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Article: Congress scrambles to close VA health care budget gap.(Veteran Affairs)
- Article from:
- DAV Magazine
- Article date:
- September 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Disabled American Veterans. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Congress has provided the VA with an additional S 1.5 billion to cover a major shortfall in veterans health care. The extra money is on top of $28 billion lawmakers provided last December for health care as part of the VA's regular appropriation for the current fiscal year which ends Sept. 30.
The VA admitted in June that it faced a critical budget shortage, although officials told Congress they had known about the problem since April. That sent lawmakers scrambling to come up with money to close the gap and demanding answers about what caused the funding crisis.
"The need for additional funding was obvious long before the Administration's revelations;" ...