June 10, 2005

Contact: Jeff Schrade 202-224-9093 

(Washington, DC) On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, introduced legislation which seeks to improve the healthcare of the nation's veterans.  Today that legislation received the endorsement of the nation's top veteran's advocate.

?We strongly support enactment of this measure and we appreciate your inclusion of provisions to carry out the President's plans for assisting veterans and for assisting the Department to carry out its mission,? said U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson.

The Secretary's comments about S. 1182, the ?Veterans Health Care Improvements Act of 2005," came during a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.  ?I'm pleased to have the Administration backing this bill.  We have just begun to move this legislation and having the support of the President gives us a nice starting point,? said Craig.

A key provision of the bill would enable the VA to spend more money on veterans by repealing a current law that prevents the VA from comparing the costs of providing services. ?That's unwise policy and bad law.  By changing this legal requirement we could save millions of dollars which could then be redirected on veterans' health care,? Craig said.

The legislation would also eliminate co-payments for hospice care and eliminate co-payments for long-term care for former prisoners of war.  In addition, it would allow the VA to provide hospital care for newborn children born to female veterans, and grant authority to the VA to pay for emergency treatment for veterans when they enter non-VA hospitals.

?As you may know, a major study found that veterans with cardiac emergencies, despite having health insurance, often deliberately forgo emergency treatment at the closest community hospital, where they might incur out-of-pocket expenses, in favor of receiving care from the nearest VA facility at no or minimal cost,? Nicholson said.

Craig's bill also seeks to increase funding for those who provide shelter for homeless veterans, and it would allow the VA to provide licensed family counseling sessions for veterans.  The legislation also expands tele-health efforts which Craig has long championed, and improves mental health care outreach to the nation's National Guard troops.

?When our regular active duty troops come home, they usually return to a base where there is a network of help available to them.  But when a Guardsman comes home, they often return directly back to civilian life without a strong military network around them.  This legislation seeks to bridge that gap by providing more mental health services,? Craig said.