Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor filed a bill Thursday that aims to prohibit the Veterans Affairs Department's health care system from dropping veterans who go long periods between doctors appointments, according to a statement from Pryor's office.

Currently, veterans in the system who haven't sought services in two years are deemed inactive and must re-enroll as new patients before receiving care. Because of this protocol, these veterans must wait longer to see a doctor, and they may be dropped from the system altogether because of changes in their eligibility for benefits, said Doyle Batey, adjutant at the American Legion Department of Arkansas.

"It's a big deal if a fella tries to make an appointment when he gets sick after two years, and he has to go through the whole process again," Batey said. "It just shouldn't happen. It's punishing the individuals who don't abuse the system."

Pryor's legislation, titled The Continuing Care for Veterans Act, was a follow-up to the bipartisan bill approved 93-3 by the Senate on Wednesday that would expedite the process for veterans to get care by making it easier to receive VA-paid treatment from local doctors. On Tuesday, the House unanimously approved a similar bill.

Amy Schlesing, a spokesman for Pryor, said the senator co-sponsored the bill that passed the Senate. Leadership wanted to pass a clean bill, otherwise Pryor would have tacked on this new legislation as an amendment, she said, adding that Pryor was alerted to the problem at a meeting Sunday with American Legion leadership in Little Rock.

The VA released an internal audit of its 731 facilities Monday. The audit revealed that more than 57,000 veterans have had to wait at least three months for initial appointments.

The audit also found that new patients wait significantly longer to receive care. In Arkansas, the wait time for an established patient to see a doctor averages 2.5 days at the VA Medical Center in Fayetteville and four days at the veterans hospital located in Little Rock, while new patients must wait an average of 52 days in Fayetteville and 60 days in Little Rock, the audit shows.

Enrolled veterans who don't use health care services at least once every two years can find themselves starting over as new patients, Batey said.

Batey said he regularly encourages veterans to use the VA health care system at least once a year in order to keep their enrollments active.

"I tell them to just keep going," Batey said. "Get a flu shot, get an X-ray, get a checkup so the VA computer won't drop you. It's sad that people have to use it when they don't necessarily need to, taking up slots that sick veterans could be using."

Batey said he was glad Pryor was taking action to correct the problem, but there are many more issues to be addressed.

Metro on 06/13/2014