Veterans Administration Duties Congress Resposibllities

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides services and benefits to
veterans who meet certain eligibility criteria. VA carries out its programs nationwide through three administrations and the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA).
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is responsible for veterans health care
programs.
The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is responsible for providing
compensation, pensions, and education assistance among other things. The National
Cemetery Administration’s (NCA) responsibilities include maintaining national
veterans cemeteries.
VHA operates the nation’s largest integrated health care system. Unlike other
federal health programs, VHA is a direct service provider rather than a health insurer or payer for health care. VA health care services are generally available to all honorably discharged veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces who are enrolled in VA’s
health care system. VA has a priority enrollment system that places veterans in
priority groups based on various criteria. Under the priority system VA decides each
year whether its appropriations are adequate to serve all enrolled veterans. If not, VA could stop enrolling those in the lowest-priority groups.
Congress continues to grapple with a number of issues facing current veterans
and new veterans returning from Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation
Iraqi Freedom (OIF). They include trying to ensure a seamless transition process for
veterans moving from active duty into the VA health care system, and improving
mental health care services such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment
programs for returning veterans.
In recent years, VA has made an effort to realign its capital assets, primarily
buildings, to better serve veterans’ needs. VA established the Capital Asset
Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) initiative to identify how well the
geographic distribution of VA health care resources matches the projected needs of
veterans. Given the tremendous interest in the implementation of the CARES
initiative in the previous Congress, the 109th Congress would continue to monitor the
CARES implementation.
Several veterans’ health-care related bills have been passed by either the House
or Senate. At present, these bills are pending action in the other chamber.
This report will be updated as events warrant