VA Enrollment Fee is Non-Finisher

Early this year, the Bush administration proposed to charge Priority 7 and 8 users of the Department of Veterans Affairs health system an annual $250 enrollment fee and hike co-payments on prescription drugs from $7 to $15. By March it looked like Congress would approve, but since then Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, has done an about face, saying he now supports an amendment to kill the enrollment fee. A spokesman said Craig didn’t think the enrollment fee was unreasonable, but “you do what you can to help veterans.” The proposal to more than double prescription drug co-payments is still on the table.