Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights Recent Developments Related To Health Care For Veterans

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 02 Oct 2007 - 5:00 PDT

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The Senate has adopted four additional amendments to the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill (HR 1585) -- which comes up for a floor vote on Monday -- aimed at bolstering benefits and assisting injured veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, CQ Today reports.

One of the amendments would bar most personality disorder discharges from the military until the Pentagon submits a report on such discharges. Another amendment would ensure wounded veterans receive transitional care from the military for 180 days from the time the servicemember is separated from active duty. A third amendment would extend for one year current prohibitions on raising military health care fees and prescription drug copayments. The final amendment would permit National Guard and reserve members who have served two years of active-duty service to receive accelerated G.I. Bill educational benefits (Yoest [1], CQ Today, 9/28).

The Senate on Thursday also passed legislation (HR 327) that would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs secretary to create a program designed to reduce suicide among veterans, CQ Today reports. The bill would require VA to provide suicide awareness training to employees and contractors in addition to creating a family outreach program (Yoest [2], CQ Today, 9/28).

Spending Bill Passage Urged
Several veterans' groups are pressuring Congress to quickly pass a veterans' and military construction spending bill (HR 2642) and not to use it as a vehicle for an omnibus measure, CQ Today reports. Both the House and the Senate have approved versions of the bill.

The legislation remains "in limbo" because Democrats are considering using it as a vehicle for an omnibus spending bill, combining it with other bills that are facing veto threats from President Bush. According to CQ Today, "It would be difficult for the president to veto veterans' and military construction spending in war time, and tougher for GOP lawmakers to sustain the veto with a contentious election year approaching" (Yoest, CQ Today, 9/29).

Challenges for Wounded Veterans
More wounded troops are surviving injuries they would not have in past wars because of advancing medical care, but upon their return home, many are not receiving adequate treatment, recovery and retraining, AP/USA Today reports.

"These troops are just starting to seek help in large numbers, more than 185,000 so far," according to AP/USA Today, and "the cost of their benefits is already testing resources set aside by government and threatening the future of these wounded veterans for decades to come, say economists and veterans' groups" (Donn/Hefling, AP/USA Today, 9/29).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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