Senate Approves New Funding for Veteran Health Care

In a rare 100-0 vote tally funding for Veteran’s Health Care would be increased by 9% over last year’s funding. The House approved a similar measure and so a final bill will soon be produced for President Obama. The costs of health care for Veterans has increased due to both aging Veterans and based on continued military conflicts in the middle east that includes traumatic physical injuries as well as chronic mental impairments such as PTSD. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 419,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan will be covered by VA health care by next year — a 61 percent increase over 2008 levels — at a cost of $2.1 billion. A future appropriation was added to the bill so that Veteran’s health care will have consistent funding in the future.