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Department of Veterans Affairs: Difference between revisions
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While veterans' benefits have been provided by the federal government since the American Revolutionary War, a veteran-specific federal agency was not established until 1930, as the Veterans' Administration. In 1982, its mission was expanded to include caring for civilians and people who were not veterans in case of a national emergency.<ref name="Horton-2020">{{cite news |last=Horton |first=Alex |title=VA's mission to see civilian patients in times of crisis vanished from its website |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/03/16/va-fourth-mission-website/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=March 17, 2020 |access-date=March 26, 2020}}</ref> In 1989, the Veterans' Administration became a cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs. The [[President of the United States|president]] appoints the [[United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs|secretary of veterans affairs]], who is also a cabinet member, to lead the agency.<ref>U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 2.</ref><ref>Department of Veterans Affairs Act § 18(b), 38 USC § 301 (2017).</ref> | While veterans' benefits have been provided by the federal government since the American Revolutionary War, a veteran-specific federal agency was not established until 1930, as the Veterans' Administration. In 1982, its mission was expanded to include caring for civilians and people who were not veterans in case of a national emergency.<ref name="Horton-2020">{{cite news |last=Horton |first=Alex |title=VA's mission to see civilian patients in times of crisis vanished from its website |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/03/16/va-fourth-mission-website/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=March 17, 2020 |access-date=March 26, 2020}}</ref> In 1989, the Veterans' Administration became a cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs. The [[President of the United States|president]] appoints the [[United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs|secretary of veterans affairs]], who is also a cabinet member, to lead the agency.<ref>U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 2.</ref><ref>Department of Veterans Affairs Act § 18(b), 38 USC § 301 (2017).</ref> | ||
{{As of|2020|6|post=,}} the VA employed 412,892 people<ref>{{cite web |title=VA - Department of Veterans Affairs |url=https://www.fedscope.opm.gov/ibmcognos/bi/v1/disp?b_action=powerPlayService&m_encoding=UTF-8&BZ=1AAABlPHx4_R42n1OwW6CQBT8mX3YHmrePlwLBw7L7hJtWrDCvaG4GlPYNUoP%7En0DHGw9dCYvmcybSSYoi3lZFVuz1sml92e71g9AdJQ8VYhZFCkRLZbmOQ61EalRQggZm2wJRI%7EB0DVyq1YbWa0SoKzxrreuB8r2vt3ZM4gUFujqzkKoZ5u6_aoP9vJhulPrr511%7EQyEBspO0_dv%7EJYCwicgfPl2FggHDr1Al2quijw3qloXeS7fTPJfJ0jfkz0i44jIOTLGkAlkhGwgY%7EJgXXMFQqAdEMq2BYxffVP3R_%7EubAYUAYUIZDnQJ1A8GfxmsBFA4RD%7EBT5yVNOY8aYJE34ACJlmVA%3D%3D |publisher=[[United States Office of Personnel Management]] |access-date=December 15, 2020 |date=June 2020}}</ref> at hundreds of Veterans Affairs medical facilities, clinics, benefits offices, and cemeteries. In | {{As of|2020|6|post=,}} the VA employed 412,892 people<ref>{{cite web |title=VA - Department of Veterans Affairs |url=https://www.fedscope.opm.gov/ibmcognos/bi/v1/disp?b_action=powerPlayService&m_encoding=UTF-8&BZ=1AAABlPHx4_R42n1OwW6CQBT8mX3YHmrePlwLBw7L7hJtWrDCvaG4GlPYNUoP%7En0DHGw9dCYvmcybSSYoi3lZFVuz1sml92e71g9AdJQ8VYhZFCkRLZbmOQ61EalRQggZm2wJRI%7EB0DVyq1YbWa0SoKzxrreuB8r2vt3ZM4gUFujqzkKoZ5u6_aoP9vJhulPrr511%7EQyEBspO0_dv%7EJYCwicgfPl2FggHDr1Al2quijw3qloXeS7fTPJfJ0jfkz0i44jIOTLGkAlkhGwgY%7EJgXXMFQqAdEMq2BYxffVP3R_%7EubAYUAYUIZDnQJ1A8GfxmsBFA4RD%7EBT5yVNOY8aYJE34ACJlmVA%3D%3D |publisher=[[United States Office of Personnel Management]] |access-date=December 15, 2020 |date=June 2020}}</ref> at hundreds of Veterans Affairs medical facilities, clinics, benefits offices, and cemeteries. In fiscal year 2016 net program costs for the department were $273 billion, which includes the VBA Actuarial Cost of $106.5 billion for compensation benefits.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.va.gov/finance/afr/ |title=2016 VA Agency Financial Report, Section II – Financial Statements, Net Program Costs By Administration Before Changes In Veterans Benefits Actuarial Liability Assumptions |date=November 15, 2016 |website=Department of Veterans Affairs |page=36 |format=PDF |access-date=June 12, 2017 |quote=VA expends a substantial amount of its budgetary resources on medical care for Veterans and also disburses large cash amounts for Veteran's compensation and education benefits programs.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.va.gov/finance/afr/ |title=2016 VA Agency Financial Report, Section I – Analysis of Entity's Financial Statements and Stewardship Information, Net Cost of Operations, Chart 5: FY 2016 Program Costs (Gross) |date=November 15, 2016 |website=Department of Veterans Affairs |page=30 |format=PDF |access-date=June 12, 2017}}</ref> The long-term "actuarial accrued liability" (total estimated future payments for veterans and their family members) is $2.491 trillion for compensation benefits; $59.6 billion for education benefits; and $4.6 billion for burial benefits.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/fsreports/rpt/finrep/fr/16frusg/01112017FR_(Final).pdf |title=2016 Financial Report of the United States Government, Notes to the Financial Statements, Note 12. Federal Employee and Veteran Benefits Payable |date=January 12, 2017 |website=Bureau of the Fiscal Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury |pages=101–109 |access-date=June 13, 2017 |archive-date=June 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629134829/https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/fsreports/rpt/finrep/fr/16frusg/01112017FR_%28Final%29.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>[[File:VA Medical Center NYC.jpg|thumb|VA Medical Center in [[Manhattan]], New York City]] | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
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No [[copayment]] is required for VA services for veterans with military-related medical conditions. VA-recognized service-connected disabilities include problems that started or were aggravated due to military service. Veteran service organizations such as the [[American Legion]], [[Veterans of Foreign Wars]], and [[Disabled American Veterans]], as well as state-operated Veterans Affairs offices and County Veteran Service Officers (CVSO), have been known to assist veterans in the process of getting care from the VA. | No [[copayment]] is required for VA services for veterans with military-related medical conditions. VA-recognized service-connected disabilities include problems that started or were aggravated due to military service. Veteran service organizations such as the [[American Legion]], [[Veterans of Foreign Wars]], and [[Disabled American Veterans]], as well as state-operated Veterans Affairs offices and County Veteran Service Officers (CVSO), have been known to assist veterans in the process of getting care from the VA. | ||
In his [[United States Federal Budget|budget]] proposal for | In his [[United States Federal Budget|budget]] proposal for fiscal year 2009, President George W. Bush requested $38.7 billion—or 86.5% of the total Veterans Affairs budget—for veteran medical care alone.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}} | ||
In the 2011 [[Costs of War Project|Costs of War]] report from [[Brown University]]<!----see Cost of conflict article---->, researchers projected that the cost of caring for veterans of the [[War on Terror]] would peak 30–40 years after the end of combat operations. They also predicted that medical and disability costs would ultimately total between $600 billion and $1 trillion for the hundreds of thousands treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs.<ref>{{cite web |title=Caring for US Veterans |url=http://costsofwar.org/article/caring-us-veterans |work=Costs of War |publisher=Brown University |access-date=July 19, 2011 |archive-date=July 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701180440/http://costsofwar.org/article/caring-us-veterans |url-status=dead }}</ref> | In the 2011 [[Costs of War Project|Costs of War]] report from [[Brown University]]<!----see Cost of conflict article---->, researchers projected that the cost of caring for veterans of the [[War on Terror]] would peak 30–40 years after the end of combat operations. They also predicted that medical and disability costs would ultimately total between $600 billion and $1 trillion for the hundreds of thousands treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs.<ref>{{cite web |title=Caring for US Veterans |url=http://costsofwar.org/article/caring-us-veterans |work=Costs of War |publisher=Brown University |access-date=July 19, 2011 |archive-date=July 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701180440/http://costsofwar.org/article/caring-us-veterans |url-status=dead }}</ref> | ||