[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 59 (Tuesday, May 12, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S4742]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    VETERANS' EQUALITY FOR TREATMENT AND SERVICES (VETS) ACT OF 1998

 Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, as a supporter of the Veterans' 
Equality for Treatment and Services Act of 1998, introduced last Friday 
by Senator Jeffords on behalf of myself, Senator Rockefeller, Senator 
Specter, and Senator Murkowski, I am committed to ensuring that our 
aging veterans have access to quality, affordable, reliable, and 
convenient health services.
  However, as budgets decrease so, unfortunately, do services provided. 
The demonstration project outlined in the VETS Act of 1998 will allow 
Medicare to reimburse the VA for its services without putting a strain 
on the Medicare trust, and will provide an additional funding source 
for the VA. The project authorized by this legislation will be 
conducted over a three-year period, at up to 12 sites across the 
nation, and annual Medicare spending will be capped. Safeguards will 
also be imposed to ensure the cap is not exceeded. This bill may even 
save Medicare dollars by imposing a mandatory five percent discount on 
its reimbursement for services provided to veterans.
  Those targeted by this legislation are lower- and middle-income 
veterans who are no longer eligible for treatment at the VA because of 
its constrained resources. People like Mr. John C. Elkins, of Columbia, 
South Carolina, who is in his late seventies and who served over 28 
years in the military. Recently, Mr. Elkins wrote this in a letter to 
me: ``Oh, I know some think we hang on to life and drain government 
resources that are being paid for by the younger workers. But I must 
ask you and those who question us: isn't three wars in a lifetime worth 
something?''
  The veterans of our nation have served honorably and faithfully, 
often under perilous conditions, and they have sacrificed both with the 
loss of their lives and with their livelihoods. Thousands of veterans 
have experienced any number of health care problems. These veterans 
should have the same access to health care as all other Americans and, 
quite frankly, Mr. President, they deserve more for the sacrifices they 
have made.
  Mr. President, you will remember what my good friend, the late 
President John F. Kennedy said in his inaugural address: ``Ask not what 
your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.'' 
The men and women of the armed services, our veterans, did just that. 
They answered their country's call to duty, and in response they were 
often put in harm's way. They served 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 
all around the world. They continue to support and defend our nation's 
interests, and I believe it is time our nation supported their 
interests.
  I urge my distinguished colleagues to join Senators Jeffords, 
Rockefeller, Specter, Murkowski, and me in supporting the VETS Act of 
1998. It is among the very least that we in Congress can do to continue 
our support for these veterans, like Mr. Elkins, who have given so much 
to this country, while at the same time helping to preserve the VA 
medical system and the Medicare trust.

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