Pending legislation that would extend the Department of Veterans Affairs’ ability to pay for health care services for two years would cost $35 billion from 2014 to 2024, according to the non-partisan the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The measure, Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., introduced H.R. 3230 last October. According to the Library of Congress Web site, the versions of the bill have cleared both the House and Senate and will be sent to the White House once the two chambers meet and resolve their differences. The July 10 CBO report on H.R. 3230 states that it also could increase federal revenues by $2.5 billion and discretionary spending by $1.8 billion. The estimates do not include additional costs for increased use of the VA system after 2017, when the bill’s authority would take effect. Most of the bill’s associated costs would emerge from the provision that would expand VA’s ability to pay for veterans’ health-care services.