SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE APPROVES SENATORS COLLINS' AMENDMENT FOR STATE VETERANS' HOMES FIX

            WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved an amendment, authored by U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Patty Murray (D-WA), that would grant the Department of Veterans Affairs increased flexibility in establishing payment rates for nursing home care provided by State Veterans' Homes to the most severely service-connected disabled veterans, those with disability ratings of 70 percent or greater.  The amendment is included in the 2013 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs funding bill.

            Since 2010, Senator Collins has advocated for modification to the way State Veterans' homes, including six in Maine, are reimbursed.  She wrote two letters to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee requesting rapid action on the legislation, and mobilizing a group of thirty-one Senators in support of a provision to ensure that state veterans' homes have adequate resources to care for our nation's veterans. .

            "By granting the Department of Veterans Affairs increased flexibility in reimbursement rates, our goal is to recognize the high-quality of care State Veterans' Homes provide disabled veterans and ensure they never have to turn away any of our veterans because of inadequate reimbursement from the VA," said Senator Collins.  "The men and women cared for by State Veterans' Homes defended our freedom, many of them in combat.  We must defend their right to the care they deserve."

            The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs funding bill also includes important funding for Maine veterans and directions to the Secretary of Defense to review and accelerate Military Construction projects at the nations' Public Shipyards, including Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.  The final includes $6.1 billion for mental healthcare, $5.8 billion for homeless veterans, $3.3 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, $1.1 billion for the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program, $582.7 million for medical and prosthetic research, and $403 million to address the specific needs of women veterans.  Most important for Maine veterans, the bill includes $250 million specifically designated to improve health care in rural areas and approximately $5.5 million to continue the popular Access Received Closer to Home (ARCH) pilot program in Caribou, which provides VA funded health care services through contractual arrangements with non-VA care providers.  Senator Collins strongly supported both rural care programs.

            Senator Collins is Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and is a member of both the Senate Armed Services and Appropriations Committees.

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