093_HR0242

 
                                     LRB093 11568 NHT 14811 r

 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS,  Funding  for  Department  of  Veterans  Affairs
 3    health care under  the  federal  budget  is  a  discretionary
 4    program, meaning that it is within the discretion of Congress
 5    to  determine  how  much money it will allocate each year for
 6    veterans' health care; and

 7        WHEREAS, Section 1710(a) of Title 38 of the United States
 8    Code provides that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs  "shall"
 9    furnish  hospital  care and medical services, but only to the
10    extent Congress has provided money  to  cover  the  costs  of
11    care; and

12        WHEREAS,  Veterans  have  earned  the right to VA medical
13    care through their extraordinary sacrifices  and  service  to
14    this nation; and

15        WHEREAS,  The  cumulative  effects of insufficient health
16    care funding have now resulted in  the  rationing  of  health
17    care; and

18        WHEREAS, Veterans Affairs has reached capacity at many of
19    its  health  care  facilities and is unable to provide timely
20    access to quality health care; and

21        WHEREAS, The annual shortfall  in  the  VA  medical  care
22    budget  translates  directly into higher national health care
23    expenditures; and

24        WHEREAS, When veterans  cannot  get  needed  health  care
25    services  from  Veterans  Affairs,  they go elsewhere and the
26    cost of  care  is  shifted  to  State  welfare  and  Medicaid
27    programs  or  other  safety  net hospitals where society pays
28    more and the patient suffers; and

29        WHEREAS, The Veterans Health Administration is  the  most
30    efficient  and  cost-effective  health care system, providing
 
                            -2-      LRB093 11568 NHT 14811 r
 1    care for 25% to 30% less than comparable  Medicare  services;
 2    and

 3        WHEREAS, Even though Veterans Affairs serves a population
 4    of  veterans  that  is older and sicker and that has a higher
 5    prevalence of mental and behavioral health problems, it  does
 6    so at well below Medicare rates; and

 7        WHEREAS,  Many  veterans need and depend on the VA health
 8    care system and its specialized services in prosthetics, post
 9    traumatic  stress   disorder,   spinal   cord   injury,   and
10    rehabilitation  of the blind to treat their service-connected
11    disabilities and meet their unique health care needs; and

12        WHEREAS, It is disingenuous for our government to promise
13    health care  to  veterans,  but  then  make  it  unattainable
14    because of inadequate funding; and

15        WHEREAS,  Making  veterans'  health  care mandatory would
16    ensure that the government  met  its  obligation  to  provide
17    timely, quality health care to all veterans eligible for care
18    in the VA health care system; therefore, be it

19        RESOLVED,   BY   THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE
20    NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,  that
21    we  urge Congress to amend Title 38 of the United States Code
22    to provide a guaranteed level of funding for veterans' health
23    care with mandatory funding; and be it further

24        RESOLVED, That suitable  copies  of  this  resolution  be
25    delivered   to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the
26    President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate and Chairman of  the
27    Senate  Veterans'  Affairs Committee, the Speaker of the U.S.
28    House of Representatives and Chairman of the House  Veterans'
29    Affairs   Committee,   and   each   member  of  the  Illinois
30    congressional delegation.