$60B VA budget includes goals for better care - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

$60B VA budget includes goals for better care

The Obama administration is setting some ambitious goals for veterans programs as it releases its budget request for fiscal 2011.

The new budget calls for a $60.3 billion Veterans Affairs Department budget plus $50.6 billion in advance funding for VA health care programs in 2012.

The $60.3 billion, which does not include funding for veterans benefits, would be up from $56.1 billion in the 2010 budget.

White House officials said the $60.3 billion would represent a 20 percent total increase in veterans programs since 2009.

Some of the goals outlined in the budget documents:

• By June 2012, VA will reduce the homeless veterans population to 59,000.

• By December 2010, VA will deploy an automated GI Bill claims processing system that, by the end of 2011, will reduce the number of days to process a benefits claim to 18. It took on average of 47 days to process claims last fall. The 2011 budget request contains more than $200 million to improve accuracy and timeless of benefits claims.

• By the end of 2010, 97 percent of VA patients will be screened at regular intervals for alcohol abuse and 96 percent will be screened for depression.

• By the end of 2011, 96 percent of mental health patients will get a mental health evaluation within 15 days of asking, and 97 percent of eligible patients will be screened for post-traumatic stress. The budget requests $5.2 billion for specialized care of veterans with post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injuries and other mental health conditions.

• By 2012, an electronic medical and benefits record system, combining military and VA information, will be available for new veterans. The budget request includes $52 million to implement the system, called the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record.

• By 2013, more than 500,000 moderate-income veterans will be enrolled in the VA health care system.