The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee voted to provide VA health care to veterans and their families who served on Camp Lejeune during the years when the water was contaminated. They voted to fund this initiative by consolidating the exchange and commissary systems into a single store system, which the CBO claims could save approximately $9 billion over the next 10 years. Critics contend that consolidating the two systems will, in effect, gut the commissary benefit.
As Amy Bushatz keenly points out in Spouse Buzz, "a vote in a Senate committee does not a law make." This must still make it through the Senate and House.
Let your Senator know how you feel about consolidating the exchange and commissary systems.
Read the Tom Philpott’s full report: Commisary Savings at Risk to Help Ill Lejeune Vets.
