VFW Commander Blasts VA Budget

Responding to the $990 million increase in next year’s congressional budget proposal for the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system, VFW commander John Furgess charged, “This is a budget that’s headed in the wrong direction.” The VA estimates it needs annual increases of 12 to 14 percent just to keep pace with inflation and other uncontrollable expenses, and the $990 million budget figure represents an increase of only 3.6 percent over fiscal 2005. “This proposal will have virtually no impact in the VA health care being provided to those returning from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, where modern medical care and body-armor advances are saving more lives, but often at the cost of limbs and other traumatic injuries,” said Furgess. The budget recommendation went to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees which will consider actual funding.