Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2280 - Veterans Health Care Amendments Act of 1991

(House)
(Montgomery (D) MS and 35 others)

The Administration opposes enactment of H.R. 2280, which amends a number of veterans' health-care and related authorities, because it would:

—   Provide hospital and outpatient treatment on what amounts to a priority basis to all veterans who served in combat and seek care for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, even though no determination of service-connection has been made.

—   Provide readjustment counseling services in Vet Centers to veterans who served in a combat theater during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Currently, such services are provided only to Vietnam veterans and veterans who served during the Persian Gulf War, and the earlier hostilities in Lebanon, Grenada, and Panama. The Administration believes that expanding eligibility to veterans who returned from wars which ended many years ago would distort the role of Vet Centers. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, outpatient clinics, and mental hygiene clinics can best meet the health needs of these veterans.

—   Establish a new program of marriage and family counseling services for veterans of the Persian Gulf War and their families. On April 6, 1991, the President signed into law a bill making veterans who served in the Persian Gulf War eligible for the VA Readjustment Counseling Program. This program already meets the counseling needs of those who actually served in the Persian Gulf. It also provides families with counseling services if those services are in connection with the treatment of the veteran.

The services provided by this new program would only take effect if the President specifically designated the appropriation for the program as an emergency requirement under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Because counseling services are already being provided by VA or through a network of community voluntary service organizations and professional service providers, the President's advisers would recommend against making such a determination.

SCORING FOR THE PURPOSE OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO

The bill's provision providing retroactive special pay to certain Department of Veterans Affairs doctors would result in additional costs under the pay-as-you-go requirements of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA).

The Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) preliminary scoring estimate for this bill is $10 million for FY 1992. Final scoring of this legislation may deviate from this estimate, if H.R. 2280 were enacted, final OMB estimates would be published five days after enactment, as required under OBRA. The cumulative effect of all enacted legislation on the pay-as-you-go requirement will be issued in monthly reports transmitted to Congress.