant difference for soldiers receiving outpatient care, who are often neglected in the military's healthcare system.

"I am pleased that our committee has moved expeditiously to make the changes we can adopt fairly quickly, such as improving training and reducing case loads for case managers, so service members can get the help they need," Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., said in a written statement.

Skelton, who bypassed the Personnel Subcommittee to move the bill quickly out of the full committee, said Armed Services lawmakers will evaluate "more comprehensive reforms" as they consider the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill.