Kendrick Meek: “Mr. Chairman, I stand to strongly oppose the Hinchey amendment. First of all, it would bar the VA from funding a system…”

“Mr. Chairman, I stand to strongly oppose the Hinchey amendment. First of all, it would bar the VA from funding a system which they already have to distribute medical care equitably. The word equity is important in VERA. It is not so much where one lives demographically but this equitable distribution. So then I want to ask the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey) and some of the people from the other areas, this has happened for the past two sessions that I have been here. The gentleman is saying that there is no equity in VERA, but what he does not tell us is that VA facilities in the metropolitan New York area, that is VISN 3, they receive an average payment for each VA patient which is 27 percent higher, 27 percent higher, than the national average. Other New York facilities and VISN 2 receive an average payment for each VA patient which is 7 percent higher than the national average. Mr. Chairman, 90 percent of Mr. Hinchey's district is in VISN 2, so we can see that there is some discrepancy there in terms of the equitable treatment of veterans in these areas. The VERA system, Mr. Chairman, does make regional differences. It takes them into account by making adjustments for labor calls, differences in patient mix, and different levels of support for research and education. And VISN 3 that is in the Bronx, VA medical facilities receives an average of $5,659 per veteran patient.”