Less than 24 hours before a House vote on overhauling Obamacare, Republicans and Democrats went to war over veteran’s benefits. Opponents said the repeal bill targets millions of service members, making them ineligible for tax credits, a claim that supporters dismiss as baseless.
But late Wednesday nights that remained an open question. As the Washington Examiner first reported, a last-minute amendment to make the House bill compliant with Senate reconciliation rules appeared to bar 7 million sailors, soldiers and marines from participating in the GOP healthcare plan.
House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that the “amendment makes no change to veterans’ healthcare.” Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., shot back in a phone interview with the Examiner that “they need to read their own bill.”
Before the amendment was added late Monday night, service members could receive tax credits from the government so long as they were not enrolled in a VA program. They had access to both benefits, they just couldn’t double dip. Veterans had to choose one. But as the 22-page technical amendment is now written, individuals only qualify for tax credits if they “are not eligible” for VA benefits.
Veterans Affairs spokeswoman Tiffany Haverly said in an email that a fix was in progress. “Chairman Phil Roe [R-Tenn.] is working with House leadership and the Executive Branch and is confident that this will be addressed to ensure eligible veterans receive tax credits.”
Ways and Means spokeswoman Lauren Aronson said that future legislation would be required. Even if the current draft of the law makes them ineligible, veterans are still expected to be able to receive the credit for purchasing private health insurance.
From both sides of the aisle, though, veterans-turned-lawmakers complained that the bill didn’t pass inspection. Rep. Ron DeSantis, a Florida Republican who spent six years in the Navy received a Bronze Star, described the issue as one of “the bitter fruits from a haphazard and rushed legislative process.”
From across the ideological spectrum and in the upper chamber, Duckworth expressed the same frustration, telling the Examiner the bill “was sloppy” and “indicative of the entire legislative process.”
An Army pilot who lost both her legs in an RPG attack, Duckworth was noticeably frustrated but managed to balance Hanlon’s razor. “Either this was done on purpose, sacrificing veterans and putting them on a chopping block,” she said. “Or this was done so haphazardly that they didn’t know what they were doing and now they’ve screwed over veterans.”
While Republican leadership did not address Duckworth or DeSantis directly, they completely dismissed allegations that veterans would be left behind. AshLee Strong, Speaker Ryan’s spokeswoman, told the tExaminer she “believes that’s a falsehood being peddled.”
Regardless of who’s right, the issue could be the final cannonball against the hull of the GOP healthcare plan. More than two dozen Republican members are preparing to bail and the package is already taking on water. Perhaps the controversy over veterans’ care will sink it altogether.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
