WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Veterans facilities have become the first resort for millions of additional Americans for health care and many are not happy about proposed cutbacks.
In 1996, Congress extended medical benefits to all veterans -- not just indigent ones or those with service-related injuries -- so the number seeking care at VA facilities nearly doubled to almost 7 million a year.
However, by 2005 some of the higher income veterans are being locked out of the system and others are being asked to pay premiums for services.
A 1999 study by the General Accounting Office, said the VA was spending up to $1 million a day to maintain outdated or underused facilities, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In a reorganization effort proposed by the Bush administration, some facilities in the Northeast will close while new hospitals are planned for Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla., where many veterans have moved and retired.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars has expressed "concerns" about the proposal while hundreds of Texas veterans staged a protest near President George Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, this summer.
