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Senator Moore calls for better treatment of our veterans |
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March 7, 2005 – Expressing concern for proposed federal budget cuts that will harm care for America’s veterans, Senator Richard T. Moore recently joined with several legislative colleagues in expressing concern over the Bush Administration’s plan to cut benefits for veterans. In a letter to the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, the senator asked the delegation to support efforts to maintain services and not allow the Bush Administration to force veterans to bear the burden of needed increases in health care funding. Senator Moore, Senate Chair of the legislature’s Health Care Financing Committee, felt it necessary to address what he sees as inadequate federal funding for the future care for our new generation of veterans. “It’s outrageous for our national government to be asking veterans who have borne the physical and emotional wounds of battle or their families to pay to get the health care that they’ve earned by their patriotic service,” Senator Moore explained. The number of veterans that would need care was originally thought to decrease as aging veterans utilizing services died, but this is no longer the case. “With troops fighting against the spread of terrorism, particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq, the number of veterans requiring care will increase rather that decrease,” said Senator Moore. “There are thousands of returning personnel, particularly amputees and paralyzed servicemen and women, who will require substantial immediate and long-term care.” Among the items proposed to adjust for rising health care costs include an enrollment fee of $250 for VA care, an increase in prescription drug co-pays from $7 to $15, a $351 million cut in funding for veteran’s nursing homes, and a reduction in state grants from $114 million to $12 million. In their letter, the senator and his colleagues state, “President Bush has proposed a budget with funding far below what will be needed. This is the wrong message to send to active-duty service members who have been placed in harm’s way. This is not the way to thank them for their services to our country.” |
