Like so many other injured veterans, I went through the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) process after sustaining my injuries in Afghanistan. This is the process used by the Department of Defense for determining a servicemember’s fitness for duty and disability benefits.

Unfortunately, a lack of cooperation between agencies has resulted in too many veterans having to fight to receive the benefits they’ve already earned. That’s why I introduced the Integrated Disability Evaluation System Accountability Act.

This legislation would enhance transparency and accountability in the IDES process by requiring DoD to provide a report to Congress on the implementation of IDES to identify critical ways to improve the system, including the opportunity for servicemembers to correct errors in their record.

The bottom line is this: the IDES Accountability Act is a common sense solution to ensure fairness and transparency in the military health system for my brothers and sisters in arms.

Read the bill: