Funding for Veterans’ Benefits and Health Care Included in Omnibus Bill
December 20, 2007

Following is an update on the FY 2008 Department of Veterans Affairs Bill. The Bill now is included in a massive omnibus appropriations package that combines eleven FY 2008 appropriations measures as well as a supplemental war bill. The VA portion of the Omnibus Bill contains $3.7 billion above the President’s request for numerous VA programs. The President has indicated he will sign the bill. A significant provision of the bill will provide funding for 1,000 additional employees to handle compensation and pension claims processing. The current backlog is over 450,000 claims. Hiring new employees, however, will only be part of the solution. For this program to be successful, VA will need to develop new training programs, instill a greater sense of accountability among its employees and make better use of existing technology assets. AFA joins the other military associations in having reservations that the VA can hire, train and process the backlog in a timely manner.

Of particular interest to the Association and its Veterans/Retiree Council are a number of issues the Association has worked over the last several years. Among those issues are: Homeless Veterans Grant and Per Diem Program: $130 million; $38 million above FY 2007 to help care for homeless vets; Medical Facilities: $4.1 billion; $530 million above FY 2007 levels – a central focus of these funds will be open, staff and operate new facilities which have been constructed and completed but are not now open and operating; Medical and Prosthetic Research: $480 million; $66 million above FY 2007 levels – a central focus of these funds will be to reduce waiting times for those injured in Iraq and Afghanistan before they can begin treatment. The Association has consistently voiced its concern with the 6-8 month lag between the time an injured veteran is released from the hospital before they can begin rehabilitation or be fitted with a prosthetic device. For the last several years, the Association has advocated significant increases in this area to eliminate any waiting period; Information Technology: $2 billion, $752 million above FY 2007 levels to help insure that medical information flows seamlessly from the Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs for military retirees as well as for those injured in the war. The Association has significant concern that the expenditure of these funds will remedy this long-standing as yet unresolved problem. Huge amounts of money have been spent attempting to address this problem for 10 years with no results. We share the concern of others that this $2 billion allocation will yield significant results. To have been successful in addressing the issue, we believe that Congress needed to direct that a private contractor be retained and have the full authority to develop and implement a system. VA has not had any success with working this issue internally. In 2007 a few pilot programs were initiated to test some systems but it is too early to evaluate any results of those efforts. The Association and its Veterans/Retiree Council will carefully watch any progress in this area; Cemetery Expenses: the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) consistently wins awards for its excellent service to families in their time of need and for their judicious management of funds. A major survey was completed by the Pew Research Agency this year and revealed that 97% of the families who had dealings with the NCA were “very satisfied” with their experience. NCA now has 6 new national veterans cemeteries in various stages of construction with 9 new cemeteries in the land acquisition or design phase. Their annual budget has been increased to $31.2 million, $1.2 million above FY 2007 levels.

More information on other provisions of the Veterans spending bill may be found by reading the Committee on Veterans Affairs Press Release at http://republicans.veterans.house.gov/news/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1580.

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