Editor’s Note: Thank you to Patrick Pedrus for bringing our attention to the recent introduction of a bipartisan bill requiring the Veteran’s Administration to deliver concrete services in Palau, FSM and the RMI (A Good Step Forward for COFA Veterans). Also to Hilary Hosia who previously reported on continued advocacy for access to veterans benefits in the RMI (Veterans to Receive US Military Benefits in the RMI). This continues from years of advocacy by local veterans, including the formation of American Legion Post 22 (RMI Vets Seek Benefit Fix) and the Marshallese Veterans Alliance (Alliance Advocates for RMI Vets) and growing support from Marshallese and U.S. leaders who have linked veterans’ care to the renewed Compact of Free Association negotiations.
Micronesian veterans serve in the U.S. military at some of the highest per-capita rates, yet many returning to Palau, the FSM, or the Marshall Islands have long faced limited or nonexistent access to VA health care. A newly introduced bipartisan bill—the Caring for Veterans and Strengthening National Security Act—aims to change that by requiring the VA to deliver concrete services, including telehealth, mail-order prescriptions, and travel reimbursement, to veterans living in the Freely Associated States within one year.
Patrick Pedrus, US Navy Veteran from FSM, writes: “As a Micronesian and a U.S. military veteran, I see this as good news—real progress, not just language. But experience also teaches caution…This bill matters because it compels action and sets expectations. [But] passage must be followed by oversight, pressure, and continued advocacy to ensure the VA actually delivers.” Read his entire post below.
U.S. Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the bill on December 11, 2025. The measure is co-sponsored by Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), James Risch (R-ID), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). Comment from representatives from the RMI, FSM, and Palau are quoted in several press releases about the introduction of the bill.
RMI Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kalani Kaneko, said, “This is not a political issue, it is personal and rooted in shared sacrifice. As a retired U.S. Army veteran, I recruited nearly 200 Marshallese men and women who served under the U.S. 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.”
Supporters say the legislation acknowledges both the Pacific’s strategic importance and the shared sacrifice of COFA veterans, while addressing long-standing inequities in access to care compared to veterans in places like the Philippines and Puerto Rico. Pedrus also writes: “It acknowledges the imbalance [and] recognizes the Pacific. Equal service should mean equal care—no matter which ocean you call home.” While advocates urge cautious optimism and continued oversight to ensure implementation, the bill marks a meaningful step toward honoring Micronesian veterans with the care they have earned—without forcing them to leave home.
Patrick Pedrus is US Navy Veteran from the FSM. We are grateful to reprint this update on veterans benefits from his substack: Micronesian Blog.
For years, Micronesian veterans have lived with a quiet contradiction.
We serve under the U.S. flag at some of the highest per-capita enlistment rates in the country. We deploy to the same wars, wear the same uniforms, and take the same risks. But when service ends, and we return home to Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Marshall Islands, access to VA health care becomes limited, delayed, or simply unavailable.
That reality may finally be starting to change.
A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators has introduced the Caring for Veterans and Strengthening National Security Act (CLICK to read)legislation that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to deliver concrete services to U.S. veterans living in the Freely Associated States. Within one year of enactment, the VA would be required to provide telehealth care, mail-order pharmacy services, and beneficiary travel reimbursement.
This is not abstract policy. These are the exact services COFA veterans have been asking for—basic, practical, and overdue.
Why This Matters
COFA citizens enlist in the U.S. military at extraordinary rates. In exchange, the United States holds exclusive defense and basing rights across a strategically vital region of the Pacific. This relationship has never been symbolic. It is operational, strategic, and deeply personal.
Yet for decades, veterans who returned home after service encountered a hard stop. The VA’s Foreign Medical Program was costly, limited, and often impractical for island nations separated by thousands of miles from the nearest VA facility. Care that was routine for veterans in the continental U.S. became a logistical nightmare in the Pacific.
Congress addressed part of this problem in 2024 by granting the VA clear authority to provide medical services and travel benefits to veterans living in the Freely Associated States. The problem? The VA never used that authority.
This new bill removes any remaining ambiguity. It directs the VA to act, not eventually, but within a defined timeline.
The Pacific Catching Up
There is an uncomfortable comparison that COFA veterans know well.
U.S. veterans living in the Philippines, another foreign country, have access to a VA regional office, a VA outpatient clinic, and long-standing systems of care. Veterans in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory in the Caribbean, are fully integrated into the VA system.
Meanwhile, the Pacific—despite its strategic value, despite its enlistment rates—has remained an afterthought.
This legislation doesn’t close that gap entirely, but it acknowledges it. It recognizes that geography should not determine whether a veteran receives timely care, medication, or reimbursement for travel. It also signals that the Pacific should no longer be treated as less urgent than other regions where veterans live abroad.
More Than Health Care
What stood out in the statements supporting this bill was how clearly leaders connected veteran care to national security.
When veterans are forced to leave their home islands just to access health care, families are split. Communities lose experienced leaders. Nations lose stability. And the United States loses something less measurable but just as important: credibility.
Allowing veterans to receive care at home strengthens families, keeps communities intact, and reinforces the very partnerships the U.S. relies on for forward defense in the Indo-Pacific. Several Pacific leaders said it plainly—this isn’t charity, and it isn’t politics. It is shared sacrifice, honored properly.
A Reason for Cautious Optimism
As a Micronesian and a U.S. military veteran, I see this as good news—real progress, not just language.
But experience also teaches caution.
Authority without implementation is meaningless. We’ve seen that already. This bill matters because it compels action and sets expectations. Passage must be followed by oversight, pressure, and continued advocacy to ensure the VA actually delivers.
Still, this is a step in the right direction. It acknowledges the imbalance. It recognizes the Pacific. And it points toward a future where COFA veterans receive the same robust, dependable services already available to veterans in the Philippines and Puerto Rico.
Equal service should mean equal care—no matter which ocean you call home.
For the first time in a long while, that future feels possible.
