Publication:The Columbus Dispatch;
Date:May 20, 2003;
Section:National/International;
Page:3
Bush plan hurts Ohio veterans, report says
By David Enrich STATES NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON More than 41,000 veterans in Ohio will lose access to federal Veterans Affairs health-care services under President Bushs 2004 budget proposal, according to a report released today by congressional Democrats.
The report, prepared by a House committee for Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland of Lisbon, found that the annual enrollment fee and higher copayments that Bush has proposed would force that number of Ohio veterans to stop enrolling in and receiving services through the VA system.
Bushs 2004 budget proposal, announced in February, would impose a $250 annual enrollment fee on veterans who dont have service-related disabilities and generally have incomes above $24,000. Veterans in those low-priority groups also would see their co-payments for doctor visits rise to $20 from $15 and to $15 from $7 per 30-day prescription.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said the changes would help make up for insufficient financial resources and would reduce the backlogs that are forcing some patients to wait months for time-sensitive health-care services.
The plan, which is subject to congressional approval, is designed simultaneously to reduce enrollment of less-needy patients and to raise more money.
When the stricter eligibility requirements were proposed in February, the department trumpeted them as a way to help focus its health-care assets on providing medical care to veterans who need it most.
But congressional Democrats and veterans groups say the new restrictions would mean that hundreds of thousands of veterans nationwide wouldnt receive the health benefits that they were promised when they enlisted in the military. Strickland said the report showed that the changes would be a slap in the face to veterans. He said the cost of fully funding VA health programs amounts to less than 2 percent of the cost of the tax cuts that Bush and congressional Republicans are pushing through Congress.
"More and more veterans are looking to the VA system as a place of last resort where they can get the health care they need, and then theyre encountering these additional barriers, Strickland said. "It is ironic to me that we would be putting a tax on veterans . . . at a time when we are providing tax breaks to the wealthiest people in this country.
J.P. Brown III, the Youngstown-based commander of Ohio AMVETS, said the cutbacks would have drastic effects on veterans, especially in northeastern Ohio, where unemployment is rising.
"A lot of these people are just barely making it now, he said. Brown added that the changes might discourage young people from enlisting. "If theyre going to be reneging on these promises . . . what are the chances of us maintaining a strong and vital military superpower? he asked.
The Democrats report, which is being released to coincide with the upcoming Memorial Day, also concluded that the administrations recent decision to stop enrolling Priority 8 veterans those who werent seriously injured in service and whose incomes are relatively high will make 4,000 Ohioans ineligible for VA health care.
Unlike the other proposed changes, the enrollment freeze didnt require congressional backing and went into effect in mid-January.
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