[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 34 (Monday, March 17, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E483]]
                            VETERAN SERVICES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JACK QUINN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 17, 1997

  Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a bill that 
requires the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to truly consider the 
needs of our veterans who so bravely served our Nation.
  The VA has devised a plan called the veterans equitable resource 
allocation. However, the funding formula simply considers population 
trends, the cost of labor, and specialized care.
  There is no mention of the special needs and challenges that are 
unique that each veteran community across the country. As we all know, 
a multitude of other factors, both nonmedical and medical, plague our 
veterans.
  How could it be proposed that a formula for distributing dollars for 
VA health care not take into account medical conditions of the veterans 
it serves?
  If we allow the VA to implement their plan as it exists today, the VA 
will be sending a message to its sicker, poorer, older, and service-
disabled veterans that they just don't care.
  My bill addresses a fundamental problem with the VA's plan. My 
legislation charges the VA to certify to Congress that they have 
accounted for such critical factors as catastrophic injuries, disease, 
homelessness, poverty, cost of living and care, the age and type of 
infrastructure used by the Department of Veterans Affairs medical 
facilities, and so forth.
  Until these conditions are met, we might as well remove the word 
equitable from the VA's so-called equitable resource allocation model.
  I would like to add that many of the established health care 
facilities in the northeast are considered centers of excellence. Just 
last year, the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association [EPVA] made 164 
trips transporting patients to and from VA hospitals. Eleven of those 
trips were made from southern VA facilities to northeast medical 
centers because of their ability to perform specialized surgeries and 
treatment.
  No trips were made from the Northeast to the Southwest.
  I am pleased to inform you that I have introduced my bill today along 
with 25 of my colleagues.
  I encourage my other colleagues to sign onto the bill. A veteran in 
the Southwest who needs care is no more important than one in the 
North.
  We owe it to our veterans to make available the highest quality of 
care.
  I would like to submit the attached text of my bill for the Record.

                                 H.R.--

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. CERTIFICATION THAT PLAN FOR ALLOCATION OF VETERANS 
                   HEALTH CARE RESOURCES CONSIDERED CERTAIN 
                   MEDICAL AND NONMEDICAL FACTORS.

       (a) Certification Required.--The plan for allocation of 
     health care resources of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
     submitted to Congress under subsection (c) of section 429 of 
     the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban 
     Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 
     1997 (110 Stat. 2929) may not be implemented until after the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs certifies to the Congress that 
     the Secretary, in developing such plan, took into account the 
     medical-related factors described in subsection (b) and the 
     nonmedical factors described in subsection (c). Such 
     certification shall be accompanied by the data the Secretary 
     used in considering such factors.
       (b) Medical-Related Factors.--The medical-related factors 
     described in this subsection are the following:
       (1) The medical condition of veterans residing within each 
     region served by a Veterans Integrated Services Network.
       (2) The cost for each Veterans Integrated Services Network 
     to meet the specialized medical needs for veterans suffering 
     from catastrophic injury, disease, or illness, including 
     spinal cord dysfunction, amputation, blindness, and mental 
     illness.
       (3) The cost for each Veterans Integrated Services Network 
     to meet the rehabilitative needs of veterans suffering from 
     such catastrophic injury, disease, or illness.
       (4) The cost for each Veterans Integrated Services Network 
     to provide medical support services, including prosthetics, 
     pharmaceutical supplies, social services, and medical 
     transportation to and from Veterans Integrated Services 
     Network medical facilities.
       (5) The cost for Veterans Integrated Services Network 
     facilities to provide for the treatment and care of those 
     members of the veterans population suffering from substance 
     abuse, psychological problems, of AIS.
       (c) Nonmedical Factors.--The nonmedical factors described 
     in this subsection are the following:
       (1) The expected reliance of veterans on Department of 
     Veterans Affairs health care facilities for medical care as a 
     result of--
       (A) the cost of living for veterans residing in the region 
     served by each Veterans Integrated Services Network; and
       (B) the size of the population of veterans in each such 
     region who are impoverished.
       (2) The size of the population of homeless veterans in each 
     such region and the wider array of disease and illness due to 
     the hardships and lack of hygiene from which the homeless 
     suffer.
       (3) The age of the veterans population residing in each 
     such region and the costs associated with long-term care 
     necessary to meet the needs of the aging veterans population.
       (4) The age and type of infrastructure used by Department 
     of Veterans Affairs medical facilities, including the cost of 
     operating, maintaining, repairing, and remodeling such 
     facilities and the costs associated with adverse weather 
     conditions, such as snow removal, in regions in which such 
     facilities are located.
       (d) Veterans Integrated Services Network Defined.--For 
     purposes of this section, the term ``Veterans Integrated 
     Services Network'' means the network developed by the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs to provide for the health care 
     of veterans.

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