Nearly one-third of U.S. military veterans get disability pay from the Department of Veterans Affairs, an all-time high.
In the past year alone, the volume of new veterans’ compensation claims has “exceeded even our most aggressive projections,” Joshua Jacobs, undersecretary for benefits at the VA, told lawmakers this week.
Why We Wrote This
Congress scrambled to pass an emergency spending bill to ensure veterans continue to receive benefits. Questions linger over why costs are rising so quickly and whether spending is best meeting the needs of veterans.
This surge in spending forced VA officials to go hat in hand to Congress this week, requesting $3 billion for a 2024 budget shortfall. They were granted the money in an emergency spending bill, now headed for President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
But lawmakers predicted this will not be the last time the department struggles with its ballooning budget. This has been driven by an aging veteran population, rising health care prices, and what are widely agreed to be much-needed improvements to VA facilities, including hospitals.
“Someone who’s put their life on the line for the country deserves tremendous support from our government,” says Mark Duggan, professor of economics at Stanford University. But perhaps there are ways to spend the funds, including for job training and wage subsidies for working vets, that would prove beneficial, he adds.
The United States has been paying benefits to battle-wounded soldiers since the Revolutionary War, but those figures have risen astronomically since the turn of the 21st century.
Today, nearly 30% of military veterans get disability pay from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In the past year alone, the volume of new veterans’ compensation claims has “exceeded even our most aggressive projections,” Joshua Jacobs, undersecretary for benefits at the VA, told lawmakers this week.
