President’s 2005 Budget Cuts Nursing Home Benefits for Veterans

The budget proposal would require about two million higher-income veterans without service-related conditions to pay a $250 annual fee, as well as an $8 increase in copayments for prescription drugs, for FY 2006 (Dodge, Dallas Morning News, 2/8). Under the budget proposal, total funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs would increase to $68.2 billion, or by 1%. The budget proposal would eliminate federal funds for a program that provides long-term care for veterans and reduce funds for VA nursing home care by $351 million, which could lead to the elimination of about 5,000 nursing home beds administered by the department. VA officials said that the budget proposal would increase funds for long-term "noninstitutional" care by 18% to help shift more veterans from nursing home to in-home care but would not force veterans from nursing homes. According to CQ Today, the proposals for VA health care programs, which account for most of the discretionary budget of the department, likely would cause "the biggest debate" among lawmakers because they would "require some veterans to pay substantially more for their health care" (Plummer, CQ Today, 2/7).

Source:  Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, a free service of kaisernetwork.org, Tuesday, February 8, 2005, http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/recent/healthpolicy