Budget reform hearing request rebuffed.

Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Larry Craig (R-Idaho) has rejected a bipartisan request for a legislative hearing to explore various funding alternatives for veterans health care, including mandatory funding.

Senators Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) noted in a letter to Craig and the panel's Ranking Member Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) that the current method of funding veterans health care "has become a cause for concern" because of the "uncertainty that arises each year as to whether funding will be adequate to serve the health care needs of our veterans."

In a Feb. 2 letter to Sen. Thune denying the hearing request, Craig said "it appears to me that advocacy for mandatory funding is premised on a belief that Congress has not provided VA with adequate resources to operate the health care system properly. I strongly disagree with that conclusion."

"Chairman Craig's rejection of a request for hearings on the VA health care funding crisis is very disappointing," said National Legislative Director Joseph A. Violante. "When the VA revealed last summer that it faced a serious funding shortfall, Republicans and Democrats united in providing emergency funds to correct the problem. And now this bipartisan call to take another significant step forward on the vital issue of veterans health care has fallen on deaf ears."

Both Johnson and Thune have introduced legislation (S. 331 and S. 963) to guarantee that the VA automatically receives full funding each year for whatever amount is required to provide inpatient and outpatient care. That would enable the VA to adequately plan for and meet the growing needs of veterans seeking treatment.

"The DAV and other veterans service organizations have long supported budget reform that would guarantee a reliable, stable funding stream for veterans health care," said Violante. "Both Senators Johnson and Thune are to be commended for their efforts on behalf of sick and disabled veterans."

The veterans' committee does not have the power to change the funding mechanism, but a recommendation from the panel would be an important factor.

"Skyrocketing medical costs, decades of inadequate funding and rising demand for medical services have severely hampered timely access to quality health care for our nation's sick and disabled veterans," said Violante. " It is crucial that guaranteed funding legislation be enacted this year to ensure that all eligible veterans--including those injured in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere--have access to timely, quality health care."