ptsd White House Seeks $125 Billion For Veterans In 2011

[allan]

Recent VA News Releases

To view and download VA news release, please visit the following

Internet address:

http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel

White House Seeks $125 Billion for Veterans in 2011

Homelessness, Claims Increases and Access - Priorities for VA Budget

WASHINGTON - To expand health care to a record-number of Veterans,

reduce the number of homeless Veterans and process a dramatically

increased number of new disability compensation claims, the White House

has announced a proposed $125 billion budget next year for the

Department of Veterans Affairs.

"Our budget proposal provides the resources necessary to continue our

aggressive pursuit of President Obama's two over-arching goals for

Veterans," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "First,

the requested budget will help transform VA into a 21st century

organization. And second, it will ensure that we approach Veterans'

care as a lifetime initiative, from the day they take their oaths until

the day they are laid to rest."

The $125 billion budget request, which has to be approved by Congress,

includes $60.3 billion for discretionary spending (mostly health care)

and $64.7 billion in mandatory funding (mostly for disability

compensation and pensions).

"VA's 2011 budget request covers many areas but focuses on three central

issues that are of critical importance to our Veterans - easier access

to benefits and services, faster disability claims decisions, and ending

the downward spiral that results in Veterans' homelessness," Shinseki

said.

Reducing Claims Backlog

The president's budget proposal includes an increase of $460 million and

more than 4,000 additional claims processors for Veterans benefits.

This is a 27 percent funding increase over the 2010 level.

The 1,014,000 claims received in 2009 were a 75 percent increase over

the 579,000 received in 2000. Shinseki said the Department expects a 30

percent increase in claims - to 1,319,000 - in 2011 from 2009 levels.

One reason for the increase is VA's expansion of the number of Agent

Orange-related illnesses that automatically qualify for disability

benefits. Veterans exposed to the Agent Orange herbicides during the

Vietnam War are likely to file additional claims that will have a

substantial impact upon the processing system for benefits, the

secretary said.

"We project significantly increased claims inventories in the near term

while we make fundamental improvements to the way we process disability

compensation claims," Shinseki said.

Long-term reduction of the inventory will come from additional manpower,

improved business practices, plus an infusion of $145 million in the

proposed budget for development of a paperless claims processing system,

which plays a significant role in the transformation of VA.

Automating the GI Bill

The budget proposal includes $44 million to complete by December 2010 an

automated system for processing applications for the new Post-9/11 GI

Bill. VA also plans to start development next year of electronic

systems to process claims from other VA-administered educational

programs.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill authorizes the most extensive educational

assistance opportunity since the passage of the original GI Bill in

1944. Over $1.7 billion in regular Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit payments

have been issued since the implementation of the program on Aug. 1,

2009. In 2011, VA expects the number of all education claims to grow by

32 percent over 2009, going from 1.7 million to 2.25 million.

"To meet this increasing workload and process education claims in a

timely manner, VA has established a comprehensive strategy to develop

industry-standard technologies to modernize the delivery of these

important educational benefits," Shinseki said.

Eliminating Homelessness

The budget proposal includes $4.2 billion in 2011 to reduce and help

prevent homelessness among Veterans. That breaks down into $3.4 billion

for core medical services and $799 million for specific homeless

programs and expanded medical care, which includes $294 million for

expanded homeless initiatives. This increased investment for expanded

homeless services is consistent with the VA secretary's established goal

of ultimately eliminating homelessness among Veterans.

On a typical night, about 131,000 Veterans are homeless. They represent

every war and generation, from the "Greatest Generation" to the latest

generation of Veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. To date, VA

operates the largest system of homeless treatment and assistance

programs in the nation.

Targeting Mental Health, Preventing Suicides

"The 2011 budget proposal continues the department's keen focus on

improving the quality, access and value of mental health care provided

to Veterans," Shinseki said.

The spending request seeks $5.2 billion for mental health, an increase

of $410 million (or 8.5 percent) over current spending, enabling

expansion of inpatient, residential and outpatient mental health

services, with emphasis on making mental health services part of primary

care and specialty care.

The secretary noted that one-fifth of the patients seen last year in

VA's health care facilities had a mental health diagnosis, and that the

department has added more than 6,000 new mental health professionals

since 2005, bringing to 19,000 the number of employees dedicated to

mental health care.

The budget request will enable the department to continue expanding its

programs for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain

injury (TBI), along with the diagnosis and treatment of depression,

substance abuse and other mental health problems. Shinseki called PSTD

treatment "central to VA's mission."

The proposed spending will continue VA's suicide prevention program.

Since July 2007, the department's suicide prevention hotline has

received nearly 225,000 calls from Veterans, active-duty personnel and

family members. The hotline is credited with saving the lives of nearly

7,000 people.

Reaching Rural Veterans

For 2011, VA is seeking $250 million to strengthen access to health care

for 3.2 million Veterans enrolled in VA's medical system who live in

rural areas. Rural outreach includes expanded use of home-based primary

care and mental health.

A key portion of rural outreach - which shows promise for use with

Veterans across the country - is VA's innovative "telehealth" program.

It links patients and health care providers by telephones and includes

telephone-based data transmission, enabling daily monitoring of patients

with chronic problems.

The budget provides an increase of $42 million for VA's home telehealth

program. The effort already cares for 35,000 patients and is the

largest program of its kind in the world.

Serving Women Veterans

The 2011 budget provides $217.6 million to meet the gender-specific

health care needs of women Veterans, an increase of $18.6 million (or

9.4 percent) over the 2010 level. Enhanced primary care for women

Veterans remains one of the Department's top priorities. The number of

women Veterans is growing rapidly and women are increasingly using VA

for their health care.

Shinseki said the expansion of health care programs for women Veterans

will lead to higher quality care, increased coordination of care,

enhanced privacy and dignity, and a greater sense of security among

women patients.

Among the initiatives for women in the 2011 budget proposal are expanded

health care services in Vet Centers, increased training for health care

providers to advance their knowledge and understanding of women's health

issues, and implementing a peer call center and social networking site

for women combat Veterans. This call center will be open 24 hours a

day, 7 days a week.

Delivering World-Class Health Care

During 2011, VA expects to treat 6.1 million patients, who will account

for more than 800,000 hospitalizations and 83 million outpatient visits.

The total includes 439,000 Veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan,

for whom $2.6 billion is included in the budget proposal. That's an

increase of $597 million - or 30 percent - from the current budget.

The proposed budget for health care includes:

* $6.8 billion for long-term care, an increase of $859 million

(or 14 percent) over 2010. This amount includes $1.5 billion for

non-institutional long-term care;

* Expanding access to VA health care system for more than 99,000

Veterans who were previously denied care because of their incomes;

* $590 million for medical and prosthetic research; and

* Continuing development of a "virtual lifetime electronic

record," a digital health record that will accompany Veterans throughout

their lives.

VA is requesting $54.3 billion in advance appropriations for 2012 for

health care, an increase of $2.8 billion over the 2011 enacted amount.

Planned initiatives in 2012 include better leveraging acquisitions and

contracting, enhancing the use of referral agreements, strengthening

VA's relationship with the Defense Department, and expanding the use of

medical technology.

Preserving National Shrines

"VA remains steadfastly committed to providing access to a dignified and

respectful burial for Veterans choosing to be buried in a VA national

cemetery," Shinseki said. "This promise requires that we maintain

national cemeteries as shrines dedicated to the memory of those who

served this nation in uniform."

The requested $251 million for cemetery operations and maintenance will

support more than 114,000 interments in 2011, a 3.8 percent increase

over 2010. In 2011, the department will maintain 8,441 acres with 3.1

million gravesites. The budget request includes $37 million to clean

and realign an estimated 668,000 headstones and repair 100,000 sunken

graves.

Building for the Future

$1.15 billion requested for major construction for 2011 includes funding

for medical facilities in New Orleans; Denver; Palo Alto, Calif.;

Alameda, Calif.; and Omaha, Neb. Also budgeted for 2011 are major

expansions and improvements to the national cemeteries in Indiantown

Gap, Pa.; Los Angeles; and Tahoma, Wash., and new burial access policies

that will provide a burial option to an additional 500,000 Veterans and

enhance service in urban areas.

A requested budget of $468 million for minor construction in 2011 would

fund a wide variety of improvements at VA facilities.

[broncovet]

Yep. Here comes the fuzzy math..the same fuzzy math that figured out the Cola. It goes like this:

-2.6% Real budget decrease = 8.1% "VA spin" reported increase.

[carlie]

Yep. Here comes the fuzzy math..the same fuzzy math that figured out the Cola.

VA has nothing to do what so ever with figuring out cola's.

carlie

[john999]

Get the money while you can because if these wars dry up the funding will dry up as well. Vets become invisible after a war. For those who remember the 70's and 80's were hard years for Vietnam Era vets. I used to get insulted every time I went for a C&P exam.

[johnjjr]

Straight from MSNBC.COM story entitled "What Obama's budget means for gov't agencies.

John999, you are SO right. Get the money while you can.