The unabridged
responses to questions submitted by the DAV are
presented below as a way for our members to compare the
candidates’ positions on issues affecting America’s
service-connected disabled veterans and their families.
The cooperation of the candidates and their campaign
staffs is much appreciated; however, the DAV has asked
both candidates to discuss specific policies they would
propose regarding particular issues. Their responses are
planned for publication in the September/October issue
of DAV Magazine.
Mandatory Funding for VA Health Care
DAV: The current discretionary funding method for
veterans’ health care is broken. The needs of our
nation’s sick and disabled veterans have not been
adequately met for many
years. Continued funding shortfalls, combined with
rising costs for care and increased demand for medical
services, have resulted in unprecedented waiting times
nationwide for routine and specialized medical services.
Historically, annual funds appropriated for veterans’
medical care have failed to meet the growing demand for
services. Further exacerbating this growing dilemma has
been Congress’ inability to complete the
appropriations process on time, delaying critical
funding for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical
care.
The President’s Task Force to Improve Health Care
Delivery for Our Nation’s Veterans, in its May 2003
report, identified a significant mismatch between
demands for VA services and available funding which, if
left unresolved, would delay veterans’ access to care
and threaten the quality of the care provided. As you
may know, the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) has
joined with eight other major veterans’ service
organizations to form The Partnership for Veterans
Health Care Budget Reform. The Partnership is entirely
committed to passing legislation authorizing mandatory
funding for VA health care.
Do you support a fundamental change in the manner VA
health care is funded? If so, how would your
administration ensure its implementation? If not, why?
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President George W. Bush: America's veterans and
military retirees have sacrificed to make our Nation
safe and secure, and I believe America must honor its
commitments to our veterans. Because we have worked to
reform the VA health care system, today more than 2.5
million additional veterans are benefiting from health
care services than in 2001. No veteran with a
service-related disability, a low-income, or in need of
specialized services will be turned away from the VA
under my budget. My 2005 budget fully funds enrolled
veterans in Priority Groups 1 through 7, and also fully
funds those Priority Group 8 veterans (higher income,
non-disabled) already in the system, ensuring that no
veteran in the system will be denied care. My budgets
over the last four years have
increased funding for VA health care by more than 40%
over 2001 levels, and this year, my budget proposal
requests $68 billion for VA – $20 billion more than what
was allocated in 2001. VA spending will have increased
more than twice as much in four years than it did in the
previous eight years. These efforts have increased
outpatient visits from 44 million to 54 million,
increased the number of prescriptions filled from 86
million to 108 million, and opened 194 new
community-based clinics for veterans. And the number of
veterans waiting more than six months to see a primary
care physician
continues to decline and will be nearly zero by this
summer.
Improvements in care over the last decade have come from
making the VA more accountable to veterans. I will
continue to make sure that the VA budget meets the
health care needs of veterans, while meeting my
commitment to spend taxpayers’ money responsibly.
Congress and the President must be accountable and be
able to react to changing times or new demands placed on
the VA system.
-------------------
Senator John F. Kerry: I believe that veterans’ health
care should be fully funded. In my years in the Senate,
and especially today, I have seen budgets that have
failed to meet
the true resource requirements of the system. I have
seen budgets that rely on rosy predictions and
accounting gimmicks instead of real resources, and far
too often I have
seen attempts to shift the burden of treating some
veterans onto the backs of other veterans. For too long
veterans have faced health care rationing because the
budgetary reality they face has not met the promises we
have made. I vow that my administration will find real
solutions to funding veterans’ health care, and will end
the game of playing
politics with the health and the lives of sick veterans.
I agree with DAV, and with the other veterans groups
that make up The Partnership for Veterans Health Care
Budget Reform, that the answer lies in providing
mandatory
funding. I have cosponsored S. 50, the “Veterans Health
Care Funding Guarantee Act of 2003,” which would provide
mandatory funding, and strongly supported an amendment
offered by Senator Daschle to the Defense Authorization
bill which would have been an important step toward full
mandatory funding. Mandatory funding promises to meet
the
health care needs of veterans, and that is why I fully
support it and will work for it as president.
When our country asked them to serve, they responded to
the call. Now they are looking to us to keep our
promises to them, to keep our covenant with the men and
women who
have served, and who have risked all along the ramparts
of freedom. Instead of keeping our promises, we tell
sick veterans that they must wait months to receive the
health care they need; we tell them that there is no
room for them; and sometimes we even tell them that they
are not allowed through the hospital door. This is
unacceptable. A bedrock
American value is that we are true to our word, that our
promises are kept. Providing adequate, high-quality
health care to those we owe so much to is a promise we
must keep,
and I vow to work to make sure that the resources are
available to fully fund the VA.
3
If elected, I will recommend legislation to the 109th
Congress that will provide mandatory funding for
veterans’ health care. Awaiting passage of such
legislation, I will forward a budget to Congress that
will provide sufficient discretionary spending to fully
fund the VA.
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Disabled Veterans Tax
DAV: For nearly two decades, the DAV and other veterans’
and military organizations have led a major grassroots
effort to end an unfair requirement that veterans who
retire
from the Armed Forces on length of service may not
receive disability compensation from the Department of
Veterans Affairs in addition to full military retirement
pay. Many disappointing years passed before Congress
even acknowledged that the offset
between the two benefits was unfair. The offset is
inequitable because military retired pay is earned by
virtue of a veteran’s long service on behalf of the
country. Entitlement to
compensation, on the other hand, is for an entirely
separate reason because of service related disability.
To the extent that military retired pay and disability
compensation now
offset each other, the disabled veteran is treated
unfairly. This offset should be totally repealed.
However, for a number of years, majorities in both the
House and Senate proclaimed the unfairness should end,
but did nothing substantive to resolve the problem.
In 2003, measures were passed to begin phasing in
concurrent receipt of VA disability
compensation and military retirement pay. The move was
in the right direction, but far from sufficient because
it applied only to combat-related disabilities or to VA
disability
ratings of 50 percent or higher. Additionally, the
10-year phase-in brings justice far too slowly. Most
eligible World War II veterans will be deceased before
concurrent receipt of
military retirement pay and VA disability compensation
is fully instated.
Do you support provision of concurrent receipt to
veterans rated 40 percent or less and will your
administration actively work to bring it about? Why or
why not?
Do you support elimination of the phase-in period for
concurrent receipt? Why or why not?
-----------
President George W. Bush: I have addressed the issue of
"concurrent receipt" for military retirees in a fair and
responsible manner. My Administration has been the first
to
act on allowing military retirees to receive both
disability compensation and retirement pay. I have twice
signed into law legislation effectively allowing
military retirees to
receive VA disability compensation without having to
offset the amount from their retirement benefits. This
policy for those military retirees most deserving –
combat injured
and highly-disabled veterans – finally reverses, for the
first time, a century-old prohibition on concurrent
receipt.
----------------
Senator John F. Kerry: I believe military retirees who
have a service-connected disability should receive both
military retired pay and disability compensation. I
agree with DAV that any offset of military retirement
pay and disability compensation is unjust. No other
category of federal employee is subject to this kind of
unfairness and it must stop. Far too often in our
history veterans’ benefits are cut or reduced based
solely upon budgetary considerations. There are plenty
of places to cut back in government –but benefits for
veterans are not one of them. As president, I will
actively push for full concurrent receipt.
I fully supported a successful amendment, offered by my
colleague Senator Reid, to this year’s defense bill that
would eliminate this ten-year phase-in period for those
military
retirees who are rated 100 percent service-connected
disabled. This is the right thing to do, but we must do
more. We must eliminate this phase-in period for all
military retirees.
The average age of our World War II veterans is 83, for
our Korean War veterans it is 70. It is estimated that
1000 World War II veterans die every day. How can we ask
these
brave Americans to wait another decade for a benefit
that should have been theirs yesterday, and should most
certainly be theirs today? Eliminating this phase-in
period, and providing full concurrent receipt, will be a
priority of my administration.
Making Veterans a National Priority
DAV: Our nation has a long and honored commitment to its
veterans. Veterans and their dependents have made
enormous sacrifices and eminent contributions in the
service of
this nation. The breadth of support among the citizens
of this country for veterans is fully demonstrated by
public opinion data. Unfortunately, the promises made by
our government to veterans have been consistently
broken. Our government forgets that caring for the needs
of our nation’s sick and disabled veterans is a
continuing cost of national security, and the price we,
as Americans, pay for our cherished freedoms. As noted
above, some former service members who are retired from
the Armed Forces on the basis of length of service must,
in order to receive disability compensation, forfeit a
portion of the retired pay they earned through faithful
performance of military service. Other veterans in need
of medical care either must wait too long for necessary
VA health care or are locked out of the VA health care
system because their annual income is greater than
$25,000. VA health care is rationed due to historically
inadequate budgets and delayed appropriations, which
make it extremely difficult to manage a national health
care system. Over the years, failure to regularly adjust
veterans programs for increases in the cost of living or
failure to make other needed changes threatens the
effectiveness of some veterans benefits, such as the
automobile and special adaptive housing grants, burial
benefits, and insurance benefits. Specifically, because
of service-connected disabilities, disabled veterans
have difficulty getting, or are charged higher premiums
for, life insurance on the commercial market. VA
therefore offers disabled veterans life insurance at
standard rates under the Service Disabled Veterans
Insurance (SDVI) program. When this program began in
1951, its rates, based on mortality tables then in use,
were competitive with commercial insurance. Commercial
rates have since been lowered to reflect improved life
expectancy shown by current mortality tables. However,
VA continues to base its rates on mortality tables from
1941. Consequently, SDVI premiums are no longer
competitive with commercial insurance and therefore no
longer provide the intended benefit for eligible
veterans.
Additionally, when life insurance for veterans had its
beginning in the War Risk Insurance program, first made
available to members of the Armed Forces in 1917,
coverage was limited to $10,000. Today, some 87 years
later, maximum coverage under the base SDVI policy is
still $10,000.
Finally, Survivors Benefit Plan (SBP) provides a monthly
annuity for eligible beneficiaries of the uniformed
forces who are entitled to receive retired pay.
Enrollment in SBP is automatic at the time of retirement
from active duty, unless the retiree, with spousal
concurrence, elects not to participate. However, if the
death of the retiree is determined to be the result of
service-connected disability, the surviving spouse
cannot receive both the monthly SBP annuity and
dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) provided by
VA.
What specifically will your administration do to make
veterans a national priority?
Will your administration propose or support legislation
to authorize VA to revise its premium schedule for SDVI
to reflect current mortality tables?
Will your administration propose or support legislation
to increase the face value of SDVI?
Will your administration propose or support legislation
to authorize the concurrent receipt of SBP and DIC?
---------------
President George W. Bush: Veterans have helped shape the
American character, and their service represents the
highest form of patriotism. I believe America must honor
its
commitment to veterans and my Administration has worked
to do so.
My Administration is the first to allow concurrent
receipt of retirement and disability benefits for
combat-injured and highly-disabled veterans. I have
increased funding for
VA health care to record levels allowing the VA to
enroll 2.5 million more veterans for health services.
The VA’s priority scheduling system better focuses
assistance on the
veterans who need it most, those with military
disabilities, low-incomes, or special needs.
We have begun implementing a long-range plan to
modernize VA facilities to provide more care to more
veterans in more places. I have fulfilled my commitment
to cut the disability claims backlog from 432,000 to
250,000 and reduce the time needed for the VA to process
a claim to 100 days. I have expanded grants for homeless
veterans to all 50 states and overseen the largest
expansion of the national cemetery system since the
CivilWar in order to honor veterans with a hallowed,
final resting place.
I share your concerns about the welfare of survivors of
military retirees. In 2003, I signed the Veterans
Benefits Act, which provides $1 billion in new and
expanded benefits –
including housing and automobile grants for disabled
veterans and educational benefits for surviving spouses
and children. The Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) was
intended from its inception in 1972 to complement Social
Security benefits and Dependency and Indemnity
Compensation. Together, these programs ensure a
survivor's income is at least 55% of the service
member’s retired pay. I am aware of several proposals to
enhance these benefits that would cost several billion
dollars over the next 10 years. I will work with
Congress on this issue and consider them in the context
of overall resources needed to maintain and enhance the
readiness of the armed forces.
The Service Disabled Veterans Insurance Fund (SDVI) has
been providing life insurance to veterans with
service-connected disabilities since 1951. Veterans
receive up to a
$10,000 life insurance policy for standard premium rates
but also may receive a waiver for the premiums. Those
who receive a waiver may opt to increase their policy to
$30,000.
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Senator John F. Kerry: My service in Vietnam was one of
the pivotal experiences of my life. There I learned the
basic rule: “Mission First, Troops Always.” I have been
guided by this rule since. My fellow veterans, and the
issues important to them, will be an integral part of my
administration. Empty rhetoric and vacant promises not
only fail our mission, but ignore the true needs of our
troops and our veterans. I vow to show veterans that we
honor and respect them with more than words once or
twice a year, but with actions and deeds.
This nation made a sacred covenant with those it drafted
and those who enlisted, but the truth is that every day
in America the treatment of too many veterans is
breaking that
covenant. In order to meet this covenant, I fully
support, and will work to enact, mandatory funding for
veterans’ health care, full concurrent receipt for
disabled military retirees, and measures to fairly
compensate soldiers and their families for their
service.
I support legislation to revise the premium schedule for
the Service Disabled Veterans Insurance (SDVI) program.
When introduced in 1951, and using mortality rates for
1940, SDVI was intended to provide insurance at
competitive rates. SDVI rates are still based on those
from 1940, while current standard life insurance rates
are based upon 2001 mortality tables. Average life
expectancy in 1940 was 62.9 years. The average life
expectancy in 2001 was 77.2 years. Today’s SDVI program
does not reflect these realities. SDVI is a vital
benefit for disabled veterans because these individuals
often cannot obtain insurance, or are charged far higher
premiums because of their service-connected
disabilities. We must bring this program up to date, and
provide a comparable benefit to what was originally
intended.
To have the same purchasing power today as when this
program was first introduced in 1917, the face value of
the basic SDVI policy would be more than $100,000. Like
many
veterans’ benefits, the intended benefit of SDVI has
been eroded by inflation and the passing of decades.
As president, I will fight to address this erosion of
benefits earned by veterans by their service to our
nation. Often, SDVI is the only insurance a veteran can
obtain. We must do
what we can to restore the economic value of the SDVI
program, and make SDVI a useful, and viable benefit for
our veterans.
I fully back efforts to end the “Widows’ Tax” by ending
the reduction of SBP made when survivors’ reach age 62.
I have co-sponsored legislation introduced by my
colleague Senator Landrieu to address this inequity. I
was glad to see both the House of Representatives, and
my Senate
colleagues, vote to include legislative language in this
year’s defense bill that would provide full SBP survivor
benefits for surviving spouses over age 62. I will push
to see that this important provision is included in the
final version of this legislation.
www.dav.org/voters/documents/president_views_on_DAV_priority_issues.pdf
Make it a good day!
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