TESTIMONY OF
JOHN J. DALY
LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT
THE RETIRED ENLISTED ASSOCIATION
BEFORE THE
HOUSE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH
CONCERNING VETERANS HEALTH CARE
MAY 19, 1999
Biography of John J. Daly
Legislative Assistant
The Retired Enlisted Association
John Daly, a native of Woodbury Heights, New Jersey, first came to Washington, DC in the fall 1994 as an intern in the United States Department of Commerce. Following the earning of a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, in May of 1996, Daly returned to Washington, DC as an intern in the White House, serving in the Office of Vice President Al Gore. After completion of the internship program, Daly became the Staff Assistant at American Defense International, Inc., a Washington, DC based government relations and business development firm.
In December of 1997 Daly joined the staff in the Legislative Affairs Office of The Retired Enlisted Association as the Legislative Correspondent. He presently serves as TREA’s Legislative Assistant, as well as co-chairman of The Military Coalition’s Committee on Morale Welfare and Recreation/Military Construction/Base Realignment and Closure. He is also pursuing a Certificate in Legislative Studies from the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University.
John, and his wife Kerry, reside in Alexandria, Virginia.
DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL GRANTS OR CONTRACTS
The Retired Enlisted Association does not currently receive, has not received during the current fiscal year or either of the two previous years any federal money for grants or contracts. All of the Association’s activities and services are accomplished completely free of any federal funding.
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking Member, distinguished subcommittee members, The Retired Enlisted Association (TREA) appreciates having the opportunity to come before you today to address the single greatest priority for military retired veterans – health care. We are pleased that this committee is looking at VA health care and its future in the 21st Century. It is often mentioned that the number of veterans is decreasing and, most likely, will continue to do so. However, what is not often addressed is the fact that as this number decreases, the average age of a veteran is increasing. This indisputable fact will require the VA to change the type of care it provides. By initiating debate on this issue, TREA hopes Congress will head off any potential problems facing the VA health care system in the future due to the "graying" of America’s veterans.
There are several improvements which can be made in the near future which will have a significant impact on the quality of, and access to, health care received by our nation’s veterans. The draft "Veterans’ Millennium Health Care Act," in particular, contains several provisions which will be of special importance to military retired veterans.
THE MILLENNIUM PLAN
The Department of Veterans Affairs has provided long-term care services to veterans for a considerable period of time using discretionary funds to cover the costs. Now is the time to guarantee that such health care will continue to exist for our nation’s veterans for decades to come. Difficult funding decisions will have to be made but the program outlined in the Millennium concerning long-term care is an excellent foundation to provide veterans with quality care later in life.
As previously stated, the increasing age of veterans will require increased attention to their health care needs. By requiring the VA to develop and maintain a program of extended care services, and providing the additional funding to carry out this mission, Congress will ensure that our nation’s veterans will receive the quality care they have earned through their service.
This is an area of particular interest to the members of TREA. As outlined in the Millennium plan, a specific category for military retirees will provide retirees, who have often lost their access to military treatment facilities, another option to quality health care. This is a justifiable benefit for those who have contributed 20 or more years of service to the nation. Further, by allowing TRICARE-eligible retirees greater access to the VA and requiring the Department of Defense to reimburse VA for the costs of health care, Congress will be helping VA increase the funding it receives from outside insurance companies. Congress has authorized the VA to apply all revenues generated from outside insurance companies back into veterans health care. With the current spending caps this is one of the few available options to increase funding without cutting existing benefit programs.
Too often our nation’s military retirees are left with few, if any, options for health care. The difficulties with the TRICARE system are well documented. Low reimbursement rates and delays in claims processing are driving doctors away from the program. Further, many retirees have seen the Military Treatment Facility in their region close, and the TRICARE network with it. We are pleased to see VA facilities becoming designated TRICARE providers because this will help increase retirees access to health care. However, this designation will be of no assistance if retirees are told their is no space available at VA facilities. Providing retirees a benefit they can not use will merely be a repetition of their experience with the Department of Defense. Providing a separate eligibility category will help prevent this.
Military retirees were promised health care for life by the United States government. TREA strongly endorses the outline in the Millennium Plan which will modify the eligibility system to provide retirees, those who dedicated the prime of their lives to our nation, a special category to help increase their chance to receive the health care they earned at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities.
The existing budget caps, set forth in the Balanced Budget Agreement, and the pay-go system, have limited the amount of funding available for veterans programs. Further, the rapidly increasing costs of health care have put an ever increasing strain on the VA’s ability to provide quality care to veterans to an increasing number of patients. In light of the current budget situation, TREA recognizes the need to develop additional methods of increasing revenues. We believe that eligibility reform is such an example. At the same time the we must remember that the VA’s top priority are those who do not, and should not ever, pay for their health care. These disabled veterans should not see their care minimized in an effort to treat those veterans whose insurance company will be billed for treatment received at the VA. TREA would like to express its willingness to continue to work with the Veterans Affairs Committee and the Department of Veterans Affairs to develop a program which will protect today’s veterans as well as tomorrow’s by enhancing revenues.
PILOT PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN DEPENDENTS OF VETERANS
TREA endorses the program outlined in the discussion draft to create a demonstration program to allow certain dependents of veterans to receive health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. However, if such legislation is to be implemented, military retiree beneficiaries who are eligible to be enrolled in TRICARE Prime should be subject to the same method of payments as outlined in the proposed eligibility reform discussed in the Millennium Plan. Unlike non-military retired veterans, beneficiaries of military retirees rely on the Department of Defense for their health care services. Therefore, they are subjected to the same difficulties outlined in TREA’s rationale for eligibility reform. The creation of a demonstration program to determine whether or not the Department of Veterans Affairs is capable of providing dependents with health care provides another option to those who have few options, if any.
CONCLUSION
Mr. Chairman, as stated, health care is a great concern to the members of TREA. Many of our members are those who retired from the military in areas where there was a military presence. In their view, that guaranteed them access to the commissary and exchange, the military lifestyle they enjoyed and, perhaps most importantly, access to the base hospital. In recent years, however, hospitals have been down-sized to clinics or closed, as have the other base facilities retirees have relied on. Retirees have been left empty handed. The programs referred to today, long-term care, eligibility reform and a pilot program for dependents, will be significant steps towards providing retirees with the benefits they were guaranteed for a career in the military. However, TREA recognizes the impact of the Balanced Budget Agreement on any improvements to veterans benefits. It is imperative that other veterans benefits programs do not lose funding to off-set improvements to new programs.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has a unique, and clearly defined mission: provide veterans with quality care they earned through service to the nation. As the year’s have passed and that care increased in price, it also increased in usage. Perhaps more than ever, veterans, particularly military retirees, are being forced to turn to the VA to help. Congress now must help the VA by providing the necessary funding to ensure veterans receive the quality care that they have come to expect and was afforded to prior generations of heroes.