House boosts funding for veterans programs

By GottaLaff

Bipartisan support? Wtf? I thought that was ever so passe:

Veterans health care programs would receive another big boost under a $132.4 billion measure passed by the House on Friday.

The 12 percent increase for the veterans medical services account is but the latest in a recent string of generous increases. Funding for veterans has long had strong bipartisan support.

The bill passed by a 415-3 vote, making it the most bipartisan of the seven appropriations bills to have passed so far. The 12 annual spending bills will total $1.2 trillion for agency operating budgets passed each year by Congress — known in Capitol Hill argot as the "discretionary" portion of the $3.6 trillion federal budget.

The veterans funding measure contains sweeping increases for most of the programs it covers. It would pay to hire about 1,200 additional claims processors to relieve backlogs, provide money to cover more veterans whose health problems are not related to their service, and raise the reimbursement rate that veterans get for their drives to receive care to 41.5 cents per mile.