Sep 05 2008
House Approves Military Construction-VA Spending Bill Without TBI Amendments
Despite little progress on appropriations so far this year, the House of Representatives was able to pass its version of the Fiscal 2009 Military Construction-VA spending bill (H.R. 6599) by a vote of 409-4 on August 1, 2008.This appropriations measure represents the only regular Fiscal 2009 appropriations bill to receive House floor consideration so far this session, and could also be one of the last. (See “Fall Outlook” section below).
The $118.7 billion Military Construction-VA appropriations bill includes $500 million for medical and prosthetic research, rejecting the President’s $38 million cut and representing $20 million over last year’s funding allocation for such research. In addition, the bill allocates $200 million for fee-based services to improve access to care where Veterans Health Administration services are not available; it is possible that such services could potentially include TBI care and rehabilitation services.
Two amendments filed by House Veterans Affairs Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) related to veterans’ TBI care were subsequently withdrawn after bill manager Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX) promised to work with Rep. Filner on his suggestions over the next several months.
One of the amendments filed by Rep. Filner would have allocated $250 million to establish a community grant program to provide rehabilitative services to veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or TBI.
Rep. Filner’s other TBI-related amendment would have designated $10 million to establish a “heroes’ homecoming pilot program” intended to evaluate the effectiveness of offering compulsory screening, evaluation and treatment for TBI (as well as mental health conditions, including PTSD), for active-duty servicemembers and veterans.
Meanwhile, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the fiscal 2009 Military Construction-VA spending bill (S. 3301), on July 17, 2008. The Senate version of this funding bill contains increased funding for medical research, including TBI research. The bill also includes valuable report language directing the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish and expand cooperative agreements with public and private groups to treat traumatic brain injury patients from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to report on expanding the pool for expertise available to treat the injuries.
BIAA applauds this report language, as one of BIAA’s main federal policy goals continues to be increasing access to non-VA (civilian) TBI care providers when in the optimal interest of the service member, and BIAA remains very active on this issue on Capitol Hill.
