[Vision2020] Advance VA Funding Takes Step Forward

[lfalen]

This is good new. Now they need to concentrate on how they process claims. According to the American Legion Magazine it some times take up to two years to get an approval for a disability claim. The American Legion spends a lot of time helping people process claims.
Roger

-----Original message-----
From: "Tom Hansen" thansen at moscow.com
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:33:39 -0700
To: "Moscow Vision 2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Advance VA Funding Takes Step Forward

> It is about EFFING time.
> 
> Things are looking progressively better for our veterans.
> 
> -------------------------------------
> 
> Courtesy of the Army Times at:
> 
> http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/military_advance_VAfunding_062209w/
> 
> Advance VA funding takes step forward
> By Rick Maze - Staff writer
> 
> Advance funding of the veterans medical budget — the top legislative
> priority for veterans groups — will take two leaps forward this week in
> the House of Representatives.
> 
> First, the House is expected to vote Tuesday to authorize a change in
> budget rules so the medical care budget for the Veterans Affairs
> Department will be approved a year in advance of the rest of the federal
> budget — a move designed to prevent disruption if Congress doesn’t approve
> the annual VA budget on time.
> 
> In this case, “if” is a near certainty; in 19 of the last 22 years,
> Congress has failed to pass a funding bill for VA by the Oct. 1 start of
> the fiscal year.
> 
> Second, and equally important, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee also
> is expected to vote Tuesday to approve the first advanced budget. Health
> care funding for fiscal 2011 will be included in the 2010 veterans
> appropriations bill that the committee is scheduled to pass.
> 
> Peter Dickinson, a former House Veterans’ Affairs Committee staffer who is
> working as a consultant for veterans groups trying to pass advance
> funding, said the two legislative actions on Tuesday “are huge steps
> forward for veterans health care funding reform.”
> 
> Dickinson said the news should keep getting better.
> 
> “With the Senate expected to take similar actions in the next month, and
> with President Obama onboard, advance appropriations are closer than ever
> to becoming a reality,” he said.
> 
> -------------------------------------
> 
> Courtesy of Disabled American Veterans at:
> 
> http://www.dav.org/voters/BudgetReform.aspx
> 
> DAV and its allies in the Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget
> Reform (“Partnership”) – a coalition of nine veteran service organizations
> with a combined membership of 8 million veterans – helped develop and
> fully endorse the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act. This bill
> authorizes Congress to appropriate the funding for veterans’ health care
> one year in advance, and adds greater transparency to VA’s internal budget
> process to ensure sufficient funding is approved.
> 
> Congress has exercised and continues to exercise its power to approve
> advance appropriation laws. Currently, Congress funds a number of programs
> through an advance appropriations budget process, including the Low Income
> Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Section 8 housing programs
> 
> Unlike the mandatory funding provided to the Medicare and Medicaid
> systems, advance appropriations would allow Congress to approve funding
> each year and retain all of its oversight authority over VA programs.
> 
> The Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act (S. 3527 and H.R. 6939) was
> introduced in September 2008 by Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee
> Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and House Veterans’ Affairs Committee
> Chairman Bob Filner (D-Calif.).
> 
> The proposal received bipartisan support from other leaders in Congress,
> including Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). In
> fact, during the presidential campaign, President-elect Obama pledged to
> push for advance appropriations legislation in his first year in office.
> 
> The legislation has also been endorsed by The Military Coalition,
> comprised of 35 organizations representing more than 5.5 million members
> of the uniformed services--active, reserve, retired, survivors,
> veterans--and their families.
> 
> In addition, a growing list of more than two dozen former VA medical
> center directors, regional healthcare network directors, Under Secretaries
> and Assistant Secretaries, and other senior VA officials have joined
> together to support the proposed funding reform.
> 
> -----------------
> 
> The Advanced Funding Proposal (PDF File)
> 
> http://tinyurl.com/AdvanceFunding
> 
> -----------------------------------
> 
> Pro patria,
> 
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
> 
> "Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the
> tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."
> 
> -- Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.
> 
> 
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