On October 7, the House approved, by voice vote, an amended version of a bill (H.R. 4658) that would improve veterans’ benefits. The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved the measure on July 21 (see The Source, 7/23/04).
The amended version deletes a provision in the bill that would have authorized the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to furnish care for newborns of women veterans. The provision specified that the benefit would have only applied to women veterans who have no other health insurance coverage.
According to press accounts, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that if Congress had authorized H.R. 4658 as reported by the committee, outlays would have been $28 million through FY2009. Of that amount, $21 million would have been required to implement the provision authorizing care for newborns.
Expressing his disappointment that the post-natal care provision was stripped from the bill, Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME) stated, “In response to a problem identified by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the administration proposed to permit VA to provide limited transitional care for newborns of veterans receiving maternity care from VA. Currently, VA is being charged high rates by hospitals who agree to provide contract maternity care to eligible veterans. Rates are excessive because under current law, VA has no authority to pay for care of the newborn child after delivery. VA requested the authority to pay for newborn care for a maximum of 14 days in order to allow time to make other arrangements for newborns who would need ongoing care. The committee recognized that alternate payment sources such as private medical insurance may be available to pay for newborn care and therefore would have limited VA’s liability to those situations where no other payment source was available. These provisions were rejected by the Republican leadership. VA will continue to have difficulty arranging for contract maternity care and will continue to be charged higher amounts. As a Blue Dog, I find this fiscally irresponsible.”
The House also approved, by voice vote, a bill (H.R. 4248) to reauthorize programs for homeless veterans. The bill also would make permanent a pilot program that provides counseling for veterans who were victims of sexual trauma during their military service. The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved the measure on May 19 (see The Source, 5/21/04).
Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX) lauded the permanent authorization of the sexual trauma program, stating, “Since the military’s sexual trauma program was authorized, the VA has embraced the challenge of developing unique resources to serve both women and men who have suffered such abuses during their military service. An overwhelming demand has been demonstrated for the sexual trauma program, with thousands of veterans, in addition to Reservists and National Guardsmen taking advantage of the resources available to them. As the number of women serving in the military will continue to grow, the need for this program is sadly more evident. According to the VA report, more than half, 55 percent, of all women in the VA patient population said they had experienced sexual harassment while in the military and almost one quarter claimed to have been sexually assaulted…The VA’s sexual trauma counseling programs are designed to create a secure and sensitive environment in which both women and men who serve in the military can deal with the emotional burdens of being a victim of sexual abuse.”
