Veteran Affairs healthcare and benefits system is a complex array of moving parts that has been constructed over centuries to be what it is present day. It is comprised of three main components that all work together in assisting veterans. They include Veterans Healthcare Administration, Veteran Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration. VHA mainly provides doctors, physicians, and nurses to assist veterans in healthcare services and medical treatment, while VBA gives compensation for related disabilities that are service connected. NCA, provides burial space for veterans in support of honoring and remembering those who served.

 

The act of providing some form of healthcare or assistance for veterans is no new act within the U.S. and has been a source since Pilgrims, “Roots that can be traced back to 1636, when the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony were at war with the Pequot Indians. The Pilgrims passed a law that stated that disabled soldiers would be supported by the colony” (Office). Moving forward nearly a century and a half later, the likes of individual states would see to it that veterans were provided for, “Continental Congress of 1776 encouraged enlistments during the Revolutionary War, providing pensions to disabled soldiers. In the early days of the Republic, individual states and communities provided direct medical and hospital care to Veterans” (Office).

 

“In 1811, the federal government authorized the first domiciliary and medical facility for Veterans” (Office). Being the oldest healthcare program of the VA, domiciliary care ensured that disabled volunteer veterans of the Civil War could receive assistance such as rehabilitation within their home. Compared to that of the current VA system, veterans’ families would have access to benefits by association, “Also, in the 19th century, the nation's Veterans assistance program was expanded to include benefits and pensions not only for Veterans, but for their widows and dependents” (Office).

 

Post-civil war veterans were allotted care for non-service-connected injuries during this time, “Since domiciliary care was available at all state Veterans homes, incidental medical and hospital treatment was provided for all injuries and diseases, whether or not of service origin” (Office). Meaning, veterans could have been injured prior to retirement from the military and still receive healthcare coverage, despite this injury having no correlation to one’s active-duty service. The VA no longer performs like this, causing veterans to make any and every injury endured during service a matter of record. No service connection means no pension or assistance when it comes to disability, as well as veterans having to cover medication costs out of pocket.

 

With the introduction of World War 1 in 1917, there was expansion when it came to healthcare benefits for veterans, “Congress established a new system of Veterans benefits, including programs for disability compensation, insurance for service personnel and Veterans, and vocational rehabilitation for the disabled” (Office). All related healthcare for veterans would be comprised of three different entities that all serviced veterans with disability compensation, insurance, and rehabilitation, “By the 1920s, three different federal agencies administered the various benefits: the Veterans Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department, and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers” (Office).

 

August 9, 1921, the first consolidation of federal Veterans programs would combine all World War 1 veteran’s programs through Congress to birth the Veterans Bureau (Office).

 

President Herbert Hoover kickstarted the second consolidation of federal veterans’ programs on July 21, 1930, by signing Executive Order 5398, which, “elevated the Veterans Bureau to a federal administration—creating the Veterans Administration—to consolidate and coordinate Government activities affecting war veterans. At that time, the National Homes and Pension Bureau also joined the VA” (Office).

 

After the conclusion of World War II, the administration was overwhelmed with veterans ready to collect their benefits.

 

“Millions of returning Service members sought to collect on the benefits they were eligible for, including the education and loan assistance offered by the 1944 GI Bill. In the first five months following the war, VA processed 1.5 million disability claims alone” (Office). Following that sixth month, the VA would help millions more.

 

“By the time the provisions of the WWII GI Bill had expired, the agency had helped more than 12 million Veterans advance their education or secure low-interest home loans” (Office).

 

As of 1946 the Veterans administration would make huge advancements in that of its medical staff.

“Public Law 293 established the Department of Medicine and Surgery within VA, along with numerous other programs like the VA Voluntary Service. The law enabled VA to recruit and retain top medical personnel by modifying the civil service system” (Office)

 

The VA began an effort to create a more efficient system, and an “internal reorganization in 1953 led to the establishment of the Department of Veterans Benefits, the direct forerunner of the Veterans Benefits Administration. The department was responsible for overseeing all types of benefits except for insurance. In 1989, the restructuring that accompanied the creation of the Department of Veterans Affairs united insurance with the other major benefit programs managed by VBA” (Office).

 

Prior to this merging in October 1988, President Ronald Reagan would sign an executive order to raise the Veterans Administration to that of a cabinet level department. It would not be until the next year that President George H. W. Bush would make a statement that further solidified what Reagan put in action.

 

“Here is only one place for the Veterans of America, in the Cabinet Room, at the table with the President of the United States of America” (Office). Soon after the Veterans Administration would be renamed to the Department of Veteran Affairs.

 

Veteran Affairs control the Veterans’ Healthcare Administration, which is the largest healthcare system in the country to date.

“It has nearly 9 million enrollees, sees more than 6 million unique patients each year, and operates more than 150 hospitals with a discretionary budget of more than $64 billion” (Lopez).

 

The VA operates by allowing veterans to enroll in health care within five years of returning from combat.

 

VA Disability is based off percentages.

 

“Veterans with a service-connected disability are assigned a disability rating by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the U.S. Department of Defense. Ratings range from 0 to 100 percent, in increments of 10 percentage points, depending on the severity of the condition” (For Release).

 

Every veteran receives a base percentage in which directly corelates with an injury and with this percentage, VA determines the amount of compensation given to the veteran.

 

“If you’re a Veteran with a 30% disability rating, and you have a dependent spouse (no dependent parents or children), your basic monthly rate would be $522.39 each month” (2022).  Considering a veteran with a 70 percent disability rating who also has kids, the amount of compensation per month would go up drastically factoring added revenue per child as well as spouse.

 

“If you’re a Veteran with a 70% disability rating, and you have a spouse, plus 3 dependent children under the age of 18, you would start with the basic rate of $1,754.95 for a Veteran with a spouse and 1 child… since your basic rate provides payment for one child, you would add the rate of $64.00. for each additional child” (2022).

Considering the remaining percentages that veterans have left once factoring out the base percentage, the remainder is then divvied up.

 “VA would take the highest rating first, the 70% for PTSD. According to that number, they would assume that 100% − 70% = 30% of you are still healthy. Then they multiply that remaining 30% by the rating for your Migraine Headaches VA disability, which is 50%. Take 50% of 30% and you wind up with 15%. Add that 15% onto the original 70%, and you wind up with an 85% total disability rating, which would be rounded up to a 90% combined VA disability rating” (Top).

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Today veterans’ injuries or conditions must be service connected to receive free healthcare from VA providers or appointed community providers. Otherwise, any type of assistance, test, or medication that a veteran may need must be paid out of pocket. These former soldiers receive fixed amounts for healthcare services which are called copayments or copay, and are determined based on disability rating, income level, military service record, and the 8 priority groups veterans are assigned to upon enrolling in VA healthcare.

 

“For example, if you have a service-connected condition that we’ve rated at 50% or more disabling or that we’ve determined makes you unable to work (called unemployable), or if you’ve received a Medal of Honor, we’ll assign you to priority group 1 and you won’t pay copays for any types of care, tests, or medications” (Your Healthcare). Each priority group has a set of stipulations that must be met to be placed, which are put in effect in order to ensure high priority veterans needs are met first. This system also regulates what all the veteran has available to them within their ranking, “The priority system is also used to dictate how much care a veteran is eligible for, like whether they'll have non-service conditions treated, and how much care will cost in terms of copayments” (Lopez)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources

For Release 10:00 A.m. (ET) Thursday, April 21, 2022 USDL-22-0675 Media ... https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/vet.pdf.

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Lopez, German. “A Simple Guide to How VA Health Care Works.” Vox, Vox, 1 June 2014, https://www.vox.com/2014/6/1/5762710/a-simple-guide-to-how-va-health-care-works.

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Office, VA History. “Veterans Affairs.” Go to VA.gov, 26 Jan. 2021, https://www.va.gov/HISTORY/VA_History/Overview.asp#:~:text=As%20the%20U.S.%2

Office of Human Resources Management and Labor Relations. VA = VHA, VBA, & NCA - VA Jobs, https://www.va.gov/jobs/va_in_depth/oneva.asp#:~:text=Today's%20modern%20VA%20is%20a,vocational%20assistance%20to%20disabled%20veterans.

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“Top 10 Most Common VA Disability Percentages for Conditions [2022].” VA Claims Insider, 5 Apr. 2022, https://vaclaimsinsider.com/top-10-most-common-va-disability-percentages-for conditions/#:~:text=Every%20service%2Dconnected%20disability%20will,more%20than%20%243%2C000%20per%20month.

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“Your Health Care Costs.” Veterans Affairs, https://www.va.gov/health-care/about-va-health-benefits/cost-of care/#:~:text=We're%20committed%20to%20providing,afford%20to%20pay%20for%20care. 0entered%20World,vocational%20rehabilitation%20for%20the%20disabled.

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“2022 Veterans Disability Compensation Rates.” Veterans Affairs, https://www.va.gov/disability/compensation-rates/veteran-rates/.