FOR RELEASE:  January 29, 2003

EVANS VOWS TO CONTINUE TO PURSUE
GUARANTEED FUNDING FOR VETERANS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM 

Washington, DC -- At the first hearing of the Committee on Veterans Affairs to examine the state of VA health care, the senior Democrat, Lane Evans of IL listened to a laundry list of problems besetting the under-funded veterans’ health care system and vowed to take action. 

Evans said to Chairman Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ), “…you and I stood ready to do something about this in the dwindling days of the last Congress.  Together, we introduced H.R. 5250, the Veterans Health Care Funding Guarantee Act of 2002 which would have established a mandatory funding stream for VA health care… I want to reaffirm my commitment to working together to address any obstacles that have been set in our path and getting this legislation re-introduced in the near future.”  

Evans expressed concern over a recent decision to bar higher-income veterans who had never used the veterans’ health care system from enrolling for care.  He also claimed that waiting times remained a serious challenge for the system and compromised access to quality health care for thousands of veterans. 

Bob Filner, the senior Democratic member on the Health Subcommittee, also expressed his concerns about VA funding to Under Secretary for Health, Robert Roswell, “I hope you will take this message back to your [VA] leadership.   VA’s recent budgets for veterans have been turkeys, and turkeys don’t fly.  Bring us a budget that meets your needs.  We [The Congress] don’t add as much to VA funding as I would like, but we usually give you what you ask for and often significantly more.” 

Evans and Smith had forwarded a bipartisan recommendation to the House budget committee that would have added $2.2 billion to the President’s request for medical care in fiscal year 2003.  While the House and Senate each passed bills that would have added $1.1 billion to the President’s budget to compensate for an unpopular proposal to charge a $1500 deductible to Priority 7 veterans, Congress has not yet passed a package that would fund VA for the remainder of the fiscal year.   

Filner suggested that the funding process for VA’s health care system was irreparably broken.   “…our funding process this year has been a case study for why the VA needs and must have a health care budget from a mandatory funding stream.” 

Evans reiterated the need for a stable and predictable funding stream, “Every veterans’ organization testifying today has applauded our efforts to champion [mandatory funding] legislation.  It was the right thing to do.” 

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