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Congressional Testimony - March 5, 2009
Paralyzed Veterans Recommends Improved Funding for VA Health Care and Urges Advance Appropriations to Improve Discretionary Funding Process
Washington, DC-Today, Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans) National President Randy L. Pleva, Sr. told lawmakers that President Obama’s newly-released budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a positive first step toward the ample funding of health care for those who have served and sacrificed. Pleva stressed that the welcome proposed budget increase should not be as a result of new fees or other additional financial burdens on veterans with service connected conditions.
Pleva emphasized the need for the passage of legislation that guarantees advance funding for VA. He urged that “sufficient, timely and predictable resources are provided to the VA health care system so that eligible veterans can receive the care that they have earned and deserve.” He applauded the chairs of the Senate and House VA Committees, along with selected members, for reintroducing legislation that would reform the VA budget process by providing advance appropriations for veterans’ health care.
In oral and written testimony before the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees, Pleva focused on the recommendations contained in The Independent Budget (IB) for fiscal year 2010 released this year. Now in its 23rd year, the IB is a comprehensive budget and policy document co-authored by Paralyzed Veterans, AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, and Veterans of Foreign Wars (http://www.independentbudget.org/).
The IB calls for a minimum of $54.6 billion to fund VA, a total increase of $4.5 billion over last year’s IB recommendation. This includes: $46.6 billion for health care, $575 million for prosthetic research, $1.6 billion for benefits processing, and nearly $2 billion for major and minor construction.
Pleva cited the need to remove barriers that block more than 500,000 veterans from accessing their health care benefits. These “priority group 8” veterans have been barred from enrolling in the VA health care system since 2003.
Pleva also noted the fact that VA has only received its budget on time-at the start of the fiscal year on October 1-three times in 22 years. He emphasized that even though Congress provided better funding levels for VA during the past two years, the lengthy appropriations process and delays compromise the ability of VA to conduct effective planning and to deliver timely quality health care and benefits.
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