(Washington, D.C.) - The Department of Veterans Affairs is catching flak for a budgetary shortfall.

 

A few weeks ago, VA officials told lawmakers that the agency needs nearly $3 billion to cover veterans’ pensions and other benefits for the remaining months of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. In addition, they’ll need another $12 billion in medical care funding. If no action is taken, an estimated 7 million veterans and their survivors may not receive their benefits payments on Oct. 1.

 

Last week Indiana’s Second District Congressman Rudy Yakym sent a letter to the Secretery of Veterans Affairs asking for a reason why this crisis is only now being addressed. Yakym said tens of thousands of veterans in this district alone stand to be adversely affected.

 

“The healthcare and benefits that the VA delivers to our nation’s veterans are an indispensable function of the federal government,” he wrote. “The brave men and women who served their country have earned all the benefits that the VA offers them when they exit active military service.”

 

Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) had more pointed words for the VA, which he shared at a recent hearing in Washington. "I think this is significant financial mismanagement and/or incompetence in the Department of Veterans Affairs," he said, "and I'm gravely concerned that the administration, both the VA and the OMB [Office of Management and Budget], specifically misled Congress for months about the state of affairs at the VA."

 

Congress has only a few weeks left to figure out a funding solution for the VA’s shortfall. Given the tenuous nature of some veterans’ health, Yakym said time is of the essence. “According to some estimates, more than 40 veterans take their lives every day,” he said. “In light of this daily tragedy, it is more important than ever to ensure that the VA is fulfilling its promise to our veterans.”