Senator Murray Presses Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs Administration Officials on Improving Servicemembers' Transition to Civilian Life

Hearing

"There is no question that our servicemembers deserve a seamless transition out of the military to VA services. In my home state of Washington, DoD went live with its own electronic health records program back in 2017--it has its own challenges, and I'm sure you all know that when the VA rolled out its EHR program, it was not working the way that it should have and patient safety has been a very big concern. So, I want to make sure that DoD is working hand in hand with VA so that we can truly have a seamless electronic health records system that is available across both agencies to serve servicemembers and veterans alike.

Can you share some of the lessons DoD has learned while you rolled out your EHR system. How did you earn back the trust with providers and servicemembers after you had significant periods of system downtime?

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Transitioning out of the military is a challenging experience for all servicemembers--but it is particularly difficult for women who face additional barriers in the civilian world, everything from gender pay gaps, to sexual harassment, to lack of access to child care.

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Has DoD tailored the Transition Assistance Program at all for women servicemembers?

"80 percent of the respondents said their finances were a major source of stress, and more than half of military and veteran families reported experiencing barriers to saving over the previous two years. 22 percent of currently serving military families, 38 percent of veteran families, have less than $500 or no emergency savings at all. What is DoD doing right now to promote financial literacy and making sure that that is an integral part of the Transition Assistance Program?"

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