South Dakota senators seek full funding for vets’ health care

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Subject: S.D. senators seek full funding for vets’ health care



http://www.navytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1503025.php

S.D. senators seek full funding for vets’ health care
By Rick Maze
 NavyTimes staff writer
January 31, 2006

 South Dakota’s two senators, one Democrat and one Republican, have asked the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee to look at new ways of paying for veterans’ health care, including providing guaranteed funding similar to how the government pays for Medicare.

This is not a new position for either Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson or Republican John Thune, but the fact they crossed party lines to work together is a sign of growing support for securing what is known in budget-speak as “mandatory” funding for veterans’ medical programs.

In a joint letter to the veterans’ committee, sent Jan. 26 but released Jan. 31, Johnson and Thune ask the committee to examine “how we can ensure” the VA has enough money.“

As you know, the discretionary funding has become a cause for concern among many of our nation’s veterans,” the letter says. “This concern is due to the uncertainty that arises each year as to whether funding will be adequate to serve the health care needs of our veterans, and has been aggravated by the unexpected budget shortfall in VA funding last year.”

Under a mandatory mechanism, the VA automatically would receive full funding each year for whatever amount it required to provide inpatient and outpatient care without the administration proposing, and Congress approving, an annual health care budget.

While veterans’ groups support mandatory funding, the Bush administration and congressional leaders oppose it because of the potential for increasing the federal deficit.

“While we understand mandatory funding may be controversial as a solution, we believe it deserves equals consideration along with any other proposals that may have merit,” the Johnson-Thune letter says. “It is becoming abundantly clear that there is a growing consensus that the current funding model for veterans’ health care is inadequate and a permanent solution needs to be found.”

The veterans’ committee, headed by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, does not have the power to change the funding mechanism, but a recommendation from the panel could carry weight. The subject of health care funding is certain to arise during hearings on the 2007 budget request, congressional aides said.

Craig, who also serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has tried over the years to hold down mandatory spending because he has viewed programs outside the control of annual congressional approval to be responsible for federal budget deficits.

At the same time, Craig was among those pushing hardest last year for the administration to come up with extra funding for veterans’ health care when it became clear the medical budget had been miscalculated.

Congress ended up providing the VA with $33 billion for veterans’ health care last year, including $1.2 billion to cover the discovered shortfall.

Just yesterday, President Bush announced that he had agreed to designate the $1.2 billion as “emergency” spending, which means it does not count toward congressional spending targets.

Thune said in a statement that he is working with  Johnson because “we must find a way to eliminate the possibility of future funding shortfalls and guarantee high quality, reliable health care for these men and women who deserve it most.”

Johnson, whose eldest son is an Army staff sergeant who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said fully funding the VA is important for returning war veterans who need care. “When you see that the current course of action for funding is leaving our veterans behind, it is time to take a new approach," he said.
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Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)