LegiStorm

Summary:

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides a range of benefits and services to veterans and eligible dependents who meet certain criteria as authorized by law. These benefits include medical care, disability compensation and pensions, education, vocational rehabilitation and employment services, assistance to homeless veterans, home loan guarantees, administration of life insurance and traumatic injury protection insurance for servicemembers, and death benefits that cover burial expenses. The VA is funded through the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MILCON - VA) appropriations bill . On May 23, 2017, the President submitted his budget request to Congress for FY2018 and for the advance appropriations accounts for FY2019. The President’s FY2018 budget request for the VA is $182.66 billion. Compared with the FY2017 - enacted amount of $176.94 billion , this would be a 3.23% ( or $5.72 billion ) increase. The FY2018 - requested amount includes $103.9 5 billion in mandatory b udget authority and $78.71 billion in discretionary budget authority. For the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) , the President’s budget request includes $106.97 billion for FY2018. For the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) the President ’s budget re quest includes $69.67 billion for FY2018, without collections. Compared with the FY2017 - enacted amount of $65.32 billion, this would be a 6.66% increase, and the amount includes additional funding of $2.65 billion over the FY2018 advance appropriations of $66.39 billion provided in P.L. 114 - 223 . Although the Veterans Choice Program (VCP) is not part of the annual appropriations for the VA health care programs, the President is requesting $2.9 billion in mandatory funding for FY 2018 and $3.5 billion for FY 2019 to continue the program. In the meantime, P.L. 115 - 46 provided $ 2.1 billion in mandatory appropriations in 2017 for the Veterans Choice Fund (which funds VCP) , and in 2018, P.L. 115 - 96 provided another $2.1 billion in mandatory appropriations. In total , Congress has provided $14.2 billion in mandatory appropriations for VCP since the program was established on August 7, 2014 , including the initial $10 billion in mandato ry funding provided through 2017 in P.L. 113 - 146 , as amended . On September 14, 2017, t he House passed its version of the FY2018 MILCON - VA appropriations bill (Division K — Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations, bill, 2018 in H.R. 3354 ). The House - passed measure ( H.R. 3354 ) provides $182.2 8 billion for the VA. This amount includes $103.95 billion in mandatory funding and $78.33 billion in discretionary funding. For the VBA , the House - passed measure provides $107.03 billion. A majority of this funding is for mandatory benefits such as disability compensation, readjustment be nefits , and veterans insurance programs. For VHA , the House - passed bill provides $69.74 billion (without collections) for FY2018. This amount includes $66.39 billion provided as advance appropriations in P.L. 114 - 223 for FY2018 for the four accounts — medical services, medical community care, medical support and compliance, and medical facilities — and $2.65 billion in additional funding for FY2018 for those same four accounts. The total VHA amount also includes $698.23 million for the medical and prosthetic research account. On July 13, 2017, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported its version of the FY2018 MILCON - VA Appropriations bill ( S. 1557 ; S.Rept. 115 - 130 ). The c ommittee - reported version would provide $182.37 billion for the VA for FY2018. This amount includes $10 3.95 billion in mandatory funding and $78.42 billion in discretionary funding. For the VBA, the Senate - reported bill recommends $107.04 billion for FY2018. For VHA , the c ommittee recommends $70.09 billion (without collections) for FY2018. This amount inclu des $66.39 billion provided as advance appropriations in P.L. 114 - 223 for FY2018 for the four accounts — medical services, medical community care, medical support and comp lia nce, and medical facilities — and $2.98 billion in additional funding for FY2018 for those same four accounts. The total VHA amount also includes $722.26 million for the medical and prosthetic research account. Since n one of the 12 regular appropriations bil ls were enacted prior to the start of FY 2018 (October 1, 2017), Congress passed and the President signed into law several continuing resolution s (CR s ) ( P.L. 115 - 56 , P.L. 115 - 90 , P.L. 115 - 96 , and P.L. 115 - 120 ) . The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115 - 123 ) funds some VA accounts for FY2018 through March 23, 2018 , at the FY2017 level and provides $93.5 million in supplemental appropriations for the VA for e xpenses related to the consequences o f Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria , among other things