FOR RELEASE:  August 9, 2002

VETERANS HEALTH CARE “BUSH” WHACKED, EVANS SAYS

VA BLAMES BUDGET WOES FOR ITS DECISION TO STOP MARKETING VA HEALTH CARE TO VETERANS

Washington, DC – Congressman Lane Evans today described veterans’ medical care “a disaster President Bush failed to prevent.”  Evans laid the blame for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ recent guidance to its field officials to cease marketing activities on the doorstep of the White House. 

Evans said he believes the President has not honored the promises he has made to veterans.  Evans noted that last summer at the Veterans of Foreign Wars 2001 annual convention, Bush told veterans:

My administration understands America’s obligations not only go to those who wear the uniform today, but to those who wore the uniform in the past: to our veterans.  And at times, those obligations have not been met.  Veterans in need of care have been kept waiting, and thousands of veterans’ claims have been delayed, or in some cases lost in the bureaucracy.

Many veterans have observed that the government seemed to work a lot more efficiently when it wanted something from them.  When the Draft Board got your file, it worked efficiently.   But now, when you need health care, forms get lost and answers come late.  That is no way to treat America’s veterans, and that is going to change.

“Unfortunately”, Evans lamented, “access to VA’s medical care and services to veterans has worsened since the President pledged last year to honor veterans with timely services.  This is no way to treat our Nation’s heroes,” Evans declared.

Evans, who served in the Marine Corps during Vietnam and is the senior Democratic member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, said that the President had an opportunity to provide additional funding to VA by designating $5 billion appropriated by Congress as emergency spending.  In correspondence with Bush dated July 26, 2002, Evans urged the President to sign legislation making supplemental appropriations and to designate, as emergency spending, the full amount of emergency spending appropriated by Congress.  “This appropriation included $275 million in additional funding for veterans medical care. VA will have to sacrifice this additional funding if the President does not designate the full $5 billion appropriated by Congress as emergency spending,” said Evans.  

Evans has actively worked to secure large increases in the VA medical care budget advocating a $2.8 billion increase in spending for the next fiscal year.  He has also supported new legislation introduced by the Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) that would transfer VA medical care spending to a mandatory funding source.  “It’s clear most of VA’s problems are directly related to inadequate and unpredictable funding,” said Evans. 

VA official, Laura J. Miller, has advised VA field directors that funding shortfalls are to blame for her recent decision to eliminate marketing activities.  “[A]ctuarial projections indicate a widening gap in the demand versus resource availability.”  In addition, Miller’s memo predicts an equally bleak future under the Bush Administration, “[G]rowth in enrollments and consequent demand is expected to continue.  Against this backdrop is very conservative OMB budget guidance for 2004.” 

Earlier this summer, Evans demanded that VA survey its networks to identify problems in enrolling veterans for primary care or in scheduling them for follow up care.  VA found that more than 300,000 veterans were either waiting for primary care or had waited longer than six months for follow up treatment.   Miller’s memorandum also references the waiting time problem, “The outcome of this situation is a waiting list for patients to be seen in many clinics across the country and general waiting times that exceed VHA’s standard of 30 days.”   

Evans stated that inadequate Bush Administration funding left VA with little choice regarding recruitment efforts.  “You can’t keep enrolling veterans into a health care system that cannot respond to their needs—that simply sets up expectations that VA will fail to meet.  Veterans deserve timely access to services—not empty promises.” 

Evans also added that it was imperative that VA ensured that its recent guidance on curtailing recruitment activities did not apply to special services aimed VA’s highest priority veterans—those with conditions related to their military service or medically indigent veterans. 

“VA must continue to promote outreach activities to meet the needs of its “core” users, such as homeless veterans, mentally ill veterans, including those with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder, and veterans with serious physical disabilities.  I will closely monitor VA’s activities to ensure its recruitment efforts aimed at these populations continue,” said Evans.   

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