Vets committee wants $800 million more for VA

Vets committee wants $800 million more for VA

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Mar 13, 2009 16:56:21 EDT

The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee asked Friday for an $800 million increase in the Obama administration’s proposed 2010 budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs, which already represents the biggest one-year VA increase in history.

The discretionary veterans budget, which covers health care and administrative costs but not benefits, would be $53.3 billion under the committee’s proposal that includes a $200 million increase in operating expenses and a $600 million increase in medical expenses.

Under the proposal, VA would see a $5.7 billion increase in the 2010 budget over current spending.

An explanation of the increase says that the $600 million for health care funding is not really an increase in overall spending but a revision in the budget because the committee does not accept an Obama administration proposal that it will raise $3.4 billion in 2010 by billing private medical insurance for part of the cost of treating veterans in VA facilities. That would be a 36 percent increase over collections made this year.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/military_VA_budget_031309w/