Veterans Health Deductible Plan: The House Veterans Affairs Committee has
killed a Bush administration proposal that would have forced veterans to
pay a deductible for health care. The President's plan to charge a new
$1,500 annual deductible for some veterans receiving medical care from the
VA received stiff opposition from members of the House and Senate
Committees on Veterans Affairs, national veterans advocacy groups, and the
men and women who would have been effected by the plan. Although exact
figures are not available the VA projected that the new charges would
reduce its number of patients drastically next year. In New Mexico alone
the estimate was about 120,000 veterans. The numbers include veterans who
use the VA's community outreach clinics, hospitals, and prescription drug
programs. The new rules would have applied to Priority 7 veterans, those
who lack a disability related to their military service or whose income is
higher than the current VA eligibility standard. [Source: Tom Udall (D-NM)
msg. 11 MAR 02]
The President campaigned on a pledge to be a friend to the
veteran. This is his second major effort to uphold that pledge. The first
was his plan to force disabled retires to choose annually VA or DoD health
care but not both. That proposal was also squashed by Congress.