VA healthcare to benefit from Obama budget
President Barack Obama's first proposed budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs expands eligibility for healthcare to an additional 500,000 veterans over the next five years.
"Our success must encompass cost-effectiveness," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "We are stewards of taxpayer dollars, and we will include appropriate metrics to accurately gauge the quality of our care and the effectiveness of our management processes."
If accepted by Congress, the president's budget proposal would increase the VA's budget from $97.7 billion this fiscal year to $112.8 billion for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2009. This is in addition to the $1.4 billion provided for VA projects in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Shinseki said the 2010 budget represents the first step toward increasing discretionary funding for VA efforts by $25 billion over the next five years. He indicated that the gradual expansion in healthcare enrollment this year would support care to more than 500,000 veterans by 2013 who have been excluded from VA medical care benefits since 2003.
The new budget provides greater benefits for veterans who are medically retired from active duty, allowing for the first time all military retirees to keep their full VA disability compensation along with their retired pay.
Obama’s proposed budget would support additional specialty care in such areas as prosthetics, vision and spinal cord injury, aging and women's health. Shinseki said new VA Centers of Excellence would focus on improving these services.
The proposed fiscal year 2010 budget also addresses homelessness among veterans. It expands the VA's current services through a collaborative pilot program with non-profit organizations aimed at maintaining stable housing for veterans at risk of homelessness.
The president's proposed budget would also expand VA mental health screening and treatment with a focus on reaching veterans in rural areas in part through an increase in vet centers and mobile health clinics.
New outreach funding would also help rural veterans and their families stay informed of these healthcare resources and encourage them to pursue needed care.
