|
Related site |
Congress gives more benefits to more veterans
Posted
11-29-99 Washington. In a move designed to better meet the needs of veterans, the House of Representatives and Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill Nov. 16 to expand the Veterans Affairs Department's provision of long-term health care and to extend benefits to more veterans. President Clinton is expected to sign the bill. "The benefits provisions honor commitments to men and women who served their country, and the health provisions prepare us for the medical needs of veterans in the 21st century," said House Committee on Veterans Affairs Chair Bob Stump, R-Ariz. The Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act will provide long-term adult day health care and long-term care, including nursing home care, for veterans with a 70 percent or greater service-connected disability. It also provides emergency care for low-income veterans, authorizes benefits to Purple Heart recipients, and provides $65 million for programs to help homeless veterans. Finally, co-payments for prescription drugs will now be based on patients' ability to pay. The United States now has 25 million veterans and, while their numbers are declining, their medical needs are not, experts say. The VA is expected to treat 3.6 million patients in the coming fiscal year, up from 2.7 million in 1997. "This bill truly takes advantage of the strengths of the Veterans Affairs healthcare system in delivering long-term and geriatric care," said Charlotte Beason, EdD, RN, program director for the VA's nursing strategic healthcare group. "Because we serve an aging population, the VA in general and our nurses in particular have been at the forefront of advances in both patient care and research in these areas."
|