This is a story with two very distinct points of view.

As debate rages over President Obama’s presumptive health care reform, some veterans want another kind of improvement — the expansion of health services for female veterans.

“Female soldiers need to take their heads out of the sand,” emphasized Wanda Story, national commander of United Female Veterans of America during a telephone interview. “We have served, and we deserve better!”

Almost eight percent of the veteran population is female.  However, the Department of Veterans Affairs was designed for a male military, and a study bears this out.

A recent Government Accountability Office, or GAO, report states that two of 19 VA facilities audited did not offer basic gender specific services such as cervical cancer screening, and none of the facilities inspected fully complied with the VA’s policy on privacy for female veterans.

“None of the facilities had fully implemented VA policies pertaining to women veterans’ health care,” stated the report.

As the military’s gender demographics change, the VA expects the number of female veterans enrolled in the system to double within four years.  Advocates for reform argue that improvements are needed now.

Story minced no words. “There is a double standard here; I’ve had many female veterans tell me they are not treated as veterans.”

She went on to say that male veterans receive more attention from doctors than do female veterans; she also said that many female veterans do not trust the VA and go to other medical facilities.

“A study by Johns Hopkins University found that many female veterans do not trust the VA,” said Story.

Story and other concerned veterans have caught the attention of Congress.

In June, the House of Representatives unanimously passed bill 1211 in an effort to address some of these problems.

The bill is now in the Senate before the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.  Calls to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., were not returned.

One of the major pieces of the bill requires the VA to report on the problems women face in the veterans’ health care system.  Another segment of the legislation mandates additional training in order to identify thorny issues related to mental trauma caused by sexual assault or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Bill 1211 does not please Story.

“It only meets the basics, but I don’t think that they’ve researched it enough,” stressed Story.

This is the direct opposite of what officials at the Puget Sound Health Care System — VA Seattle and VA American Lake — say.

“The expansion of the Women’s Clinic at American Lake will help meet the needs of this growing population,” wrote Shane Suzuki, public affairs officer for VA Puget Sound, in an e-mail.

“We are continually monitoring our patient populations to best match our services to our patients’ needs.”

Neither American Lake nor Seattle VA hospitals were part of the GAO’s study.

But both facilities are not as far out of compliance with regulations as Story believes.

Suzuki pointed out that both institutions have Women’s Clinics that offer comprehensive care, which includes primary care, annual exams, mental health and social work assistance. What is more, both hospitals have female specific programs that address military sexual trauma and PTSD related to military sexual trauma and/or combat-related trauma in women.

“The program in Seattle (the Women’s Trauma and Recovery Center) includes additions as well,” wrote Suzuki.

“The American Lake Women’s Clinic has female psychologists and social workers who specialize in both military sexual trauma and substance abuse in women.”

As the debate over what the VA provides and does not provide for female veterans continues, one thing is for sure.

This story is not finished.