“This vote marks the greatest increase in VA health care spending in recent history,” Jones said.  “This additional funding will help our nation’s veterans receive the quality, accessible health care they have been promised.”
 
The $1.7 billion would help prevent the VA from being forced to cut thousands of jobs for health care workers, close community-based clinics, and deny care to hundreds of thousands of veterans.  In addition, the increase could allow the VA to open new outpatient clinics, expand long-term care services for aging veterans, and provide emergency care for veterans who lack health care coverage.    

“I am proud to be part of a Congress that continues working to fulfill its commitment to our nation’s veterans. But while this increase provides critical health care funding for the brave men and women who have served this great nation, it is still not enough.  Congress must continue its efforts to make sure the well-being of our veterans remains a top priority,” Jones said.

In March, Jones joined several of his Republican colleagues in calling upon Speaker Hastert to add additional spending to the budget measure.  The President’s proposal did not seek to increase VA medical care above the 1999 level, yet the VA faces fixed cost increases of $870 million for inflation and salaries, an estimated $250 million in new costs to meet emergency-care obligations, and a shortfall of about $100 million in medical collections.