The coauthors of The Independent Budget - AMVETS, DAV, VFW and PVA who collectively represent millions of veterans— applaud the Obama Administration’s recently released Budget Request for FY 2011. It includes significant funding increases for VA health care and benefits, and for the first time, for the VA FY 2012 budget, advance appropriation recommendations.
The budget announcement coincides with the publication of the 24th Edition of
the IB, a full picture of veterans’ health care and benefits needs and
funding recommendations for VA, by veterans for veterans. This can be seen at
www.independentbudget.org. The IB is always an important road map for administrations
and Congress. The coauthors are pleased that the FY 2011 budget represents continuing
progress on delivering sufficient, timely and predictable funding for VA health
care, a key goal of the IB over the years. This means that VA will get health
care funding on time and our veterans are more likely to receive quality medical
treatment in a timely manner.
Released on 2/1, the budget for FY 2011 provides nearly $60.3 billion in discretionary
funding for VA, almost $4.2 billion above the FY 2010 appropriated level.
The
State of the Union address unveiled a proposal to freeze most non-defense discretionary
spending for three years beginning in 2011. The coauthors of The IB were pleased
that the President's FY 2011 Budget confirms that VA health care and benefits
programs will not be impacted by this freeze.
The budget includes nearly $51.5 billion for medical care programs for FY 2011,
an increase of 5 billion over the FY 2010 appropriated level. The IB recommends
approximately 52 billion for medical care programs. The budget request includes
advance appropriations recommendations of 54.3 billion for medical care programs.
The
budget also contains a significant increase in funding for the Veterans Benefits
Administration (VBA), the VA agency charged with providing compensation and
benefits to veterans. The President’s budget recommends $2.1 billion for
VBA, an increase of $460 million over the FY 2010 appropriated level. This funding
increase shows a commitment to bring down the massive claims backlog and provide
timely, accurate education benefits to service members eligible for the Post-9/11
GI Bill.
The IB coauthors have concerns with the level of funding recommended for construction
projects and information technology. The VA faces a massive backlog of construction
requirements and as states become ever more reliant on VA to contribute the
funds to build long-term care facilities, this is not the time to reduce critical
funding. We also need to address a number of critical information technology
initiatives.
The
Veterans’ Emergency Care Fairness Act, recently signed into law by the
President, will enable the VA to reimburse veterans in its care for the remaining
cost of emergency treatment in non-VA medical facilities if the veteran has
outside insurance that only covers part of the cost. Previously, VA could reimburse
veterans or pay outside hospitals directly only if a veteran has no outside
health insurance. In addition to reimbursing veterans for emergency care in
the future, the bill allows the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide retroactive
reimbursements for care received prior to the passage of this bill. The Congressional
Budget Office estimates this legislation will cover approximately 700 future
claims per year and as many as 2,000 veterans retroactively.
Patrick McCallister
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