Support Advance Funding for Veterans' Health Care

Support Advance Funding for Veterans’ Health Care – Take Action!

Please Contact Your Elected Officials TODAY!
 
Nine of the largest national veterans organizations, including Disabled American Veterans (DAV), praised Senate and House Members for introducing bipartisan bills on September 18th to reform the VA budget process to assure sufficient, timely and predictable funding for veterans’ health care programs. The new legislation, called the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act, would require Congress to approve health care funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) a year in advance of the beginning of its fiscal year – an idea favored by more than 80 percent of America’s voters. The Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget Reform (see http://www.fundingforvets.org/) worked closely with the bill sponsors in drafting this key legislation.

The bill would guarantee no further delays in VA health care funding, and would break the cycle of perpetually late budgets that have disrupted operations and delayed veterans’ care in the nation’s largest health care system. While VA health care funding has increased in recent years, especially the last two years, it is still consistently late, and often, months late. DAV National Commander Ray Dempsey said "this bill will finally solve DAV’s top three goals for VA health care. When it becomes law, VA health funding will be on time, the process will be predictable, and the amount will be sufficient. With DAV’s strong grassroots advocacy, sick and disabled veterans of prior and future wars will receive the care they need and earned."

Simultaneous to the introduction of these two bills, DAV released results of a national poll taken on the relevant questions about VA health care important to our members. Commander Dempsey said "our polling results show that the American people overwhelmingly support a proposal to have Congress approve VA’s health care funding one year in advance to once and for all end these delays."

The DAV-commissioned poll, conducted by the polling firm Belden Russonello & Stewart, found that Americans believe veterans health care funding is at the top of our national agenda; strongly believe that the government is not doing enough to support veterans; and overwhelming favor requiring Congress to decide the budget for veterans’ health care a year in advance (see www.dav.org/voters/documents/veteran_survey_memo.pdf ).

The Senate bill (S. 2537) was introduced by Veterans Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-HI), and was co-sponsored by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), John Thune (R-SD), Ted Stevens (R-AK), and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV).

The House bill (H.R. 6939) was introduced by Veterans Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA), and was co-sponsored by Representatives Walter Jones (R-NC), Michael Michaud (D-ME), Phil Hare (D-IL), and Tim Walz (D-MN).

DAV asks you to write your Members of the House and Senate to urge them to co-sponsor and work for passage of these two bills.