Congress Continues to Shirk Responsibility Over VA

Important reminder here is the Congress has jurisdiction over the VA. Would be nice to find out why they keep blaming the VA for what they did and did not do for decades when they have been responsible for taking care of our veterans since 1946! They seem to like to forget that part.

Deadline to plug VA budget shortfall looms for Congress
Military Times
By Leo Shane III, Staff writer
July 13, 2015

VA officials want to use about $10 billion authorized by Congress last summer to pay for the shortfall, but that money is tied only to outside services provided through the department's new Choice Card program.

Congress has about three weeks left to sort out a $3 billion hole in the Department of Veterans Affairs budget or else risk shutting down some VA hospital operations.

Officials from the department and key congressional committees have said they're confident a plan can be worked out before the end of July, preventing any disruption in services to veterans.

But ongoing political squabbles over problems with VA and unrelated budget fights could sideline the work, creating significant problems for patients.

The department first requested a funding fix for the budget gap three weeks ago, but has yet to see progress on the issue on Capitol Hill.

On Monday, VA officials submitted their latest update to the plan for shifting existing funds to cover shortfalls in the department's Care in the Community program — outsourced medical care for veterans — and for underfunded hepatitis C treatments.

Together, the two items have already pulled more than $2.5 billion from other VA accounts, including money previous assigned to clinical salaries, medical equipment and operational requirements.
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