Latest PRESS RELEASE FROM THE DAV

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DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS
807 Maine Ave., SW ? Washington, D.C. 20024 ? Phone (202) 554-3501 ? Fax (202) 863-0233

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2006

Veterans Turn to Congress for Adequate Budget


The Disabled American Veterans is urging Congress to fully fund veterans health care and provide the resources needed to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the disability compensation system.

?Once again the Bush administration?s budget plan has come up short of what?s needed to honor America?s commitment to veterans,? said DAV National Commander Paul W. Jackson. ?It is up to Congress to provide the funds needed to guarantee that sick and disabled veterans have timely access to high quality medical care and the full range of benefits they have earned through their service and sacrifice.?


The President?s budget plan contains a total of $80.6 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Included in the spending blueprint is nearly $31.5 billion dollars for veterans health care. However, an estimated $2.8 billion actually would come out of veterans? pockets, not the federal treasury. Certain veterans would be charged a $250 annual enrollment fee for VA care and see their prescription co-payments nearly double from $8 to $15. Both proposals, which the DAV and other veterans service organizations oppose, and Congress has consistently rejected, have been part of the administration?s budget request in the past.


Although the veterans budget has increased in recent years, there still is a significant gap in funding to meet the needs of sick and disabled veterans. This year the DAV is urging Congress to increase the overall VA medical care budget by 11 percent over the 2006 level, to $32.8 billion. Included in that amount is a 13 percent boost for direct medical services to sick and disabled veterans and a 10 percent increase in funding for medical and prosthetic research.


The DAV again strongly recommends replacing the current discretionary appropriations method with full mandatory funding, or some combination of discretionary and mandatory funding,? said Jackson. ?This fundamental budget reform proposal will take the politics, guesswork and political gamesmanship out of VA health care.?


Other recommendations from the DAV include $1.4 billion for the Veterans Benefits Administration to hire additional staff, as well as to improve training and information technology within the Compensation and Pension Service. The DAV also calls for adding staff and program improvements within the VA?s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service. ?The VA needs to make a substantial investment in resources and training to overcome the persistent backlog in pending claims that have delayed and wrongly denied disability benefits to veterans and their families,? said Jackson.

As the budget and appropriations processes progresses, the DAV has called on its members to wage an all-out campaign to ensure that adequate resources are provided to meet the needs of America?s disabled veterans and their families.


?America?s disabled veterans and their families are a strong, vital political force, and we must continue to hold our elected representatives accountable for their actions regarding veterans issues,? Jackson said.

The 1.3 million-member Disabled American Veterans, a non-profit organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932, represents this nation?s disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single purpose: building better lives for our nation?s disabled veterans and their families. For more information, visit the organization?s Web site www.dav.org.

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