BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AJR 71
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 27, 2004

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
                                 Nicole Parra, Chair
                    AJR 71 (Wolk) - As Introduced:  March 23, 2004
           
          SUBJECT  :   Veterans Health Care

           SUMMARY  :   Urges federal government to guarantee funding for  
          veterans health care.   Specifically, this bill:  

          1)Makes a series of findings regarding federal health care  
            programs for veterans.

          2)Urges Congress and the President to provide a guaranteed level  
            of funding for veterans health care.

          3)Urges the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to restore  
            the benefits to all priority groups of veterans. 

          4)Urges DVA to seek out veterans eligible for benefits and  
            informed them and their families of the programs and benefits  
            available.

           EXISTING LAW  provides for federally funded health care benefits  
          for veterans of the United States armed forces.  Law and  
          regulations establish eligibility criteria and priority  
          categories for veterans based on income and on the cause and  
          severity of the veterans injury or illness.  DVA has established  
          eight levels of priority for receipt of DVA health services.   
          Currently, veterans in  Priority Group 8 are not eligible for  
          DVA health care benefits.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None

           COMMENTS  :   DVA provides health care to veterans based upon  
          various eligibility criteria and the amount of funding provided  
          by Congress.  As rising health care costs have caused more  
          veterans to seek DVA health care, funding limits have forced DVA  
          to ration care for veterans. Rationing has taken the form of an  
          eight-level priority group system, patient co-pays and a  
          comprehensive assessment of DVA health facilities.  

          DVA is not currently providing care to veterans in Priority  
          Group 8, the lowest group.  Priority Group 8 includes veterans  








                                                                  AJR 71
                                                                  Page  2

          ". . . who agree to pay specified copayments with income and/or  
          net worth above the VA Means Test threshold and the HUD  
          geographic index."

          Critics argue that veterans earned, through their service to the  
          nation, the health care they were implicitly or explicitly  
          promised.  Congress, therefore, should fully fund the health  
          care costs of veterans. DVA asserts that it is providing quality  
          health care to those veterans who need it within the constraints  
          of the funding made available by Congress.
           
           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          None on file

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Burt McChesney / V. A. / (916) 319-3550