The White House has proposed a $152.7 billion budget, a 10.2 percent increase over fiscal 2013 to support ongoing efforts to expand access to health care and benefits, reduce the disability claims backlog and tackle homelessness among veterans.
Most of the budget — $86.1 billion – would go towards mandatory programs such as disability compensation and pensions.
Major spending categories in the budget include $6.9 billion for mental health; $460 million in home telehealth funding whereby patient health can be monitored over the phone, and $291 million for transformation initiatives to bring leading-edge technology to the claims backlog ($136 million for Veterans Claims Intake Program and $155 million for the Veterans Benefits Management System).
The budget also requests $1.4 billion for programs to prevent or reduce homelessness, including $1 billion in mandatory funds for a proposed Veterans Job Corps, focused on investing in veterans’ skills and experience, putting tens of thousands of veterans into civilian jobs. IT would also be funded at $3.7 billion under the proposal.