Daschle Says New Report on Uninsured Vets "A Call to Action."

Daschle Says New Report on Uninsured Vets "A Call to Action."

Harvard study finds 1.7 million vets without health coverage, increasing 235,000 since 2000

"It's time we made a simple promise to our veterans. If you fought under the American flag, your health care needs will be met for life."

WASHINGTON, DC - A new study by Harvard researchers demonstrates the need to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health system, Senator Tom Daschle said. The study, released Tuesday by Harvard Medical School researchers and Physicians for a National Health Program, showed that 1.7 million veterans in 2003 lacked health coverage of any kind.

The report said the number was rising, in part due to policies of the Bush Administration. The Administration announced in January 2003 that middle-income veterans would be blocked from enrolling at the VA. The VA has estimated this policy will block access for 522,000 veterans in 2005.

A Vietnam-era veteran, Senator Daschle has been a leader in the effort to provide all veterans with access to the VA. In June, Senator Daschle introduced legislation to make full funding of veterans' health care mandatory under law. Over the past four years, funding for veterans health care has lagged significantly behind growth in VA enrollment and health care inflation, resulting in an unprecedented rationing of care, including waiting lists of as many as 300,000 veterans. In addition, to compensate for inadequate federal funding, the VA is collecting record sums from veterans themselves. The amount veterans have paid toward their own care has increased from $231 million in Fiscal Year 2001 to a projected $1.3 billion in FY05. That's an increase of $1.1 billion, or 478%.

In response to the study, Senator Daschle released the following statement:

"As a veteran, I know how important it is to make good on our debt to the people who served our country. This new study should serve as a call to action. It's time we made a simple promise to our veterans. If you fought under the American flag, your health care needs will be met for life. We need to show our thanks to veterans not just in words, but also in action.

"As I've traveled around South Dakota, I hear from more and more veterans that the waits at VA hospitals are getting longer. The fees are getting higher. More vets are being forced out of the VA health system. Those that stay are seeing their out-of-pocket health care costs are eating into savings. And with hints of new cuts to the VA and the influx of Iraq War veterans just around the corner, the worst may be yet to come, unless we make the funding mandatory."