Veterans' Medical Care Funding: FY1995-FY2004

Publication Date: January 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Military and defense

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Abstract:

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides services and benefits such as hospital and medical care, rehabilitation services, and pensions, among other things, to veterans who meet certain eligibility criteria. VA provides these benefits and services through four administrative units: the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), and the Board of Veterans' Appeals. VHA is primarily a direct service provider of primary care, specialized care, and related medical and social support services to veterans through an integrated health care system.

Funding for VHA is an issue of perennial interest to Congress, especially with the increasing demand for VA medical services and with some veterans increasingly having to wait more than six months for a primary care or speciality care appointment. VHA is funded through multiple appropriation accounts, which are supplemented by other sources of revenue. Over the past decade, the composition of VHA's funding has changed. Not only has VA's appropriation account structure been modified, but also VA's ability to retain nonappropriated funds has increased. These changes present challenges in comparing VHA funding over a period of time.

Between FY1995 and FY2004, appropriations for VA medical care grew by 63%. For the first four years of this time period, from FY1995 through FY1999, appropriations for VA medical care grew by 6.7%, from $16.2 billion in FY1995 to $17.3 billion in FY1999. In comparison, during the last five years of this time period, from FY1999 through FY2004, VA medical care appropriations grew by 52.7%, from $17.3 billion in FY1999 to $26.4 billion in FY2004. These amounts do not include appropriations for medical research, medical administration and miscellaneous operating expenses (MAMOE), and funds from nonappropriated funding sources.

The total number of veteran enrollees has grown by 76.9% from FY1999, the first year VHA instituted an enrollment system, to FY2004. During this same period the number of veterans receiving medical care has grown by almost 50%, from 3.2 million veterans in FY1999 to an estimated 4.7 million veterans in FY2004.

This report will not be updated.