Democrat Senator Jon Tester says his bill to improve health care for veterans has yet to pass the Senate, despite unanimous support from the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Tester's "Rural Veterans Health Care Improvement Act" would lock in the VA reimbursement rate at 41 and a half cents per mile, and aims to improve health care for Indian veterans and expands mental health care for veterans who don't live near large hospitals.

But Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is blocking a vote on it.

During a news conference on Capitol Hill today, Tester called on Congress to move past "political games" and pass the measure. Tester said, "In rural America, veterans who live there don't live as long as veterans in urban America.  The problem is services.  This bill helps address those services.  To give the veterans who live in rural America the kind of need and support that they deserve."

Through a post on his website, Senator Coburn states he believes the bill would discriminate against veterans from previous wars and duplicate an existing program that helps veterans care for themselves.