Veterans Affairs Health Dept. Undersecretary addresses House Appropriations Subcommittee

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs met today to discuss the FY2009 budget for Veterans Affairs.

Chairman of the committee Chef Edwards (D-TX) briefly introduced the panelist and commended the efforts of Veterans Affairs in providing medical treatment for injured vets.

Undersecretary for the Health Dept. of Veterans Affairs Michael Kussman spoke on the President’s FY2009 budget which sets aside $41.2 billion for Veterans Affairs (VA) medical care—a $2.3 billion increase over the 2008 budget. He spoke of the need to implement recommendations offered by the Dole-Shalala Commission which he said provide a powerful outline to ensuring that military personnel injured during the “Global War on Terror” receive the necessary aid and medical assistance. He said the 2009 budget request will achieve two main goals of the VA: 1. to provide “timely, accessible, and high-quality health care [to their] highest priority patients,” and 2. to advance “collaborative efforts with the Department of Defense (DoD).” He also promised to provide “compassionate care” for veterans suffering from mental health issues such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He said that VA expects to treat about 5,771,000 patients in 2009. Kussman also said that in April 2006, over 250,000 “unique” patients were waiting more than 30 days to receive their treatment but that as of January 2001, that figure has been reduced to just over 69,000.