Dr. Miller-Meeks at Hearing on Services for Veteran Amputees: “Prosthetics care is essential to the bedrock of VA’s mission.”

Dr. Miller-Meeks at Hearing on Services for Veteran Amputees: "Prosthetics care is essential to the bedrock of VA's mission."

Today, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health, delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at the start of the subcommittee's oversight hearing entitled, "Life After Limb Loss: Examining VA Amputee Prosthetics Care":

Good afternoon, everyone. This oversight hearing for the Subcommittee on Health will now come to order.

Today, we will be discussing VA's Amputation System of Care and the services provided to veteran amputees.

At VA, Prosthetics include a wide a range of devices, from eyeglasses and hearing aids to prosthetic legs.

Although our main focus today will be on amputee prosthetics, I want to highlight VA's recent failures related to purchasing and budgeting for prosthetics.

In July, committee staff visited the Rocky Mountain VA Medical Center in Colorado and discovered that thousands of prosthetic orders had been improperly cancelled.

As a clinician I was appalled this could happen, and it is clearly unacceptable!

Earlier this month, I was informed that VA's claimed budget shortfall for healthcare which they argued was related to the cost of prosthetics was a huge exaggeration.

If VA can't even budget correctly for prosthetics, and routinely cancels orders, how can veterans - especially those living with the visible wounds of war - trust they will receive the prosthetic they need!

We cannot and should not accept this as the status quo.

Prosthetics care is essential to the bedrock of VA's mission.

This means assisting veterans with regaining functionality and working to improve their quality of life after limb loss as a result of their service in uniform.

Each year, VA sees approximately 9,500 new amputations, primarily due to vascular diseases or diabetes.

However, VA also treats a significant number of post-9/11 veterans with combat-related amputations.

As veterans' needs evolve, it is VA's responsibility to provide the highest quality of care and advances in research to meet those needs.

VA's services vary across its facilities, but its seven fully equipped Regional Amputation Centers can offer comprehensive care - from prosthetic fabrication to full inpatient rehabilitation.

These centers should set the standard for world-class care for prosthetics and in many cases, they do.

VA's Amputee care system serves nearly one hundred thousand veterans annually, with many receiving exceptional care.

However, the Committee has heard of significant delays in veterans receiving their prosthetics.

For example, one veteran recently told my team that he has spent over a year waiting for a functional prosthetic leg. For ten of those months, as you can see here, he had to rely on duct tape to hold his prosthetic together. Since March 2023, he has been forced to travel out of state every three months for appointments. Despite these repeated trips, there is still no timeline for when he will receive his new prosthetic limb.

Veterans depend on these devices for their daily lives, and waiting for years for a prosthetic limb, socket, or terminal device is unacceptable.

I expect we will hear similar stories today.

Like other VA offices, VA's Amputation Centers face understaffing and are often riddled with bureaucratic inefficiencies.

These challenges, exacerbated by the Biden-Harris administration's poor leadership and staffing decisions, are uniquely devastating on veteran amputees.

These bureaucratic delays not only impact veterans' physical health but also take a toll on their mental well-being, resulting in more time in healthcare facilities and less time spent with their families, enjoying life, or advancing their careers.

As a veteran and physician, I know we can do better.

In addition to these issues, veterans face barriers in accessing adaptive prosthetic limbs and terminal devices for sports and recreational activities - devices that can be life-changing.

The Committee has heard numerous stories of veterans being denied these adaptive prosthetics.

That's why I recently introduced H.R. 9478, the Veterans Supporting Prosthetics Opportunities and Recreational Therapy Act, or the Veterans SPORT Act.

This bill would ensure these adaptive prostheses and terminal devices are defined as clinically necessary for veterans living with limb loss.

I am committed to working with VA to ensure we provide our veterans with the timely, high-quality prosthetic care they deserve so that they have access to what they need to live the most fulfilling life possible.

During today's hearing, we will delve deeper into these issues, hear from witnesses, and work toward common-sense solutions.

Thank you all for being here, and I look forward to a productive discussion on this critical topic.

Before I introduce the witnesses on our first panel, I ask unanimous consent that our colleague Representative Rouzer be waived on for this hearing.

Hearing no objection, we will move forward.

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