Overall vet spending is up faster under Bush in ~3 years than Clinton in 8. If that is a "cut," I'm Bill Gates.
Veterans Accuse Dems of Distorting Facts About Bush
By Robert B. Bluey
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
July 30, 2004
Boston (CNSNews.com) - Veterans who support President Bush accused Democrats of spreading misleading information about the state of affairs for the millions of veterans who rely on the government's health care benefits.
On several occasions throughout the Democratic National Convention, speakers have criticized Bush on the issue of veterans' benefits. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the vice presidential nominee, raised the issue in his speech Wednesday night.
"Let me tell you," Edwards said, "the 26 million veterans in this country will not have to wonder when we're in office whether they'll have health care next week or next year. We will take care of them because they have taken care of us."
Edwards was referring to a repeated Democrat line of attack that Bush allegedly cut spending for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"It's blatantly a lie," said Griffin T. Dalianis, a Vietnam veteran from Nashua, N.H. "Our own hospital in Manchester is receiving money now that has been moved into Veterans Affairs. It will give us a full-service hospital. Right now, disabled veterans, and I am one, have to travel over 140 miles roundtrip to get any kind of services outside of a little wound."
The Democrats' claim has been debunked by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Bush, in fact, has overseen a 27 percent increase in funding for veterans. That number would increase to 37 percent, based on this year's budget proposal.
"When we think of Bush's character, we're likely to focus on the administration's proposed budget cuts for veterans"
Overall vet spending is up faster under Bush in ~3 years than Clinton in 8. If that is a "cut," I'm Bill Gates.
---See this
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A4064-2003Jan16
VA Cuts Some Veterans' Access to Health Care
Huge Backlog, Long Waits Prompt Decision
By Edward Walsh
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 17, 2003; Page A21
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced yesterday that it is immediately cutting off access to its health care system to some higher-income veterans, a move the agency estimated will affect about 164,000 veterans who were expected to enroll in the system during the current fiscal year.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi said he decided to restrict access to the VA health care system because of a growing backlog of about 200,000 veterans who have to wait an average of six months before receiving their first treatment at a VA health care facility.
The growth in the number of veterans enrolling in the VA system "is eating up all of our marginal capacity," Principi said in an interview. "Our clinics, our medical facilities are full."
The restrictions, which take effect today, apply to what the agency calls Category 8 veterans, the lowest priority in health care. These are veterans with relatively high incomes who do not suffer from military service-related disabilities or health problems. Category 8 income levels vary depending on geographic location, but Principi said generally the restrictions will apply to veterans with annual incomes of $30,000 to $35,000 or higher.
The restrictions will apply only to new enrollees and will not affect the 1.4 million Category 8 veterans who currently receive health care from the VA, he said.
Principi is required by law to set eligibility rules for the VA health care system every year, and the restrictions apply only to this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. But in the interview, he indicated that unless there is a reduction in the patient backlog, the restrictions will remain in place longer. "I would like to reopen enrollment if I can, but not at the expense of meeting our obligations to the highest-priority veterans," he said.
Principi informed leaders of veterans groups of his decision yesterday morning. Spokesmen for the groups said they understood why the restrictions were being imposed, but they lashed out at Congress for what they called inadequate funding of VA health care. "Without proper funding, the secretary is never going to get [the backlog] down, so what he has done is to make the tough business decision," said Bob Wallace, executive director of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "If they can't take care of them, it's unconscionable to let them continue to enroll. The real bad guys in this is the Congress because they haven't fully funded the VA. I don't want to see anybody excluded from care, but we can't allow these false expectations and these lines to get longer and longer."
Historically, the VA's health care mission has been to treat veterans with service-related health problems and low incomes, and those needing special services. But that changed when Congress enacted legislation in 1996 opening the system to all veterans. That year, the VA health care system treated 2.9 million veterans. Last year, the number of patients had swelled to 4.2 million.
The largest segment of those entering the system are relatively high-income veterans who fall into Category 8. Principi said more than half of the 830,000 veterans who enrolled last year were classified as Category 8.
In an attempt to soften the effects of the restrictions, Principi also announced that under an agreement with the Health and Human Services Department, veterans who are eligible for Medicare and have been denied access to the VA health care system can still be treated at VA facilities, with Medicare reimbursing the department. He said he expects the program to begin operating later this year.
My ten year old is getting interested in politics (I wonder where she gets that from?) and watched most of the demcon (in fact, she coined the term) and I took the opportunity to explain to her what a budget "cut" is in dem world. Needless to say she was stunned.