Mandatory Funding for Veterans' Healthcare

[Hoss68]

By John Furgess
VFW Commander-in-Chief

Washington, Nov. 22, 2004--From the smallest store to the largest international service corporation, managers must know how much operating capital they have to work with, and when it will be available, to make sound fiscal decisions. This basic business principle should certainly apply to our nation's largest integrated healthcare system, the Veterans Health Administration, but unfortunately, it doesn't.

VHA, part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, provides healthcare to more than five million disabled military veterans every year at more than 160 hospitals, 850 clinics and 130 nursing homes. But VHA must bear the annual uncertainty of not knowing precisely what their budget will be or when it will become available.

The reason for this unfortunate situation is that VA healthcare is funded by Congress on a discretionary basis. It is here, due to political strife and a variety of other reasons, where budget uncertainty is created, and it has resulted in a late budget for the past six years in a row -- once by almost five months. This uncertainty impacts everything from the hiring of sorely needed healthcare professionals to equipment acquisitions and construction projects. It also exacerbates waiting times and veteran's access to healthcare.

It's for these reasons that we in the veterans' service organization community support funding VA healthcare on a mandatory basis. We understand that money isn't the only answer -- we also want accountability so that when dollars are spent, it's on the right equipment, services and people -- but clearly, discretionary funding isn't working. It's time for a change.

Mandatory funding will not establish an individual entitlement, such as Social Security, but would fund VHA on a formula that factors in known costs from previous years. It would not, as suggested by some, alter the eligibility criteria for VA healthcare. Nor would it eliminate the Secretary's authority to annually assess, based on the demand and resource availability, which veteran priority categories would continue to have access to VA healthcare.

Mandatory funding will allow managers to know in advance the budget they have to work with within a given fiscal year, and that it will be provided on time. This is essential to effective business planning and helps ensure the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars. Key here is that the greatest possible number of veterans will be afforded top-quality healthcare on a timely basis.

The mandatory funding of VA healthcare is simply the right thing to do.