| HOUSE PASSES
ADVANCE FUNDING FOR VA BUDGET
Veterans' Service Organizations praise
legislation that will put an end to late VA budgets.
NOTE
from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org ... It looks like we are
well on the way to getting timely VA budgets. This is called
advance appropriations and you can find more on the concept here
...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=
advance+appropriations&op=ph
However, not everyone thinks
this will solve the VA's ills. The Government Accountability
Office (GAO) said in a
report:
This ...
could worsen the challenges VA already faces when formulating
its health care budget.
So, for the other side of the
coin, you can read the report here ...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfapr09/nf043009-3.htm
We have two press releases on
this bill ... first from Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the House
Committee on Veterans' Affairs ... and from The Partnership for
Veterans Health Care Budget Reform.
-------------------------
Washington, D.C. – On
Thursday, October 8, 2009, the House of Representatives approved
an amendment to H.R. 1016, a bill to secure timely funding for
veterans’ health care delivered through the Veterans Health
Administration (VHA). Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the House
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, announced passage of the bill that
would authorize the ‘advance appropriations’ process. The bill
provides Congress greater ability to develop appropriation bills
that provide sufficient funding to meet the best estimate of
anticipated demand for VA health care services in future years by
allowing funding for the Department of Veterans
 Affairs
(VA) medical accounts one year in advance.
Chairman Filner offered the following statement: “Today, the
House of Representatives took action to respond to years of
chronic underfunding of VA medical care. Over the last 23 years,
20 VA budgets have been passed late – and our veterans pay the
price with fewer doctors, longer waiting times, and more
restricted access for the 6 million veterans using VA health
care. Again this year, the VA is forced to rely on funding from a
continuing resolution, even though the House acted in a timely
fashion and passed the FY 2010 VA spending bill in July. Members
of the Committee have worked closely with veteran service
organizations to pass this landmark bill and guarantee that our
veterans have access to comprehensive, quality health care.”
H.R. 1016 would authorize Congress to approve Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) medical care appropriations one year in
advance of the start of each fiscal year. An advance
appropriation would provide VA with up to one year in which to
plan how to deliver the most efficient and effective care to an
increasing number of veterans with increasingly complex medical
conditions. Unlike proposals to convert VA health care to a
mandatory funding program, an advance appropriation does not
create PAYGO concerns since VA health care funding would remain
discretionary. Congress employs a PAYGO rule which demands that
new proposals must either be budget neutral or offset with savings
derived from existing funds.
Additionally, VA will be required to detail estimates in the
budget documents it submits annually to Congress. Each July, the
VA will be required to report to Congress if it has the resources
it needs for the upcoming fiscal year in order for Congress to
address any funding imbalances. This will help to safeguard
against the VA facing budget shortfalls such as it faced just a
few years ago.
Reform of the method in which the VA health care system is funded
continues to be a top legislative priority for many veteran
service organizations. In a letter sent by eleven veteran service
organizations to Members of the House Committee on Veterans’
Affairs, a vote for H.R. 1016 “will be among the most important
for veterans and their families that the Committee will take this
year.” Representatives of these groups offered testimony in
support of advance appropriations at a recent Committee hearing
which focused on funding the VA of the future. (Testimony
available here:
HVAC Hearing Information)
Today, the House approved an amendment to H.R. 1016. The version
of this legislation represents a compromise agreement between the
House and the Senate. The bill in its current form must be
approved by the Senate before being sent to the President for
passage into law.
The House also passed S. 1717, a bill to authorize 15 major
medical facility leases for the VA fiscal year 2010 budget. VA
operates the largest direct health care delivery system in America
and this bill provides VA the ability to move forward without
delay on the execution of important facility leases.
In support of S. 1717, Chairman Filner said,
“Veterans who have been anticipating new clinics
opening up in their communities will not be disappointed. S. 1717
will allow VA to provide timely access to high quality health care
to veterans.”
-------------------------
The Partnership for Veterans
Health Care Budget Reform
Representing America’s Veterans
Veterans’ Partnership Hails
Historic House Vote
on Veterans Health Care Funding Reform
The following statement was
released on behalf of the Partnership for Veterans Health Care
Budget Reform, comprised of The American Legion, AMVETS, Blinded
Veterans Association, Disabled American Veterans, Jewish War
Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Paralyzed Veterans
of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Vietnam Veterans of
America:
“We applaud the House of
Representatives for giving final approval to legislation that will
provide sufficient, timely and predictable funding for veterans
health care programs. With today’s overwhelming House vote to
approve H.R. 1016, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and
Transparency Act, the expected rapid Senate approval of the
legislation and the President ready to sign it, we are on the
final leg of a long journey to fix the VA health care funding
process.
“Enactment of this historic
legislation will ensure that veterans health care no longer
suffers when Congress fails to pass a budget on time, as has been
the case for most of the past two decades, including this year.
Instead, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency
Act will authorize advance appropriations for veterans medical
care programs, providing VA managers sufficient time to plan how
best to deliver quality health care. This legislation also adds
much-needed transparency to the VA budget process to help remove
partisan politics from interfering with future veterans health
care funding.
“The Partnership is grateful to
Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner, the legislation’s
sponsor, for leading the fight in the House and successfully
reaching an agreement with the Senate that we expect will become
law very soon.
We are also grateful to many
other leaders in the House for the key roles they played in
achieving this success, especially House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, Appropriations
Subcommittee Chairman Chet Edwards, Veterans’ Affairs Health
Subcommittee Chairman Mike Michaud, Congressman Phil Hare and
Congressman Walter Jones.
“For two decades, the
Partnership has worked to reform the budget and appropriations
process to ensure that veterans receive the health care they have
earned in a timely manner. With the historic House vote today, we
are on the brink of a victory that will help ensure quality
medical care for the men and women who have served, are serving
and will serve in defense of our nation.”
The American Legion
1608 K Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 861-2700
www.legion.org
AMVETS (American Veterans)
4647 Forbes Blvd.
Lanham, MD 20706
(301) 459-9600
www.amvets.org
Blinded Veterans Association
477 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 371-8880
www.bva.org
Disabled American Veterans
807 Maine Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20024
(202) 554-3501
www.dav.org
Jewish War Veterans of the USA
1811 R Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 265-6280
www.jwv.org
Military Order of the Purple
Heart
of the U.S.A., Inc.
5413-B Backlick Road
Springfield, VA 22151
(703) 642-5360
www.purpleheart.org
Paralyzed Veterans of America
801 18th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 872-1300
www.pva.org
Veterans of Foreign Wars
of the United States
200 Maryland Avenue, N.E.
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 543-2239
www.vfwdc.org
Vietnam Veterans of America,
Inc.
8605 Cameron Street, Suite 400
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(301) 585-4000
www.vva.org
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TOPICS:
veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs,
budget, advance appropriations |
