Daines Works to Secure Support for Critical Veterans Services

Press Release

Representative Steve Daines today applauded the strong bipartisan House passage of FY 2015 Military Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations, which provides critical support for essential veterans services and works to address the substantial backlog of benefits claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The bill was passed this evening by a 416-1 vote.

"Our veterans have given their all in service to our country -- and they deserve our best. That's why I'm fighting to ensure our veterans receive the support they deserve and the benefits they have earned," Daines stated."I'm proud that the House came together and passed bipartisan legislation that works fix the VA claims backlog, provide veterans with critical mental health services, and ultimately ensure our veterans needs are met. Montana is home to more veterans per capita than almost any other state, and as Montana's Representative, I'll always fight to keep the promises we've made to them."

The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill provides $7.5 billion for programs designed to address veterans' mental health needs and increases funding for suicide prevention outreach by $20 million. The legislation directs the VA to provide a detailed expenditure plan for all suicide outreach programs within 30 days after the bill is signed and strongly encourages the VA to maximize the availability of mental health services to veterans who were victims of sexual assault.

The bill works to modernize and better facilitate interoperability between the Department of Defense (DoD) and VA electronic health records system by adopting reforms comparable to those found in the 21st Century Health Care for Heroes Act (H.R. 2590), which Daines co-sponsored.

The appropriations bill requires the VA to provide updated information regarding the implementation and functionality for its electronic health records program (VistA Evolution) before funding is allocated. This oversight and accountability is works to ensure that the health record system will have the capabilities and interoperability promised by the VA.

The bill also ensures support for VA medical services allowing for nearly 7 million patients to be treated in FY15 and providing additional funding for traumatic brain injury treatment, homeless veteran programs, and rural health initiative.

Additionally, the appropriations bill works to address the claims processing backlog at the VA by imposing strict reporting requirements, modernizing the claims processing system, and holding the VA and the DoD accountable for properly overseeing taxpayer dollars and addressing the delays within the VA claims system.

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