APPENDIX United States Senate COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS September 27, 1985 Honorable Pete V. Domenici, Chairman Honorable Lawton Chiles, Ranking Minority Member Committee on the Budget United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Pete and Lawton: Pursuant to section 2(1) of Senate Concurrent Resolution 32, the First Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 1986, and action of the Committee at a September 26, 1985, meeting, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs is submitting to the Budget Committee the enclosed legislation and report recommending budget savings. The reconciliation instructions contained in section 2(1) of S. Con. Res. 32 require this Committee to report changes in laws within this Committee's jurisdiction sufficient to reduce both budget authority and outlays for veterans' programs by $300 million in fiscal year 1986, by $400 million in fiscal year 1987, and by $450 million in fiscal year 1988. In order to meet these requirements, our Committee, by a 9 to 3 vote, makes the following recommendations in the enclosed legislation: First, to revise certain VA health-care eligibility criteria and to provide for certain veterans with substantial incomes to make modest payments for VA care furnished for nonservice-connected disabled veterans (Part A); second, to authorize the United States to recover from health insurers certain reasonable costs of care and services furnished through VA facilities or non-VA facilities at VA expense for veterans with no service-connected disabilities who are covered under health-plan contracts (Part B); and third, to restrict the FY 1986 disability compensation/DIC COLA rate increase to the 3.7 percent estimated as the forthcoming Social Security benefit COLA (Part C). believe that these recommendations provide the most reasonable means for the Committee to comply with our reconciliation instructions in S. Con. Res. 32. We Estimated savings resulting from enactment of the legislation we are submitting would exceed the three-year total of $1.15 billion in required reconciliation savings by $150 million. The Committee legislation would achieve net savings of $1.3 billion in budget authority and outlays over fiscal years 1986 through 1988, according to CBO estimates, approximately $1.1 billion of which is through increased revenues to be deposited directly in the Treasury in order to reduce the deficit. We have also enclosed report language and a section-bysection analysis which explain our reconciliation legislation in greater detail as well as a cost estimate prepared by the Congressional Budget Office. The Committee's reconciliation legislation demonstrates our Committee's commitment to reducing our national deficit while continuing to provide fair and equitable treatment to the veterans of our Nation. Frank H. Murkowski Enclosures Sincerely, Alan Cranston Ranking Minority Member ENTITLEMENT AND ELIGIBILITY FOR HOSPITAL CARE SEC. 1101. Section 610 (a) is amended by striking out "(a)" and all that follows through "care;" at the end of clause (1) (B) and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "(a) (1) (A) (i) Except as provided in division (ii) of this subparagraph, the Administrator, through Veterans' Administration facilities or through non-Veterans' Administration facilities to the extent authorized in section 603 of this title, shall furnish such hospital care as the Administrator determines to be reasonably necessary for- and "(I) a veteran for a disability rated as service connected; "(II) any disability of a veteran who has a service-connected disability rated at 50 percent or more. "(ii) In the case of a veteran who is under incarceration, the Administrator (I) may decide not to furnish care under division (i) of this subparagraph in a Veterans' Administration facility if the Administrator determines that to do so would not be feasible in terms of the security necessary in connection with the custody of the veteran or the safety of other individuals receiving care in such facility, and (II) may furnish care under such division in a non-Veterans' Administration facility (as authorized in section 603 of this title). "(B) The Administrator, through Veterans' Administration facilities or through non-Veterans' Administration facilities to the extent authorized in section 603 of this title, may furnish such hospital care as the Administrator determines to be reasonably necessary for- "(i) (I) a non-service-connected disability of a veteran who has a service-connected disability rated at less than 50 percent; "(II) a veteran who, but for the receipt of retired pay, would be entitled to disability compensation; "(III) a veteran who is entitled to disability compensation pursuant to section 351 of this title or, but for a suspension pursuant to such section, would be entitled to disability compensation, but only to the extent that such veteran's continuing eligibility for such care is not limited in the judgment or settlement described in such section; and "(IV) a veteran whose discharge or release from active military, naval, or air service was for a disability incurred or aggravated in line of duty; "(ii) a veteran who is a former prisoner of war; "(iii) a veteran exposed to a toxic substance or radiation, as provided in subsection (e) of this section; "(iv) a veteran of the Spanish-American War, Mexican border period, or World War I; and "(v) a non-service-connected disability of a veteran who is unable to defray the expenses of necessary care. "(C) The Administrator, through Veterans' Administration facilities or through non-Veterans' Administration facilities to the extent authorized in section 603 of this title, may (to the extent facilities and resources are otherwise available and subject to subparagraph (D) of this paragraph) furnish such hospital care as the Administrator determines to be reasonably necessary for a non-serviceconnected disability of a veteran who agrees to make payment to the United States under section 612B of this title in connection with such care. "(D) The Administrator may prescribe regulations under which a veteran having an annual income above an amount specified in such regulations, or an estate with a corpus above an amount specified in such regulations, would not be eligible for care under subparagraph (C) of this paragraph. For the purpose of this subparagraph, the Administrator shall determine annual income in accordance with section 503 of this title and shall count as income of the veteran any income of a veteran's family member that would be taken into account under section 521 (c) of this title.". ENTITLEMENT AND ELIGIBILITY FOR NURSING HOME CARE SEC. 1102. Section 610 (a) is further amended by striking out "(2)" and all that follows and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "(2) (A) The Administrator, through Veterans' Administration facilities or as provided in section 620 of this title, shall furnish such nursing home care as the Administrator determines to be reasonably necessary to a veteran for a service-connected disability. |