At its July 6th meeting, the Oklahoma Veterans Council (OVC), representing 23 veterans service organizations across the state, discussed the proposed Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (H.R. 9237) and its potential impact on Oklahoma’s veterans.
The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act is a comprehensive 554-page legislative package that combines more than 60 individual bills aimed at reforming and modernizing the delivery of health care and disability benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
While the legislation has been endorsed by a coalition of more than 20 national veterans organizations because it advances numerous long-standing initiatives in a single bill, it has also generated significant concern within the veterans community.
A primary concern is the legislation’s funding mechanism. Much of the projected cost savings comes from updating
the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities, including proposed changes to future disability ratings for conditions such as sleep apnea and tinnitus. Veterans who are currently receiving disability compensation for these conditions would generally not have their existing benefits reduced solely because of these rating changes. However, veterans whose disabilities are reevaluated under applicable VA rules could be affected depending on the outcome of those reviews.
Major veterans service organizations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), oppose the legislation because they believe it finances new veterans’ programs by reducing future disability compensation for other disabled veterans. According to a VA analysis, the proposed changes could reduce future disability compensation by an estimated $57 billion over the next 10 years, affecting as many as 1.5 million veterans.
Although the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act includes many positive provisions that would benefit veterans, the Oklahoma Veterans Council believes those improvements should not come at the expense of reducing future disability compensation for disabled veterans.
After discussion, the Oklahoma Veterans Council voted unanimously to oppose the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (H.R. 9237) in its current form because of its potential impact on Oklahoma veterans. The Council respectfully urges Oklahoma’s congressional delegation to oppose any legislation that funds new veterans’ benefits by reducing disability compensation for other disabled veterans.
