HYDE-SMITH ADVOCATES INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS FOR RURAL VA CLINICS
At Budget Hearing, VA Sec. Also Confirms Department Will Not Revive Controversial VA Disability Rating Proposal
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today encouraged the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make a priority to direct some of its record investment in capital improvements to rural VA clinics.
The FY2027 budget request was the focus of a Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee hearing Thursday, featuring testimony from VA Secretary Douglas A. Collins. The VA in January announced a record $4.8 billion in capital improvements, some of which have already been directed for non-recurring projects at the Biloxi VA Medical Center and the G.V. Sonny Montgomery Medical Center.
“We have 180,000 veterans in Mississippi, and so many of them live in rural areas, and they deserve the quality care and access to that care,” Hyde-Smith said. “I appreciate the infrastructure upgrades that have already been funded in Mississippi, but I think we need to ensure that rural VA clinics are being prioritized as the VA takes the next steps to address its infrastructure backlogs.”
The funds announced earlier this year stem from the Working Families Tax Cuts Act for work to be targeted to non-routine, one-time repairs, including upgrades to building systems and equipment to improve care delivery. The FY2027 budget requests more than $5 billion in construction funding to modernize facilities and expand capacity.
Collins, who indicated VA infrastructure and construction investments are focused on readiness, safety, and long-term sustainability of VA infrastructure, praised the work being done in Mississippi to support veterans.
“I love the work that’s being done in Mississippi. There’s a great collaboration between the state and the VA down there and we’ve seen that, you know, played out. It is amazing,” Collins said.
Hyde-Smith also asked Collins if the VA would try to revive a proposal to lower disability ratings based on the use of medication or treatment by veterans, which, if implemented, could adversely affect a veteran’s compensation, benefits, and access to care.
“Lower disability ratings based on medication or treatment certainly raised a lot of concerns because many of these conditions are managed, not cured, and veterans are still living with them long term. Changes like this could affect their compensation and access to care,” Hyde-Smith said. “I know you’ve gotten tons of calls on that, as we have. But what was the department trying to accomplish, and do you plan to revisit that proposal going forward?”
Collins told Hyde-Smith the disability ratings proposal, which was prompted by court cases, “is off the books.”
“The minute we put it out, we got kicked back. We got pushback immediately. Most of it was frankly not true, especially in the losing the benefit side. I recognized it immediately. Within 24 hours, I suspended the rule,” Collins said. “We immediately pulled the rule completely off the books, never to go back to it, because it goes back against my basic premises about a veteran. If my veterans didn’t understand it, they didn’t understand what we were trying to do, and it was meant to help them. I was not going to put them through anything else. So that’s why we pulled it. That is out. It's gone. It is done.”
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