By Peter S. Gaytan

Since the founding of our country, women have served in some role in every major battle we’ve fought. More than 200,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today there are 1.8 million Women Veterans. Yet only about 25 percent are using the VA Healthcare System. According to a December 2010 report issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General, many women vets have either chosen not to enroll in VA services, or are unaware of the medical benefits they’ve earned. The American Legion recently conducted a survey of women veterans to assess their satisfaction with the quality of healthcare delivered by the VA system. The results were troubling.

The survey found that many women found gender-specific care difficult to obtain. Not only were there too few healthcare facilities able to deal with women-specific issues, but also almost 60 percent of women sampled were dissatisfied with their experiences related to Military Sexual Trauma screening. The VA healthcare system needs to address both problems immediately.

Although a majority of the women vets surveyed were satisfied with the reliability of the healthcare provided, many women veterans believe that the private healthcare sector is more responsive, more competent, and more credible. Women vets wanted better communication with VA healthcare providers, needing more time at appointments to discuss their specific health issues. There were also serious concerns about the security of private patient information within the VA healthcare system.

Through their proud, brave service, women veterans, like their male counterparts, have earned the right to a strong, caring, attentive, responsible, reliable healthcare system. This survey is an urgent message to the VA about serious issues in providing healthcare to female veterans.

To read the complete report, go to http://www.legion.org/documents/legion/pdf/womens_veterans_survey_report.pdf

Peter S. Gaytan is the author of For Service To Your Country – Updated Edition: The Essential Guide to Getting the Veterans’ Benefits You’ve Earned (Citadel, 2011), available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other booksellers. He has served as an advocate in securing and protecting the earned benefits of America’s veterans for more than a decade. Gaytan is the Executive Director of the American Legion, the largest veterans service organization in America.