WASHINGTON – The Veterans Affairs Department will suspend enrollment Friday for higher-income vets seeking health care for nonmilitary-related ailments such as heart disease and diabetes.

The suspension, scheduled to last through 2003, goes against VA policy set in 1996 when Congress ordered the agency to open health care to nearly all veterans. The change is expected to affect about 164,000 veterans.

The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said the decision was disappointing but “underscores the need to develop long-term solutions to VA’s health care funding problems.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, VA Secretary Anthony Principi said the agency has been struggling to provide adequate health care to a rapidly rising number of veterans. The VA’s patient population ballooned from 2.9 million in 1996 to 6.8 million today, Principi said.

“People might say, ‘Well Mr. Secretary, what kind of message does this send to people who may deploy to the Persian Gulf?”‘ Principi said.

“I have a son in the Gulf, who may deploy to Iraq, who may fight a war if the president chooses. I think it sends a positive message that the VA is there for those who are disabled in uniform. The VA is there for men and women who come back and within the first two years need VA health care.”

Ronald Conley, American Legion national commander, agreed with Principi that Congress has not provided the agency enough money to fulfill its mandate to provide care to nearly all veterans.

“The Congress of the United States has to properly fund it and this is the bottom line. And the president has to go to Congress and tell them they have to fund it,” Conley said.

Principi said he expects President Bush to propose a 7.7 percent increase in the VA’s health care budget for 2004, but he said it would not be enough.

The enrollment suspension applies to those considered the lowest priority for benefits, called Category 8 veterans. Those veterans are not suffering from ailments caused by their military service, such as complications surrounding a war or training injury.

Category 8 income levels vary, depending on residence and marital status. For instance, unmarried veterans making more than $38,100 in Atlanta or more than $29,200 in New Bedford, Mass., would be considered Category 8 veterans.

The 6.8 million veterans already enrolled in the VA, including 1.4 million Category 8 veterans, would not be affected by Principi’s decision. The VA estimates about 164,000 Category 8 veterans would have enrolled this year.

About 18.2 million U.S. veterans do not use VA health care.

Principi, who is mandated by law to review enrollments every year, had warned Congress last session that he might be forced to limit enrollments if lawmakers did not approve a proposed $1,500 deductible for higher-income veterans.

Congress balked at the proposal, which was heavily criticized by some veterans groups.

Principi said the VA needs the enrollment “time out” to get a handle on its current workload and reduce waiting times that can be as long as six months.

Meanwhile, he said he and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson would try to work through regulations to allow the VA to be reimbursed for services provided to Medicare-eligible veterans, generally those over 65 years old.

Principi said he hopes the enrollment limit and Medicare changes will help meet an end-of-the-year goal for veterans to wait no longer than 30 days to see a primary care physician and slightly longer for a specialist.