00                       HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 10                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Congress to improve health care for veterans.                                                  
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS the Veterans Health Administration in the United States Department of                                   
04 Veterans Affairs, the gateway to veterans' health care, is backlogged because of inadequate                             
05 resources; and                                                                                                          
06       WHEREAS the Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget Reform is composed of                                   
07 the American Legion, AMVETS, Blinded Veterans Association, Disabled American                                            
08 Veterans, Jewish War Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Paralyzed Veterans of                                
09 America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Vietnam Veterans of America; and                                                 
10       WHEREAS the Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget Reform has found the                                    
11 current funding mechanism for veterans' health care to be unreliable and vulnerable to                                  
12 political posturing, cost cutting, and budget gimmickry; and                                                            
13       WHEREAS the number of veterans increases every day as members of the military                                   
14 return from overseas and re-enter civilian life; and                                                                    
15       WHEREAS the medical needs of returning veterans, especially those suffering from                                
16 traumatic brain injury and other combat-related psychological injuries, must be met; and                                
01       WHEREAS the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System facility in Anchorage and the                                    
02 Veterans Affairs Community-based Outpatient Clinics in Fort Wainwright and Kenai provide                                
03 outpatient services for Alaska's veterans, but Alaska remains one of three states that does not                         
04 have a veterans' hospital that provides acute care inpatient services; and                                              
05       WHEREAS the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act of 2008, introduced in the                                   
06 110th Congress, allows for a two-fiscal-year budget authority for veterans' health care                                 
07 programs and requires the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on the                            
08 adequacy and accuracy of baseline model projections for veterans' health care expenditures of                           
09 the United States Department of Veterans Affairs; and                                                                   
10       WHEREAS the Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget Reform endorses the                                     
11 Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act of 2008;                                                                         
12       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                        
13 Congress to provide adequate funding and resources to enable the Veterans Health                                        
14 Administration to properly care for the health care needs of all veterans by adopting a method                          
15 similar to that proposed in the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act of 2008; and be it                               
16       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                      
17 Congress to provide the United States Department of Veterans Affairs with sufficient, timely,                           
18 and predictable funding for veterans' health care programs; and be it                                                   
19       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                      
20 Congress to increase funding for research into traumatic brain injuries; and be it                                      
21       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                      
22 Congress to encourage the Veterans Health Administration to improve its electronic claims                               
23 filing process and its ability to use information contained in military records; and be it                              
24       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                      
25 Congress to establish veterans' hospitals in those states that do not have veterans' hospitals;                         
26 and be it                                                                                                               
27       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the United                                        
28 States Department of Veterans Affairs to create a special health pass or "heroes health card"                           
29 to provide veterans with health care in local communities by coordinating care provided by                              
30 local doctors and community health care facilities with care provided by military doctors and                           
31 medical facilities.                                                                                                     
01       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
02 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
03 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Robert C. Byrd, President Pro Tempore of the                                
04 U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the                              
05 Honorable Daniel Akaka, Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs; the                                    
06 Honorable Bob Filner, Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Veterans' Affairs; the                                       
07 Honorable Eric K. Shinseki, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs; the Honorable                                  
08 Michael B. Donley, United States Secretary of the Air Force; the Honorable Pete Geren,                                  
09 United States Secretary of the Army; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable                                 
10 Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of                                
11 the Alaska delegation in Congress.