Senate passes Schatz legislation to expand VA services to US Veterans in Freely Associated States

The US Senate passed legislation authored by US Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) that will expand Department of Veterans Affairs health care and benefits to US veterans who reside in the Freely Associated States of Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands. The Caring for Veterans and Strengthening National Security Act requires the VA to provide telehealth services, mail-order pharmacy benefits, and beneficiary travel reimbursements to US veterans in the FAS. 

“US veterans in the FAS deserve the same care as all other servicemembers, without having to navigate complex, costly barriers or travel long distances just to see a doctor or get medication,” said Schatz. “This bill ensures servicemembers can finally access the care they deserve.”

Citizens of the FAS enlist in the US military at some of the highest enlistment rates per capita. In exchange for exclusive military basing rights, the US provides the military defense of these countries as part of a decades-long compact agreement. In 2024, the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act gave the VA the authority to provide medical services and beneficiary travel benefits to US veterans in the FAS. To date, the VA has not exercised this authority.  

In addition to Schatz and Moran, the bill is cosponsored by US Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i), James Risch (R-Idaho), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).

“I strongly support this bipartisan legislation to extend VA health care to veterans in the Freely Associated States,” said Kalani R. Kaneko, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Marshall Islands. “This is not a political issue, it is personal and rooted in shared sacrifice. As a retired US Army veteran, I recruited nearly 200 Marshallese men and women who served under the US flag and earned these benefits. Allowing veterans to receive care at home strengthens families, stabilizes communities, and advances shared national security interests by reducing forced Marshallese out-migration driven by lack of access to care, while reinforcing the enduring defense partnership between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. This legislation honors the service of Marshallese and American veterans alike and is a win-win for both nations.”

“FSM is proud to have some of the highest enlistment rates of our citizens who have volunteered to serve in the US military,” said Jackson Soram, Ambassador of the Federated States of Micronesia to the United States. “However, veterans who return home to the FSM after serving have faced significant cost and access barriers to care through the existing Foreign Medical Program. The Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2024 removed statutory barriers for veterans to access their earned VA healthcare benefits. We appreciate the strong bipartisan leadership of Senators Moran, Schatz, Wicker, Hirono, Boozman, Blumenthal, Risch, Heinrich, Murkowski, and Shaheen on the Caring for Veterans and Strengthening National Security Act, which will direct the VA to provide certain necessary healthcare services, including telehealth, mail order pharmacy benefits, and beneficiary travel consistent with the congressional intent of the provisions of the COFA Amendments Act of 2024.”

“A top US military commander called Palau “part of the homeland.” We effectively are in a Texas-sized area next to Asia,” said Hersey Kyota, Ambassador of Palau to the United States, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in the United States. “One reason is that we let the US military base radars, missile tests, a runway, and a dock. More importantly, though, it recruits our young. Most can’t come home after their service, however, because they can’t get the VA healthcare to which they’re entitled. That devalues their service, deprives Palau of their skills, and deprives the US of compelling citizen ambassadors. President Whipps and his team have worked to have this inequity corrected, and last year’s bipartisan US law to strengthen the free association that binds our nations almost as one was intended to do that. This new bill would. Palau greatly appreciates it.”

The text of the legislation is available here.