FOR RELEASE:  March 13, 2003

VETERANS PROGRAMS SLASHED BY HOUSE REPUBLICANS  

Budget Committee Blueprint Cuts Veterans Health Care and Other Benefits
by Nearly $25 Billion 

Congressman Lane Evans (D-IL), the Ranking Democratic Member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, today said the budget adopted by the House Budget Committee would mean drastic reductions in funding for veterans’ benefits and services.  Evans called the budget “shameful” and pledged to fight to defeat the Republic budget blueprint.  Referring to the more than a trillion dollars worth of tax cuts approved by the Budget Committee, Evans asked, “Who deserves to receive the benefits of the national treasury—America’s disabled veterans or America’s millionaires?”    

The Republican majority of the House Budget Committee approved a federal budget reducing funding for veterans health care and benefit programs by nearly $25 billion.  The proposed budget cut $844 million from the President’s request for veterans’ health care next year.  Over a ten-year period the GOP is proposing a cut of $9.7 billion in veterans’ health care—an average of more than $900 million less than the President has proposed per year.  For other veterans’ benefits, including cash payments to veterans disabled by military service, the Republican budget calls for a $463 million cut during the next year and a $15 billion cut in spending from current levels during the next ten years.  The House Budget Committee is chaired by Congressman Jim Nussle (R-IA). 

By a nearly party-line vote of 22-19, Republicans defeated an amendment offered by Democratic Representatives Darlene Hooley, Tammy Baldwin, Dennis Moore, Chet Edwards, Bobby Scott, Lois Capps, and Artur Davis that would have restored the proposed $844 million for veterans health care and added a billion dollars to the VA’s budget for discretionary programs.  These cuts are made to a budget that already relies upon $1.1 billion in vaguely defined management efficiencies and $1.4 billion in mostly unpalatable legislative and policy proposals already included in the President’s budget.  The amendment would also have restored the Budget Committee’s proposed $463 million in cuts to veterans’ benefits.  Only Republican Ginny Brown-Waite, a member of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, crossed party lines to vote for increased funding for veterans.   

In sharp contrast to Nussle’s proposal, a bipartisan recommendation from Chairman Christopher Smith (R-NJ) and Democratic Ranking Member Lane Evans (D-IL) on behalf of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, would have added $3 billion next year for veteran discretionary programs including medical care and research, construction and programs that fund the administrative costs of other important benefits such as compensation, pension and education programs. 

What would $1.844 billion mean to veterans health care? 

·        Congress would have to seriously consider the new copayments and enrollment fees proposed by the Bush Administration in order to keep the system operating in the next fiscal year.  This means:

o       New priority 8 veterans would remain ineligible for VA services indefinitely

o       Priority 7 and 8 veterans would have an annual enrollment fee in addition to increased copayments for pharmaceutical drugs and primary care

o       Only veterans with highly rated service connected disabilities (greater than 70%) would be eligible for placement in VA nursing homes.  This would eliminate the need for 5000 nursing home beds from the system.

·        In year one VA may have to disenroll at least 168,000 veterans.

·        There would be no additional funds available to implement the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance Act to work toward the goal of eliminating chronic homelessness in a decade.

·        The current Capital Assets Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) exercise that VA is undertaking to assess the best use of its physical infrastructure will become a “de facto” closure commission with no ability to respond to veterans’ needs for primary care, long-term care, and mental health projected by its own models.

·        $1.844 billion =

o       about 9,000 doctors or 19,000 nurses

o       about 6.6 million outpatient visits

o       870,000 hospital bed days of care

o       2 million psychiatric bed days of care

o       9 million nursing home bed days of care

o       all of VA’s top-twenty priorities major construction projects (totaling about $600 million) which include desperately needed seismic and modernization projects and projects to ensure patient and employee safety   

What would $463 million cuts in mandatory spending mean to veterans benefits? 

·        Congress would have to seriously cut the benefits paid to men and women who are disabled as a result of military service.  Cash benefits paid to veterans who have disabilities incurred or aggravated during military service comprise the vast majority of VA’s budget for mandatory programs.  Ninety percent of the mandatory spending the Budget Committee proposes to cut is from cash payments to service disabled veterans, low-income wartime veterans and their survivors.

·        Other programs funded with mandatory spending are the Montgomery G.I. Bill education benefits, vocational rehabilitation and independent living programs for service-disabled veterans, subsidies for VA home loans and insurance for service-disabled veterans and funds to provide headstones, markers and flags for deceased veterans.

·        Even if all burial benefits, including flags and markers were eliminated to meet the Budget Committee resolution, funding for benefits for living veterans would need to be dramatically cut.

·        Last year the cost-of living increase paid to service-disabled veterans was only 1.4%.  In order to meet the Budget Committee criteria the House Committee on Veterans Affairs could propose a cost-of living decrease of 1.4% and no increase for FY 2004. 

As our Nation stands on the verge of war, certain to result in disability and death for young Americans, the Budget Committee’s proposal requires the House Committee on Veterans Affairs to make permanent cuts in the benefits paid to those disabled by virtue of their service to our Nation.  These cuts must be made, so that our government can afford to provide a tax cut which will benefit only the wealthiest Americans, many of whom have never served in the military.   

In contrast, Democrats proposed to restore the “Nussle” cut for benefits and health care and add $1 billion to the VA health care budget to eliminate the need for increased copayments, assist VA in eliminating waiting times, restore VA’s nursing home care mission and provide a small boost to address the queue of VA major construction projects that include seismic projects and other projects that will assure patient and employee safety. 

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