VA Gets Record Budget for FY 2004

[travisab1]

Subject: VA Gets Record Budget for FY04

Recent VA News Releases

To view and download VA news releases, please visit the following Internet
address:
http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel

VA Gets Record Budget for FY 2004

WASHINGTON (Jan. 27, 2004) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will
receive a record budget of $64 billion for the current fiscal year, up $4.2
billion from the previous spending level.

"I'm grateful for President Bush's leadership in ensuring that VA can honor
our nation's commitment to its veterans," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Anthony J. Principi. "I'm also appreciative of the support that Congress
has shown when it comes to taking care of veterans."

The budget for fiscal year 2004, which began Oct. 1, 2003, comes as VA is
putting the finishing touches on the administration's proposed budget for
fiscal year 2005, which will be formally unveiled Feb. 2.

Among the major items in fiscal year 2004 budget are $28.4 billion
(including $1.7 billion in collections) for health care, up $2.9 billion
from the previous year, and $32.8 billion in benefits programs.

Other budgetary categories include:

* $143.4 million for the National Cemetery Administration, an $11
million hike over last year, plus nearly $32 million in grants for state
cemeteries;

* Full funding to expedite the handling of veterans' claims for
disability compensation and pensions - a total of $1 billion for all
programs;

* Nearly $176 million for health care and other programs to assist
homeless veterans, an increase of over $22 million from fiscal year 2003;

* $101 million to support state extended-care facilities, $3 million
more than last year; and


* $522 million for construction, plus the authority to transfer
another $400 million to health care construction.

"This budget will ensure VA is able to meet the needs of the latest
generation of combat vets who are now returning home from Iraq and
Afghanistan, while continuing to care for those from earlier conflicts,"
Principi said.

I just thought you might want to know.

Regards,
Travis

[MORTARDUDE]

Ok Gimpy.....it looks like a 6.5625 % increase. Not the best, but surely not a cut. What say you ?

Larry

[Gimpy]

say it's STILL nearly TWO BILLION $ under what is required to keep ahead of current demand and operating functions.

But...........let's wait and see what all the service orgs have to say............I'm SURE they'll provide more details of this. I haven't yet had time to properly reseach it.

PS......Larry, after all this IS a "memorandum" from the Department of Veterans Affairs Director, Anthony Principi who has in the past been less than "objective" with his conclusions. His WAS a "political" cabinett appointment as well.

[HARDCORE]

Thanks Travis -

The information and breakdown on the VA budget was very informative and useful to me!!

VERITAS

[travisab1]

Your welcome, I was glad to relate it to you;

By the way, "VERITAS", I never heard that word used before. I had to look it up. A double surprise to me. The answer other than the "TRUTH" is below.

"PAGAN SUN WORSHIP AND CATHOLICISM LA VERITA - THE TRUTH. In St. Peter's in Rome."

Truer words were never spoken!!! :re:

Regards,
Travis

[Gimpy]

Now I HAVE had time to research this.

And, it comes as NO surprise to me that Anthony Principi (VA Chief) seems to be abouT as full of crap as his BOSS..........GEE-W!

MORE................BROKEN PROMISES!


Here's what the PVA has to say about this latest bit of horsehockey from the Bush administration!

###
PVA Newsroom
Contact: David J. Uchic Phone: (202) 416-7667
Cell: (202) 368-7633


Another Year, Another Inadequate Budget
Request for Veterans? Health Care

February 3, 2004 ? Washington, D.C.?Yesterday, the Administration released its Budget Request for FY 2005 providing grossly inadequate funding of health care for our Nation?s sick and disabled veterans for yet another year. The request includes only $310 million more than the FY 2004 appropriation which was only just passed two weeks ago, nearly four months late. This is the lowest appropriation request for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care made by any Administration in nearly a decade. The VA Under Secretary for Health testified last year that it requires an average yearly medical care increase of 12% to 14% to meet the cost of inflation and mandated salary increases. However, $310 million is only 1.2% more than the FY 2004 appropriation. The Administration?s budget proposal relies far too heavily on budget gimmicks, major cuts in long term care programs, higher out-of-pocket costs for veterans, and not enough on appropriated dollars.

Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) is deeply troubled by a proposal to charge a $250 user fee for Category 7 and 8 veterans and to increase prescription co-payments from $7 to $15. Similar proposals were rejected last year by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. PVA Executive Director Delatorro McNeal stated, ?Many veterans cannot afford these higher costs. The alternative for many sick and disabled veterans will be to forego necessary medical care and risk endangering their health.? He emphasized that ?this is yet another attempt by this Administration to pay for the services of one group of veterans out of the pockets of other veterans.?

PVA is also disappointed with the major cuts in award-winning VA medical and prosthetic research. This would set the research grant program back six years to FY 1999 funding levels.

The Independent Budget, a comprehensive budget policy document co-authored by PVA, AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, and Veterans of Foreign Wars, recommended $29.8 billion for funding for veterans? health care for FY 2005. This funding request tracks the real needs of the VA to provide quality health care in a timely manner to all veterans enrolled in the system.

The lack of consistent funding for the VA along with the uncertainty attached to the process, fuels efforts to deny more veterans health care and charge veterans more for the care they receive. The VA health care system can only operate properly when it knows how much funding it is going to get and when it is going to get that funding. This cannot be accomplished through the discretionary budget process that veterans? health care is now subject to. Mr. McNeal emphasized that ?Congress must pass mandatory funding legislation to ensure that VA has sufficient resources and receives those resources in a timely manner to meet existing statutory obligations for all levels of care, including the specialized services PVA members require.?

PVA?s National Legislative Director Richard Fuller will testify during a budget hearing before the House Committee on Veterans? Affairs on the FY 2005 VA budget on Wednesday, February 4, 2004 at 9:30 a.m. in room 334 of the Cannon House Office Building.



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The Paralyzed Veterans of America, a veterans service organization chartered by Congress, has for more than 55 years served the needs of its members, all of whom have catastrophic paralysis caused by spinal cord injury or disease. To learn more about PVA, visit its web site at www.pva.org.


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I am in the process of trying to determine if this hearing on Feb. 4 will be televised by C-SPAN..............if so I will let everyone know.