Budget reform needed for Veterans health care, partnership says

A coalition of national veterans service organizations has again called on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee  to schedule hearings on legislation that would replace the current discretionary funding mechanism that puts patients at risk and makes it impossible for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to operate effectively.

The nine organizations that make up the Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget Reform have long sought congressional hearings to explore ways to guarantee full funding for veterans health care, but those requests have not been honored.

The latest request for hearings was made in a Nov. 1 letter taking issue with outgoing Chairman Buyer's recent assertion that the current discretionary appropriations process has been a "successful funding approach" to meeting the health care needs of America's sick and disabled veterans.

"The discretionary budget has become highly politicized and puts at risk the VA health care system and its patient population. In the past 12 years," the partnership letter noted, "Congress has completed only one regular VA appropriations bill by the start of the new fiscal year. Unfortunately, the norm has become a series of continuing resolutions each year that funds VA at the previous year's level, holding down spending and finally lumping VA's budget into an omnibus spending bill."

"This annual limbo hinders effective staffing decisions, construction planning, and day-to-day management by VA leaders. Additionally, VA funding growth has not nearly kept pace with its patient workload demands," the letter said. "A method of assured funding, such as H.R. 515 (Assured Funding for Veterans Health Care Act), would eliminate the year-to-year uncertainty about funding levels. Annual fiscal turbulence rarely occurs in comparable mandatory spending programs. It is blatantly unrealistic to expect VA to manage efficiently and carry out its missions expertly without knowing what its projected budget will be or when funds will be approved."

Outgoing Chairman Buyer has said that mandatory funding is an "inferior approach to funding" and that Congress would lose its "oversight clout" of the VA health care system under a mandatory funding mechanism. However, the partnership believes that guaranteed funding would simply ensure that VA is provided the necessary resources to care for the enrolled patient population.

In a letter mailed to Representative Buyer before the Nov. 7 election the partnership letter also noted that all other mandatory programs still receive congressional oversight. "We would expect your committee to hold VA accountable for how it spends every dollar and how well VA manages its health care programs."

Each organization in the partnership has approved resolutions that support guaranteed funding for veterans' health care.

The Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget Reform includes The American Legion, AMVETS, Blinded Veterans Association, Disabled American Veterans, Jewish War Veterans of the USA, Military Order of the Purple Heart of the U.S.A, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and Vietnam Veterans of America.