Congress slashes Defense health supplemental funding request
Bob Brewin, Government Executive
Congress cut $561.7 million out of the Defense Department’s $1.14 billion request in supplemental funding for health care, which is attached to the current fiscal 2008 omnibus appropriation bill, a move sharply decried by former top military health officials and veterans organizations.
Jason Forrester, policy director for Veterans for America, said the cut in health funds amounts to an “effort to balance the budget on the backs of the troops. This is a national disgrace.” Dr. Harold Koenig, who served as the Navy surgeon general from 1995 to 1998, called the move “sick, considering we ask so much of our troops.”