[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      SUPPORT OF THE ASSURED FUNDING FOR VETERANS HEALTH CARE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 8, 2005

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Congressman Evans' 
legislation, the Assured Funding for Veterans Health Care Act, and am 
proud to be an original cosponsor. This legislation will guarantee that 
veterans receive the health care they have earned and deserve.
  With an increase in the number of veterans seeking care, a dramatic 
rise in medical costs, and years of inadequate VA health care funding, 
there is a clear and growing mismatch between the demand for VA 
services and available funds to support these services. The number of 
patients entering the VA health care system has increased by 134 
percent since 1996, but funding for medical care has increased just 44 
percent. This has resulted in unprecedented waiting times for routine 
and specialized medical care nationwide. In my home state of Michigan, 
some veterans are waiting more than 6 months for an initial doctor's 
appointment. This situation is untenable.
  The reason for this problem is evident and so is the solution. Every 
year, veterans have to fight with a myriad of non-veterans' programs to 
receive the money necessary for their health care treatment. To end 
this annual budget battle, the Assured Funding for Veterans Health Care 
Act would require Congress to meet our veterans' medical care needs by 
providing funding for VA health care based on the number of enrollees 
in the system and medical inflation.
  This is legislation that Members on both sides of the aisle should 
support. In fact, a commission established by the White House, the 
President's Task Force to Improve Health Care Delivery for Our Nation's 
Veterans, issued a report in March 2003 noting the mismatch between 
veterans' needs and VA services, and recommending guaranteed funding to 
fix this problem. To date, the Administration has refused to endorse, 
or even to acknowledge, the Task Force's recommendation.
  The current system is not serving our veterans well. The VA must have 
a sufficient budget to effectively manage its health care programs, to 
hire the appropriate number of staff, and to adequately plan for the 
coming year well in advance. Guaranteed veterans' health care funding 
would end the year-to-year uncertainty the VA and our veterans face, 
and would fulfill the obligation this country has to the men and women 
who served in uniform.

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