Department of Veterans Affairs

2016 Senate Full Committee Appropriations Action

Impact Statements
Medical Care
Overall, the 2016 Senate committee bill reduced VA Medical Care by $659 million (1.0
percent), which includes rescissions totaling $494 million ($305 million for Medical Carespecific rescissions; $48.6 million for VHAs portion of the across-the-board rescission of
$55 million; $50 million rescission to the VA/DOD Health Incentive Fund); and an
unspecified $90.3 million unobligated balance rescission. A cut of this magnitude is the
equivalent of 68,500 fewer Veterans receiving VA medical care, compared to the
Presidents request. This is based on the average annual cost of providing health care
to Veterans in 2016 of $9,831.
Impacts include:

Medical Services. A reduction of $224 million (0.5 percent) to the Presidents

request would delay the opening of completed health care facilities because of
insufficient activation funds. This action would reduce Veterans access to health
care. VA would be unable to open certain VA medical facilities that, under the
Presidents Budget, would be available to care for Veterans.

Medical Support and Compliance. A reduction of $171 million (2.8 percent) to

the Presidents request would cause VHA to reduce support staff essential to
improve Veterans access to VA health care. These funds support the
management, operation, oversight, security (including VA Police), and
administration of the VHA health care system. This includes medical center
management teams (e.g., Director, Chief of Staff, Chief Medical Officer, and
Chief Nurse); medical center support functions (e.g., appointment scheduling
staff, quality of care oversight, security services, legal services, billing and coding
activities, acquisition, procurement, and logistics activities); human resource
management; logistics and supply chain management; and financial
management.

Medical Facilities. A reduction of $214 million (4.3 percent) to the Presidents

request would reduce funds available to address VAs multi-billion dollar backlog
of high priority Non-Recurring Maintenance projects. The associated delays
could potentially result in facilities becoming unavailable to provide Veterans
health care.

DoD/VA Joint Incentive Fund. The Senate committee bill rescinded $50 million
of unobligated balances from this Fund, which promotes cooperation between
the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs for the delivery of health care
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to active duty Servicemembers and Veterans. A reduction of $50 million would

eliminate funding for roughly 10 joint projects that would support specialty care,
rehabilitative care, mental health care, and interdepartmental medical information
management/information technology sharing.
Medical Research

A reduction to the Presidents request of $597 thousand (0.1 percent, from the
impact of the across-the-board rescission) would result in a small impact on VAs
ability to implement the Learning Health Care System initiative.

Veterans Benefits Administration

The Senate committee bill funds the VBA mandatory and discretionary accounts at
the 2016 Budget request. By contrast, the House bill contained a reduction of $36.6
million to VBAs General Operating Expenses, which would impact VBAs ability to
contract for mission-enabling capabilities that support the backlog and delivery of
benefits and services to Veterans.

Information Technology

The Senate committee bill funds VAs IT needs at $4.1 billion, $28.3 million (0.7
percent) below the Presidents request. The use of information technology is critical
to the delivery of benefits and services to Veterans today. Information technology
requirements far exceed VAs ability to fund those needs and meet Veterans
expectations for services. VA expects this reduction to impact the:

VA Unified Communications Strategy, which is the long-term solution for

replacing the Departments increasingly aged telephony platform of Private
Branch Exchanges (PBXs). As a result of the reduction, it will take longer to
implement as VA will only be able to apply half the resources to that effort in FY
2016 as planned;

Desktop/Laptop/Network hardware lifecycle refresh rates would have to be

extended (and which in many cases have already been lengthened), forcing the
Department to continue relying on increasingly aging hardware to accomplish
routine tasks, patient care, benefits delivery, and administrative aspects
supporting the Nations Veterans.

Major Construction

The Senate committee bill includes a reduction of $116.7 million from the Presidents
request of $1.144 billion. The reduction does not provide funding for two projects in
the 2016 Budget request. Funding in the amount of $490.7 million would be made
available for five major construction projects, but funding would be restricted until VA
enters into an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for these
five projects.

Minor Construction

The Senate committee bill would require a reduction of $33.1 million (includes
rescission allocation) from the Presidents request of $406.2 million. This reduction
would result in no funding for OIT minor construction, which would delay necessary
modifications and upgrades to existing facilities, and push to a future year critical
data center expansions and electrical upgrade projects, which would negatively
impact our IT support for Veterans care and benefits.

General Administration (Gen Ad)

A reduction of $36.6 million (10.6%) from the Presidents request would have a
significant negative impact in 2016 to the Staff Offices funded from this appropriation.

The bill provides no additional direct funding for the Office of Accountability
Review ($6.6 million) and the MyVA Program Management Office ($3.5 million).
These two new functions are being funded in 2015 through reimbursements from
VAs Administrations and Offices.

The bill takes the same action as the House in placing a ceiling of $4.4 million on
funding for the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA). This
punitive action would reduce funding for OCLA by $2.9 million (39.4 percent) and
support only 30 FTE from the request of 53 FTE, which would return staffing to
the 2008 level.

The bill provides no funding to Gen Ad for the pay raise, inflation, and increased
rent requirements ($7.1 million total). To absorb these costs within a funding
level of about $310 million would require reductions in staffing for most offices.
This action exacerbates the severely constrained funding Gen Ad has
experienced since 2013.