"This is good news for Iowa veterans," Grassley said. "These funds are needed in order to continue providing the quality of care that Iowa's veterans need and deserve."
Over the past year, Grassley has urged the Veterans Administration to direct a fair share of resources to the Network serving Iowa and use all possible options to meet the budgetary shortfalls facing VA facilities in Des Moines, Knoxville and Iowa City.
"Current funding formulas penalize the Midwest and Northeast," Grassley said. "As a result, a terrible squeeze has been put on VA hospitals in Iowa and these facilities have to rely on supplemental funds to serve veterans."
In October, Grassley succeeded in having Senate appropriators include language in their report accompanying the Veterans Affairs/Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill to ensure that the VA's reserve fund is adequate to serve any networks that experience operating shortfalls. Grassley's language in the appropriations bill report calls for the VA to strongly consider releasing supplemental funding to a network when it has implemented all "appropriate economies and efficiencies."
"Until we can revise spending formulas and put our network on more stable financial footing, it's critical that Iowa continues to receive the additional funding it needs," Grassley said.
The Veterans Integrated Service Network 14 is headquartered in Omaha and contains most of Iowa and Nebraska and parts of other states.