Committee approves three veterans bills

A trio of bills ranging from therapeutic companion dogs to chiropractors for injured or emotionally troubled veterans was approved on Wednesday by the House Veterans Affairs Committee. The bipartisan-backed bills breezed through the panel by voice vote and will probably end up soon on the suspension calendar.

One bill would provide chiropractic care and services to veterans and would be available first at 75 VA hospitals by the end of next year, and at all medical centers by the end of 2013.

The services are intended to ameliorate the rash of muscular-skeletal injuries that have plagued veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. A second bill would increase the money for continuing professional education provided for VA doctors and nurses, as well as add other healthcare workers to the ranks of those eligible for the assistance. Over the next five years, according to a committee chart, the total cost of the increase would be $42 million.

The third bill would authorize a five-year pilot program in several VA medical centers to employ trained dogs to help relieve mental health and post-traumatic stress disorders in veterans.