thedrifter
02-03-06, 12:15 PM
February 03, 2006
Reports cast doubt over VA’s federal budget
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
Two new congressional reports released Thursday create serious doubts about the federal budget for veterans.
One report, requested by Republicans, says the budget of the Department of Veterans Affairs is based on unrealistic assumptions, estimating errors and insufficient data.
This is why the VA has had serious funding shortfalls for health care — because its budget-planning model does not factor in such things as caring for retiring combat veterans and long-term nursing care, Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., the House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman, said in a statement.
“To provide for America’s veterans, the VA must be able to accurately forecast its requirements,” Buyer said.
A second report, requested by Democrats, says the VA budget has other problems because it keeps including unproven management efficiencies, such as assuming people will be able to do things faster and better.
“This report confirms the concerns I have been raising regarding reliance on gimmicks and invisible savings,” said Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Both reports were prepared by the Government Accountability Office, the bipartisan investigative and auditing arm of Congress, which was asked to study the VA’s budget and how it is prepared after last year’s controversy in which a $1.3 billion shortfall was discovered in the VA budget for 2005.
Last June, while trying to fix the budget crisis caused by the bad estimates, Buyer said he promised to figure out what when wrong to prevent a recurrence.
In its report to Buyer, the GAO said the VA seems to be working hard to avoid the same mistakes, such as not taking into account war-related costs.
In the report to Akaka and Rep. Lane Evans of Illinois, ranking Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the GAO said VA officials admitted regularly using untested management-efficiency savings to fill gaps in the budget when there were differences between the budget request and the amount needed for health care and benefits programs. When the savings fail to materialize, as often happens, the VA ends up underfunded.
“It’s unconscionable,” Evan said, complaining that veterans end up suffering because there isn’t enough money to provide medical care or benefits.
The report says there was no methodology for making the savings assumptions, leaving a $4 billion shortfall that Akaka said represented a “house of cards.”
“Budgets must be built on solid facts,” Akaka said. “Without that, we will continue to have the shortfalls which jeopardize patient care.”
Reports cast doubt over VA’s federal budget
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
Two new congressional reports released Thursday create serious doubts about the federal budget for veterans.
One report, requested by Republicans, says the budget of the Department of Veterans Affairs is based on unrealistic assumptions, estimating errors and insufficient data.
This is why the VA has had serious funding shortfalls for health care — because its budget-planning model does not factor in such things as caring for retiring combat veterans and long-term nursing care, Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., the House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman, said in a statement.
“To provide for America’s veterans, the VA must be able to accurately forecast its requirements,” Buyer said.
A second report, requested by Democrats, says the VA budget has other problems because it keeps including unproven management efficiencies, such as assuming people will be able to do things faster and better.
“This report confirms the concerns I have been raising regarding reliance on gimmicks and invisible savings,” said Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Both reports were prepared by the Government Accountability Office, the bipartisan investigative and auditing arm of Congress, which was asked to study the VA’s budget and how it is prepared after last year’s controversy in which a $1.3 billion shortfall was discovered in the VA budget for 2005.
Last June, while trying to fix the budget crisis caused by the bad estimates, Buyer said he promised to figure out what when wrong to prevent a recurrence.
In its report to Buyer, the GAO said the VA seems to be working hard to avoid the same mistakes, such as not taking into account war-related costs.
In the report to Akaka and Rep. Lane Evans of Illinois, ranking Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the GAO said VA officials admitted regularly using untested management-efficiency savings to fill gaps in the budget when there were differences between the budget request and the amount needed for health care and benefits programs. When the savings fail to materialize, as often happens, the VA ends up underfunded.
“It’s unconscionable,” Evan said, complaining that veterans end up suffering because there isn’t enough money to provide medical care or benefits.
The report says there was no methodology for making the savings assumptions, leaving a $4 billion shortfall that Akaka said represented a “house of cards.”
“Budgets must be built on solid facts,” Akaka said. “Without that, we will continue to have the shortfalls which jeopardize patient care.”