Acting VA secretary Sloan Gibson told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that the department would need $17.6 billion in additional funding to bolster health care for veterans, in particular to address an increase in veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other needs.
Responding to a question from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Gibson said the additional funds are needed to hire 10,000 doctors, nurses and other health care providers to meet growing needs and reduce wait times.
Without additional resources “the wait times just get longer,” said Gibson.
He told the committee the department is currently focused on six priorities: getting veterans off wait lists and into clinics, fixing scheduling problems, addressing cultural issues, holding people accountable for misconduct or mismanagement, establishing regular information disclosures, and quantifying resources needed to consistently deliver timely, high-quality care.
The chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Rep. Jeff Miller R-Fla., signaled Republican opposition to granting additional funding outright by saying the department’s numbers could not be trusted. “Given that this figure seems to have magically fallen out of the sky today – after years of assertions from VA leaders at all levels that they had nearly every dollar and every person necessary to accomplish VA’s mission – it would be an act of budgetary malpractice to blindly sign off on this request.”
Sanders however expressed confidence that the House and Senate could reach consensus on pending legislation giving the department greater power to hold officials accountable as well as to increase resources and capacity around the country.
