Rep. Vargas Pushes for Health Care Programs in Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill
WASHINGTON, DC (March 19, 2015) – Yesterday, Rep. Juan Vargas (CA-51) and a group of bipartisan legislators submitted letters urging the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies to fund essential health care programs for our nation’s veterans during the 2016 Fiscal Year.
Rep. Vargas led a letter to the Subcommittee requesting $15 million in funding for the Department of Defense (DoD) - Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care Sharing Initiative Fund. This fund would provide resources to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of the health care provided to DoD and VA system beneficiaries. Vargas also signed onto a letter led by Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) requesting $622 million for medical and prosthetic research and onto a letter led by Rep. Elizabeth H. Esty (CT-5) requesting $144 million for suicide prevention in the upcoming appropriations bill.
“I am committed to ensuring that our dedicated veterans, who have made such great sacrifices, have the access to the care they deserve,” stated Rep. Vargas. “Our government must be responsive to their health care needs and be especially attentive to areas such as prosthetic research and suicide prevention that disproportionately affect veterans and their families.”