NEWS FROM…CHAIRMAN BOB FILNER

NEWS FROM…

CHAIRMAN BOB FILNER

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 14, 2008

http://veterans.house.gov


Filner Victorious in Fight for Expansion of Veterans’ Health Care and Benefits


New Laws Help Veterans Prevent Foreclosure, Access Needed Health Care and Earned Benefits


Washington, D.C. – On Friday, October 10, 2008, Bob Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, announced that two bills, S. 2162 and S. 3023, have been signed into law. S. 2162 is a comprehensive measure to expand treatment for mental health care, provide counseling for family members of veterans, and address the needs of rural veterans. S. 3023 provides essential reforms to bring the claims processing system up-to-date for more accurate and timely delivery of benefits while expanding the benefits provided.

Chairman Filner provided the following statement on the enactment of this sweeping legislation to better care for our service members and veterans:

“Over the course of the 110th Congress, we have learned much about the needs of our Nation’s veterans and these new laws go a long way to address them. When I became Chairman of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the VA was strained to its breaking point and we set an aggressive agenda to fix that. We passed historic increases to the VA budget and provided the resources to better address the health care needs of our veterans and wounded warriors. Our aggressive agenda culminated in the enactment of comprehensive legislation to improve health care and benefits for our veterans.

“The Veterans' Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008 expands mental health services, increases research through the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and provides much needed counseling for families of veterans. This new law also mandates a program to help rural veterans get the health care they need closer to home.

“There are hundreds of thousands of new veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 40% of our veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom are entering the VA health care system. Of these veterans, 41% are seeking mental health care. It is simply our duty as a Nation, when we put our men and women in harm’s way, to care for them when they return.”


“The Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008 provides essential reforms to bring the claims processing system up-to-date for more accurate and timely delivery of benefits to veterans, families, and survivors. We passed a pilot program to dramatically alters the way claims are processed for veterans. Fully-developed claims certified by a Veterans Service Officer are eligible for expedited processing allowing veterans to receive their benefit more expeditiously.

“The backlog of claims at the VA totals more than 600,000 and this is a national disgrace! Our men and women should not get first-class weapons to fight only to come home and receive third-class benefits. This bill takes a major step to ensure that the benefits provided to our veterans are first-rate and uncompromised.


“The Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008 adds job protections for returning veterans, increases the opportunity for injured veterans to participate in independent living programs, allows deploying service members to terminate or suspend cell phone contracts without penalty, and provides additional support to veteran-owned small business when contracting with the government. The Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008 also provides grants to allow severely injured veterans and service members participate in the United States Olympic Paralympics program.

“This new law will make home loans more accessible to veterans by easing restrictions on the VA home loan guaranty program and increasing loan amounts for purchase and refinancing. The bill eliminates the equity requirements for refinancing in response to the declining home values which prohibit many veterans from qualifying for the benefit. The bill also reduces the VA guaranteed home loan funding fees to one percent and eliminates the funding fees for veterans seeking to refinance a home loan.

“For many of our returning service members and veterans, the stress of deployment is still prevalent when they return home. Congress provided these heroes with not only the necessary time to readjust, but also ensured they have the opportunity to do this in the comfort and security of their own home.”


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The following bills were signed into law:

S. 2162 – The Veterans’ Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008

Provisions of the bill include (but are not limited to):

Expanding treatment for substance use disorders and mental health care;
Conducting research into co-morbid PTSD and substance use disorders through the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder;
Providing mental health care, including counseling, for families, of veterans;
Providing reimbursement for a veteran for the costs of emergency treatment received in a non-VA facility;
Establishing a pilot program to allow a highly rural veteran to receive non-VA health care;
Designating at least four VA health care facilities as epilepsy centers of excellence;
Mandating the VA to centralize third party billing functions at consolidated centers;
Eliminating a rule prohibiting VA from conducting widespread testing for HIV infection;
Expanding health care benefits provided to the children of Vietnam and Korean war veterans born with spina bifida;
Developing and implementing a comprehensive policy on pain care management;
Expanding referral and counseling services for certain at-risk and transitional veterans;
Providing support services for very low-income veteran families residing in permanent housing; and,
Authorizing major medical facility projects for 2009.

S. 3023, as amended – The Veterans’ Benefits Improvements Act of 2008

Provisions of the bill include (but are not limited to):

Directing the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to modernize the disability benefits claims processing system of the VA to ensure the accurate and timely delivery of compensation to veterans and their families and survivors;
Establishing an Office of Survivors Assistance within the VA;
Allowing temporary disability ratings for certain veterans;
Addressing employee training for those responsible for processing claims by redeveloping the certification exam and requiring an evaluation of the training and quality assurance program;
Decreasing the equity requirement to refinance a home loan;
Extending two pilot programs that offer adjustable rate loans;
Reforming the USERRA (Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act) complaint process and ensuring that equitable relief is available to all USERRA victims when appropriate;
Increasing the number of veterans that can participate in the independent living program;
Updating housing construction and design guidelines to take into account any new or unique disabilities for veterans in need of specially adaptive housing;
Providing assistance to the United States Paralympic Program for veterans and members of the Armed Services;
Extending Servicemember Civil Relief Act protections to help service members with deployment orders to more easily terminate or suspend cell phone contracts without fee or penalty; and,
Repealing the sunset provision for the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans.

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