At least two area Congress members say that they are furious with a Veterans Administration budget proposal that would change the way that care for veterans with "service-connected" injuries or disabilities is paid for.

If a vet has private health insurance, the VA wants the insurer to pay for the care. Today, Democrat Eric Massa and Republican Chris Lee released the letters that they sent to White House officials demanding that the proposal be dropped.

"It would ultimately result in veterans with service-connected injuries paying out of their own pockets in the form of co-pays, deductibles, and higher premiums," Lee wrote in a letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

Massa went higher. In a letter to President Obama, he wrote "We do not give our veterans health care - they earn it - and it would be unacceptable for the VA to ask our veterans to pay for the treatment of injuries received while serving our nation in uniform."

UPDATE: During a conference call this afternoon, Massa said that the "potential proposal" was dead on arrival. He met with a few committee chairs this morning, explained the problem, and they vowed that the idea wouldn't go anywhere.

"This will not happen," Massa said. "The decision has been made by the leadership of Congress."

The federal budget office looked at how many veterans had private health insurance, but seek treatment at the VA, he said. The office then asked what the cost difference would be if the VA charged the insurers for services rendered - the answer was about $574 million.

"I think it's a perfectly legitimate question," Massa said. "However, no veteran, especially with a service-connected disability, should have their private health insurance charged for that disability."