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Washington, D.C. - On the eve of Veterans Day, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) released a special congressional report he commissioned, which shows an estimated 6,100 veterans in his congressional district would be denied health care benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or have to drop out of the VA system altogether if President Bush's budget proposal for veterans is approved. The House Committee on Government Reform's report also reveals that many veterans who remain in the VA system would be forced to pay higher fees for health care. Statewide, an estimated 40,000 New York veterans would be denied VA health care under the Bush plan and an estimated 93,000 others in the state would have to drop out of the system because of the increased fees. Those New York veterans who remain in the VA system would end up paying approximately $42.6 million annually in increased fees.
"President Bush has once again turned his back on millions of veterans across our country, including thousands in our congressional district who served their country honorably and made great personal sacrifices," Hinchey said. "The Administration's budget proposal is a slap in the face to veterans who were promised health care for serving their country. There were no strings attached when they signed up for service and there shouldn't be any now. At a time when we need to recruit more young men and women to join our armed services, the Bush Administration is scaring potential service members away by showing them that they won't be taken care of when they leave the military."
The veterans that the Administration is targeting for cuts and increased fees are Priority 7 and Priority 8 veterans. Priority 7 veterans are those whose injuries are not service-related and whose income is more than $27,644 ($29,576 for those with a dependent), but less than 80 percent of their local community's median income. Priority 8 veterans also don't have service-related injuries and have a higher income rate than Priority 7 veterans. Those two classes of veterans represent 45 percent of veterans currently receiving VA health care nationwide.
The Bush budget proposal would freeze enrollment for Priority 8 veterans, preventing an estimated 1,800 veterans in Hinchey's congressional district from enrolling in the VA health care system. This plan would continue a policy enacted in January 2003 that allows Priority 8 veterans who enrolled in the VA system prior to January 17, 2003 to remain in the system, but forbids new enrollments of Priority 8 veterans after that date.
Another component of the Bush budget proposal is a call for Priority 7 and Priority 8 veterans who are already in the VA system to begin paying a $250 annual enrollment fee in order to receive care. This would represent a new policy for the VA, which has never charged veterans an enrollment fee. Additionally, the Bush Administration is seeking to more than double copayments for Priority 7 and Priority 8 veterans from $7 to $15 for each 30-day prescription.
The House Committee on Government Reform report finds that an estimated 4,300 veterans in Hinchey's congressional district who currently receive VA health care would be forced to drop out of the VA due to the new fees. Those Priority 7 and Priority 8 veterans from Hinchey's congressional district who remain in the VA system would have to pay an average of $140 more annually for prescription drug copayments on top of the new $250 annual enrollment fee, for an average increase of $390 in annual VA health care costs. Combined, veterans in Hinchey's congressional district who remain in the VA system would have to pay an estimated $1.9 million annually in increased costs for VA care.
"Instead of investing more resources in veterans health care to provide care to all those who need it, the Administration is pushing out veterans from the VA system to save money. That's misguided and entirely unacceptable," Hinchey said. "Congress needs to stop the president's budget plan for veterans from moving forward. The long lines and waiting lists for health care that currently enrolled veterans already have to deal with are clear indications that much more money needs to be invested in health care for veterans. All veterans deserve the health care benefits they were promised and they shouldn't have to wait days, weeks, or months to receive care."
The process to fund the VA for Fiscal Year 2006 is ongoing. Hinchey has vowed to fight for an increase in the budget figure for veterans so no veterans are frozen out of the VA system, forced to leave because of new fees, or have to pay hundreds of dollars more each year to continue receiving service.
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