VA Health Care Benefits at Risk

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is facing an immediate $3 billion shortfall in mandatory benefits funds and has called on Congress to address this for the current fiscal year. Congress is under pressure to pass a legislative fix by the deadline of September 20. Without intervention, the VA is projecting that millions of Veterans are at risk of a disruption of benefits, including health care services. Congress adjourned in August without passing the needed legislation.

Congressional leaders will need to look at a stand-alone bill or a stop-gap funding bill as vehicles for addressing the shortfall. Congress has the added pressure of needing to pass a continuing resolution (CR) before September 30 to avert a federal government shutdown. A CR would likely carry funding through November election, but there are some proponents for extending the funding deadline even further into next year to avoid the scramble in December to pass the funding package.

The VA has indicated that the 2022 Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act led to the shortfall due to increases in VA health care enrollment, among other things. The VA has requested $12 billion for fiscal year 2025 for medical care.