President Obama asked Congress April 10 to approve $153 billion in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs, which targets health-care access, the disability-claims backlog, and homelessness. In the request, $66.5 billion would address discretionary-spending needs, while $86.1 billion would fund mandatory programs that largely consist of disability compensation and pensions. Included is a $54.6-billion request for health care, with line items that address mental health, health care for the Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn operations, prosthetics, spinal-cord and traumatic brain injuries, readjustment counseling, and long-term care. The White House plan also calls for investments in telehealth, women’s health-care issues, new facilities and national cemeteries, and help for transition to college.
