Vermont Congressional Delegation
Asks President To Reverse
New Cutoff Of VA Health Benefits

(Thur., Jan. 23) – The Vermont Congressional Delegation Thursday asked President Bush to reverse a recent Administration decision to cut off almost 164,000 veterans across the nation from the veterans health care system.

The decision, announced last week by the Department of Veterans Affairs, bars further enrollment of so-called Category 8 veterans, which the VA defines as “high-income” veterans without any service-connected health conditions.  VA’s action came after veterans hospitals across the country have experienced difficulty handling an influx of veterans in recent years and after repeated steps by the Administration over the last two years to block adequate VA funding increases.

In their Jan. 23, 2003, letter, Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator Jim Jeffords and Representative Bernie Sanders denounce the cutoff and ask the President to reverse it on several grounds.  They point out that the Administration failed to explore alternative ways to provide care for all veterans, including adequate VA funding and innovative reimbursement methods through Medicare.  The White House has killed funding increases for VA over the last two years.  The Vermont delegation members said that many veterans who fall into the VA’s “high-income”category are actually not wealthy and would be hard-pressed to afford health insurance on their own.  They also cite particular concern about the removal of this part of the health insurance safety net during the current economic downturn.

Leahy, Jeffords and Sanders ask the President to support adequate funding for veterans’ health care and to explore innovative arrangements for covering the care of all veterans.

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ACCOMPANYING THIS: Vermont Congressional Delegation’s Letter To President Bush –

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January 23, 2003

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing to express our extreme disappointment at the Administration’s decision last week to bar over 160,000 eligible veterans from being able to enroll in the veteran’s health care system. There is absolutely no justification for this act of bad faith toward the men and women who served this nation. This is particularly true when American servicemen and women are putting their lives on the line in places like Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf. We, therefore, request that you reverse this counterproductive move that threatens the health and well-being of our proud veterans.

Since enacted, the 1996 Veterans Health Care Eligibility Act has provided access to health care for veterans who would not otherwise obtain adequate coverage. Many non-service connected veterans have enrolled in the health system to gain prescription drugs at reasonable prices at a time when these out-of-pocket costs have soared. Others, including veterans who might have lost their jobs during the economic downturn, have turned to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to receive the basic health care that they deserve.

Unfortunately, the department announced that it would no longer enroll these so-called Category 8 veterans in the VA health system. The VA said that it could not afford to provide care to these veterans who the Administration claims have no service-connected conditions, and who are earn what the government defines as high incomes.

It is important to keep in mind that the Department of Veterans Affairs cannot afford to pay for the health coverage of these veterans because the Administration’s refusal to request the resources need by the VA to cover the expected inflow of veterans. It is widely known that veterans programs are consistently underfunded in budget requests, hoping that Congress will at least partly restore these cuts. Yet if we were given more accurate budget requests and full public accounting of the requirements, we are confident that Congress would provide the necessary resources to provide adequate care. In other words, we ask that the Administration exert some leadership in trying to improve funding for VA health care, as opposed to cutting off veterans from the benefits they have earned.

Another way to cover the costs of the patient inflow is Medicare reimbursements to the VA, otherwise known as Medicare subvention. Discussions on these arrangements, however, have stalled on Capitol Hill because the Administration has not taken any initiative to sort through the necessary arrangements to make this promising approach work.

The Administration’s cut-off decision will severely hurt many low-income veterans. Under the announced policy, single veterans with an income over $25,000 and married veterans with household income over $30,000 will not be allowed to enroll absent a service-connected disability. Veterans earning $25,000 or $30,000 a year are not well-to-do. There is no doubt that many of these veterans cannot afford the cost of civilian health care and prescription drugs. The impact of the Administration’s decision, therefore, is not just to cut off these veterans from VA health care, but health care altogether.

It is wrong to impose a policy that appears to be uncaring for our nation’s veterans. Many non-service-connected veterans may be receiving health insurance through their employers. The decision to stop enrolling category 8 veterans removes a basic safety net that everyone who has proudly served the nation deserves, and needs in these very difficult economic times.

In short, Mr. President, we urge you to reconsider this new direction in veterans health care policy, ensure that supplemental funding is provided in this fiscal year, and include sufficient funding in the Fiscal Year 04 budget to cover all veterans. There are many high cost programs in your expected Fiscal Year 04 budget submission, including proposed tax cuts that would primarily benefit the highest income Americans. Surely, the brave men and women who served this country deserve equal consideration. We also hope you will examine various proposals for a realistic subvention plan that will reduce health care costs.

We look forward to discussing this critical matter with you in the near future.

Sincerely,

PATRICK LEAHY                JAMES M. JEFFORDS         BERNARD SANDERS

United States Senator           United States Senator           U.S. Representative