By Joanna Anderson, CQ Staff

The House cleared the annual cost-of-living adjustment in veterans' compensaiton on Wednesday, and separately passed a bill to improve access to health care for veterans in rural areas.

The COLA measure (S 2617), passed by 418-0, would increase compensation paid to veterans with service-connected disabilities, as well as dependent and indemnity compensation for families of deceased veterans.

Congress has provided annual increases in these rates for every fiscal year since 1976. The benefit increase is pegged to changes in the Consumer Price Index, a key measure of inflation, and linked to the annual increase for Social Security recipients.

The increase will be calculated as of Sept. 30, 2008 and is expected to be around 2.8 percent. Last year's increase was 2.3 percent.

The new rate would take effect Dec. 1.

The House passed a companion measure (HR 5826) sponsored by Ciro D. Rodriguez, D-Texas, on May 21.

The Senate version, sponsored by Senate Veterans' Affairs Chairman Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, was passed July 30, with some minor changes from the House version.

During debate Tuesday, House Veterans Affairs Chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif., said that according to the Veterans Affairs Department, the increase would benefit more than 3 million veterans and roughly 300,000 survivors in fiscal 2009.

Access to Care

The House also passed a bill (HR 1527) Wednesday, by a 417-0 vote, that aims to improve access to health care for veterans living in rural areas. It would establish a three-year pilot program allowing "highly rural" veterans enrolled in four of the Veterans Administration's 21 health care networks to receive covered health services through outside providers.

Filner said the bill seeks to supplement existing VA efforts, arguing, "More can and should be done."

The bill, sponsored by Jerry Moran, R-Kan., defines highly rural veterans as those seeking primary care who live more than 60 miles from the nearest VA facility, those seeking acute hospital care who live more than 120 miles from such a facility, and those seeking tertiary care who live more than 240 miles from a facility.

Veterans who fail to meet the distance requirements but are subject to hardship or difficulty in travel to the nearest appropriate VA facilities could be eligible for the program at the determination of the department.

Numerous House members from rural districts voiced support for the legislation Tuesday, as did Al Green, D-Texas, whose Houston district is notably neither rural nor geographically large.

An earlier version of the measure did not specify the program as a pilot and did not limit the benefits to only four networks. A House subcommittee amended the bill after members voiced concern that the measure, if implemented nationwide, could drain too many resources from an stretched VA health care system.

Source: CQ Today Online News
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