I
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6939
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 18, 2008
Mr. Filner (for himself, Mr. Jones of North Carolina, Mr. Michaud, Mr. Hare, and Mr. Walz of Minnesota) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide two-fiscal year budget authority for certain medical care accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
Findings
Congress makes the following findings:
Title 38, United States Code, authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish hospital and domiciliary care, medical services, nursing home care, and related services to eligible and enrolled veterans, but such services can only be provided to the extent that appropriated resources and facilities are available for such purposes.
For 19 out of the past 21 fiscal years, Congress has not appropriated funds for medical care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs before the commencement of the new fiscal year, causing the Department great challenges in planning and managing health care for enrolled veterans, to the detriment of those veterans.
The cumulative effects of insufficient, late and unpredictable health care funding endanger the viability of the system and the specialized health care resources the Department has developed to maintain and improve the health of the Nation’s sick and disabled veterans.
Approved appropriation levels for the health care programs of the Department have too often proven insufficient over the past decade, requiring the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ration health care services and Congress to approve supplemental appropriations.
Providing sufficient, timely, and predictable funding would ensure the government meets its obligation to provide health care to sick and disabled veterans and ensure that all veterans enrolled for care in the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system have ready access to timely, quality services.
Providing sufficient, timely, and predictable funding to the veterans health care system would eliminate year-to-year uncertainty on funding levels that has prevented the Department of Veterans Affairs from being able to adequately plan for and meet the needs of veterans who are enrolled in the Department health care system.
Two-fiscal year budget authority for certain medical care accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Two-fiscal year budget authority
In general
Chapter 1 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 113 the following new section:
Two-fiscal year budget authority for certain medical care accounts
In general
Beginning with fiscal year 2010, new discretionary budget authority provided in an appropriations Act for the appropriations accounts of the Department specified in subsection (b) shall be made available for the fiscal year involved and shall include new discretionary budget authority first available after the end of such fiscal year for the subsequent fiscal year.
Medical care accounts
The medical care accounts of the Department specified in this subsection are the medical care accounts of the Veterans Health Administration as follows:
Medical Services.
Medical Administration.
Medical Facilities.
.
Clerical amendment
The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 1 of such title is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 113 the following new item:
.
Comptroller General of the United States study on adequacy and accuracy of baseline model projections of the Department of Veterans Affairs for health care expenditures
Study of adequacy and accuracy of baseline model projections
The Comptroller
General of the United States shall conduct a study of the adequacy and accuracy
of the budget projections made by the Enrollee Health Care Projection Model, or
its equivalent, as utilized for the purpose of estimating and projecting health
care expenditures of the Department of Veterans Affairs (in this section
referred to as the Model
) with respect to the fiscal year
involved and the subsequent four fiscal years.
Reports
In general
Not later than the date of each year in 2010, 2011, and 2012, on which the President submits the budget request for the next fiscal year under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, the Comptroller General shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress and to the Secretary a report.
Elements
Each report under this paragraph shall include, for the fiscal year beginning in the year in which such report is submitted, the following:
A statement whether the amount requested in the budget of President for expenditures of the Department for health care in such fiscal year is consistent with anticipated expenditures of the Department for health care in such fiscal year as determined utilizing the Model.
The basis for such statement.
Such additional information as the Comptroller General determines appropriate.
Availability to the public
Each report submitted under this subsection shall also be made available to the public.
Appropriate committees of Congress defined
In this subsection, the term appropriate committees of Congress means—
the Committees on Veterans' Affairs, Appropriations, and the Budget of the Senate; and
the Committees on Veterans' Affairs, Appropriations, and the Budget of the House of Representatives.