{"id":1933473,"date":"2023-05-18T13:41:21","date_gmt":"2023-05-18T17:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/va-seeking-16-6-billion-more-in-funding-amid-processing-backlog-for-toxin-exposure-claims\/"},"modified":"2023-05-18T13:46:16","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T17:46:16","slug":"va-seeking-16-6-billion-more-in-funding-amid-processing-backlog-for-toxin-exposure-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/va-seeking-16-6-billion-more-in-funding-amid-processing-backlog-for-toxin-exposure-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"VA requests $16.6B for backlog of toxin exposure claims."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fva-seeking-16-6-billion-more-in-funding-amid-processing-backlog-for-toxin-exposure-claims%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1933473&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Hearing Highlights Need for Increased Funding for Veterans<\/h2>\n<p>At the recent Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee hearing, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) requested more funding to maintain and increase staff to process payment claims for veterans who have suffered injury or illness from exposure to toxins during their time in service. This is in accordance with the \u201cHonoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act\u201d (PACT Act), which President Joe Biden signed into law in August 2022. Since then, more than 500,000 claims have been filed and more than $1 billion in benefits paid.<\/p>\n<h3>Testimonies and Unexpected Drama<\/h3>\n<p>Secretary of the VA Denis McDonough appeared in front of the committee to present budget and appropriations requests and to field and answer questions from senators. Also testifying at the hearing were Morgan Brown, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-lawmakers-fight-to-amend-constitution-with-convention-of-states\/\" title=\"State lawmakers fight to amend Constitution with convention of states\">national legislative director<\/a> of Paralyzed Veterans of America; Shane Liermann, deputy national legislative director of Disabled American Veterans; and Patrick Murray, director of the National Legislative Service for Veterans of Foreign Wars.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) added a dose of unexpected drama to the event. After staying on topic about veterans\u2019 affairs, she went off topic in a big way, referencing the 300-page Durham Report released earlier in the week that documented critical errors in the FBI\u2019s investigation into alleged collusion by the 2016 Trump presidential campaign with Russian operatives.<\/p>\n<h3>Funding Requests and Consequences<\/h3>\n<p>VA requested $325.1 billion in funding for 2024, an increase of $16.6 billion or 5.4 percent over the enacted amount for 2023. VA also asked the committee for a mandatory advance appropriation of $193 billion for the Veterans benefits programs, which include readjustment benefits, compensation and pensions, and veterans\u2019 insurance and indemnities.<\/p>\n<p>Donohue and the committee discussed how the recent debt-limit bill that the GOP passed in the House, which would hold spending at 2022 levels and has little chance of advancing in the Senate, would affect VA operations. VA has said that a consequence of the bill, if passed, would be a 22 percent cut in spending for veterans\u2019 services. The GOP has countered by saying it is not touching veterans\u2019 spending in its austerity and belt-tightening plan.<\/p>\n<h3>The Impact of Cuts on Veterans<\/h3>\n<p>Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.) asked McDonough for his thoughts on the House\u2019s debt-limit bill. \u201cIf that 22 percent cut is applied to VA healthcare, that would mean 30 million fewer outpatient visits of the type I just talked about that we had last year,\u201d McDonough said. \u201cThose are outpatient visits in the direct care system or community care system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McDonough said that the cuts would hurt the ability of the VA to handle benefit and disability claims. \u201cAlternatively, if you look at it from the benefits administration, again, I talked about the fact that claims filed are 30 percent above where they were a year ago,\u201d McDonough said. \u201cWe are fulfilling 15 percent more claims year on year than we did a year ago, and we\u2019re able to do that because some efficiency we\u2019ve found, but also because of hiring we carried out. If you apply the 22 percent reduction, add VBA [Veterans Benefits Administration], that would mean 6,000 fewer staff there. We have 28,000 staff there for the first time. We\u2019ve talked to many of the members of this committee through how our staffing model works, where we are in that staffing model. But if there are 6,000 fewer personnel to process claims, that\u2019ll be an extension of a timeline that\u2019s already too long for vets; more delays.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Support for Veterans and Fiscal Accountability<\/h3>\n<p>In his opening remarks, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) asserted his support and the support of all members of Congress for veterans. Meanwhile, he also echoed the sentiment of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-attorney-general-eric-holder-says-citizens-need-to-take-to-the-streets-get-arrested-over-voter-id-battle\/\" title=\"Former Attorney General Eric Holder Says Citizens Need To Take To The Streets, Get Arrested Over Voter ID Battle\">fellow party members<\/a> in arguing for more fiscal accountability and restraint in other areas of spending.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe this and every VA budget request could be judged through a single lens, and that is, \u2018What will it deliver for veterans?&#8217;\u201d Moran said. \u201cThis year\u2019s budget request is, once again, the largest yet for the VA, totaling $325.1 billion. That\u2019s a big number, and it should lead to big improvements for veterans. But if bigger numbers were all that is needed to deliver, we\u2019d have better results. And so, it\u2019s what we can deliver with bigger numbers and better results, we still wouldn\u2019t have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/va-seeking-16-6-billion-more-in-funding-amid-processing-backlog-for-toxin-exposure-claims\/\" title=\"VA requests .6B for backlog of toxin exposure claims.\">higher veteran suicide rates<\/a>, hundreds of thousands of veterans waiting on claim backlog for their earned benefits, a troubled new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">electronic health record<\/a>, a 12 months trend of meaningful decline in access to care.\u201d <\/p>\n<h3>Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p>The Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee hearing highlighted the need for increased funding for veterans and the potential consequences of cuts to VA spending. It also showcased the support for veterans from both sides of the aisle and the importance of fiscal accountability in government spending.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee hearing on May 17, the VA&#8217;s request for additional funding to increase staff and process payment claims for veterans affected by toxins was a key issue. The hearing reviewed the VA&#8217;s 2024 budget and advanced appropriations for 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1640,"featured_media":1933474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[27074,8948,4856,15641,5497,16487],"class_list":["post-1933473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-16-6b","tag-backlog","tag-claims","tag-exposure","tag-requests","tag-toxin"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1933473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1640"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1933473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1933473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1933474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1933473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1933473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1933473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}