Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s Third District joined with 67 other House Members to send a letter to President Obama today to express their opposition to a proposal that would authorize the VA to bill private insurance companies for treating veterans’ injuries and medical conditions related to military service.

Below is the text of the letter.

March 18, 2009

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC
 
Dear Mr. President,
 
We first want to take this opportunity to thank you for the clear commitment your administration’s budget outline makes to our nation’s veterans.  The proposed 10 percent increase in discretionary funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for next fiscal year is truly historic.  We believe the 2010 budget will ensure the VA never again faces the chronic under-funding that prevented countless veterans from receiving the health benefits they have earned.   
 
While we strongly support your plans to increase funding for the VA by $25 billion over the next five years, it is with equal conviction that we oppose the proposal to bill veterans’ private health insurance plans for care and treatment of service-connected injuries or disabilities. 
 
We do not give our veterans health care - they earn it – and it would be unacceptable for the VA to ask our veterans to pay for the treatment of injuries received while serving our nation in uniform. That responsibility belongs to the VA, and it would be wrong to outsource the responsibility of covering the care of those veterans to private insurance companies.
 
Additionally, this proposal could harm our veterans and their families in unintended, yet very serious ways, jeopardizing their families’ health care and even negatively affecting veterans’ employment opportunities.  Billing a veteran’s private health insurance for the treatment of service-connected injuries could lead to increased health care premiums, and could potentially discourage employers from hiring veterans.
 
We know you are committed to expanding employment opportunities for veterans. Already this year, your administration and Congress have worked to create countless jobs for veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but this proposal would undermine our efforts.
We urge you to take this proposal off the table, and let us instead focus on ensuring that our veterans receive the full care and benefits they have earned.  The moral obligation our nation has to our veterans demands nothing less.  We are happy to discuss these issues with you further as we move toward a final budget for the VA.
 
We would like to thank you again for your commitment to improving care for the men and women who have borne the battle, and who have sacrificed their health and well-being in serving their country.  Thank you for your service to our nation.
 
Sincerely,

___________________________
Cosigners: Dina Titus; Glenn Nye; Anne Kirkpatrick; John Hall; Gabrielle Giffords;  Diane Watson; Larry Kissel; Steve Kagen; Eric Massa; Bill Foster; Bart Stupak; Harry Teague; Dan Boren; Michael Arcuri; John Barrow; Jerry McNerney; Tom Perriello; Carol Shea-Porter; Travis Childers; Rob Wittman; Ben Lujan; Tom Rooney; Sanford Bishop; Ciro Rodriguez; Joe Sestak; Betsey Markey; Madeleine Bordallo; Suzanne Kosmas; Marion Barry; Alan Grayson; Harry Mitchell; Dennis Kucinich; Michael Michaud; John Dingell; William Delahunt; Ron Klein; Ben Chandler; Mazie Hirono; Betty Sutton; Robert Wexler; Rick Larson; Tim Bishop; John Boccieri; James Oberstar; Mary Jo Kilroy; Collin Peterson; Leonard Boswell; Lois Capps; Stephanie Herseth Sandlin; Daniel B. Maffei; Mike Honda; Debbie Halvorson; Michael McMahon; Mike McIntyre; Phil Hare; Charles Rangel; Lincoln Davis; Dennis Cardoza; Charlie Wilson; Bobby Bright; Gary Peters; Joe Courtney; Jim Himes; Jason Altmire; Peter Welch; Martin Heinrich; Parker Griffith; Mike Ross.

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Tags: veterans