NEWS FROM….

CONGRESSMAN LANE EVANS

RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

    U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Washington, DC - "President Clinton has signed into law a significant bill for veterans," said Lane Evans of Illinois, Democratic Leader of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. "The Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act strongly reaffirms our commitment to our Nation’s veterans. I’m proud to have been part of enacting this measure."

The Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act includes several provisions authored by Congressman Evans. "We have turned what began as a health care bill," Evans said, "into a comprehensive measure." The new law includes provisions related to veterans benefits claims, homeless veterans programs, minority veterans, cemeteries, housing, and use of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities.

"Our veteran population is aging," Congressman Evans commented. "Their health care needs are changing. Long-term care is increasingly a matter of great importance to veterans. I am happy the Millennium Act responds to veterans’ long-term care needs."

This legislation requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide nursing home care to enrolled veterans who are rated 70% or more service-connected disabled and to veterans with a service-connected disability, who need institutional long-term care for that disability. It also provides, for the first time, non-institutional long-term care as part of the basic benefits package for VA enrollees.

President Clinton agreed with Evans on the bill’s importance.  "This bill is especially significant," he pointed out, "for its approach in the provision of enhanced extended-care services to veterans.  It firmly establishes that the [VA] should accord the highest priority for nursing home care to the most severely disabled veterans and those needing care for service-connected disabilities."

"Additionally," said Congressman Evans, "the Millennium Act authorizes VA to provide reimbursement for emergency care that is not provided in VA facilities to certain enrolled veterans. As the author of House legislation authorizing VA to reimburse non-VA providers for emergency services rendered to enrolled veterans, I am particularly pleased this important provision is part of the final bill."

Another key section on claims for veterans’ benefits that Evans authored establishes a rigorous quality assurance program within VA. "For far too long," Evans noted, "inaccurate and untimely VA decisions on claims have been a serious problem for veterans, for veterans service organizations and for Members of Congress who assist their veteran constituents. The new law mandates a quality review program in the VA’s Veterans Benefits Administration that must meet appropriate governmental standards for independence and internal control. This program, if properly administered, will improve both the quality and timeliness of claims decisions made by VA. Frankly, that’s what our veterans deserve."

The Millennium Act also requires VA to provide badly-needed expansion of the national cemetery system. VA has moved slowly to create additional cemeteries despite an obvious and growing need. The VA is now directed to establish new cemeteries in the six areas of the country most in need of cemetery space to serve veterans and their families. Congressman Evans expects the Veterans' Affairs committee "to vigorously oversee the Department’s compliance with this provision."

"The new law," Evans said, "fits the needs of our diverse veterans’ population. We have extended the life of the VA’s Federal Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans. They give us vital information and ideas. In addition, we reauthorized the Labor Department’s Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program (HVRP) for four more years, through fiscal year 2003. HVRP provides funding for community-based programs that help our most vulnerable veterans. We also increased the annual amount authorized for this very important and successful program in increments from $10 million to $20 million per year by fiscal year 2002."

Evans also wrote legislation, incorporated into the new Millennium Act, which requires the VA to adopt a policy on chiropractic treatment, in consultation with chiropractic providers. Chiropractic care is not explicitly restricted in the VA, but institutional barriers limit or preclude chiropractic care in the system. "Medical literature shows chiropractic care for lower back pain is at least as effective as traditional medical treatment," Evans said. "Again, our veterans deserve to receive what they need."

The legislation signed by the President this week also contains provisions that fortify essential but expensive programs for vulnerable veterans with severe chronic mental illness. In addition, it provides improvements in the VA’s Sexual Trauma Counseling Program. "Our Nation’s veterans have earned the benefits they receive from VA," Evans said. "The Millennium Act gives VA the tools it will need to carry out its mission.