Veterans
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
Specifically, in fiscal year 2024, VA will:
• Place at least 1,087 veterans experiencing homelessness into permanent housing.
• Ensure that at least 95% of the veterans housed in FY 2024 do not return to homelessness during the year.
• Engage with at least 1,057 unsheltered veterans to help them obtain housing and other wraparound services.
Ending veteran homelessness is a top priority of VA and the entire Biden Administration. As of Jan. 31, VA has already housed 320 homeless veterans in Northern California.
Nationwide, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness has fallen by nearly 5% since early 2020 and by more than 52% since 2010.
“Even one veteran experiencing homelessness is a tragedy,” said VA Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher, who announced these goals on Thursday at the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center. “We’ve made progress in recent years in tackling this problem, but there’s still a long way to go — and that’s why we’re setting these aggressive goals. We will not rest until every veteran has a safe, stable place to call home in this country they swore to defend.”
“Our dedicated VHA team along with both federal and community partners work diligently to increase access to housing and health care for Veterans experiencing homelessness in Northern California. Through our outreach endeavors we strive to bring critical resources to veterans in our communities,” said David Stockwell, Director, VA Northern California Health Care System.
“Whenever we get into contact with a homeless veteran, our first priority is to get them into the housing they deserve,” added Deputy Secretary Bradsher. “Then we work to provide them with the tools they need to stay housed — including health care, job training, legal and education assistance, and more. That’s how we’ll meet and exceed these goals in 2024.”
VA also released its nationwide goals for fiscal year 2024 today. Specifically, VA will place at least 41,000 veterans experiencing homelessness into permanent housing; ensure that at least 95% of the veterans housed in FY 2024 do not return to homelessness during the year; and engage with at least 40,000 unsheltered veterans to help them obtain housing and other wraparound services.
In recent years, VA has taken aggressive action to combat veteran homelessness.
In 2023, VA permanently housed more than 46,000 veterans, expanded access to health care for homeless veterans, expanded access to legal assistance for homeless veterans, helped more than 145,000 veterans and their families retain their homes or otherwise avoid foreclosure, and awarded more than $1 billion in grant funding to help homeless veterans.
In partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, VA also convened 10 national HUD-VA Supportive Housing, or HUD-VASH, bootcamps, in which local VA homeless program staff with public housing agencies from across the country participated in intensive two-day workshops to improve coordination to more quickly rehouse veterans.
During 2023, the HUD-VASH program helped over 21,000 veterans exit homelessness and obtain permanent affordable housing with supportive services.
VA’s efforts to combat veteran homelessness are grounded in reaching out to homeless Veterans, understanding their unique needs, and addressing them. These efforts are built upon the evidence-based “Housing First” approach.
For more information about VA’s comprehensive efforts to end veteran homelessness, visit https://www.va.gov/homeless/.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
This budget proposes critical resources to help VA continue providing more care and more benefits to more veterans than ever before.
President Biden has made supporting veterans a key pillar of his Unity Agenda. During the Biden-Harris administration, VA has implemented the historic PACT Act, which expanded VA health care and benefits to millions of veterans exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving; permanently housed more than 40,000 veterans two years in a row; expanded life-saving support for veterans at-risk of suicide; delivered an all-time yearly record number of health care appointments to veterans; and much more.
This Budget demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued focus on ensuring veterans have timely access to world-class care and benefits. The total fiscal year 2025 request for VA is $369.3 billion, a $33 billion (+10%) increase above the fiscal year 2024 Budget estimate level.
This includes a discretionary request of $134.0 billion. The fiscal year 2025 mandatory funding request is $235.3 billion, which includes $24.5 billion from the Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund (TEF), for a total increase of $41.8 billion (21.6%) above fiscal year 2024.
“Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors deserve the very best health care and benefits that this country has to offer — and President Biden’s proposed budget will help us deliver exactly that,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “With these investments, we at VA can continue delivering more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before in our nation’s history.”
The budget makes critical, targeted investments in supporting Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. At VA, the Budget will:
Expand health care and benefits for Veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving our country.
The PACT Act, which President Biden signed into law in 2022, is the most significant expansion of VA healthcare and benefits for veterans in generations – helping millions of veterans.
As part of the PACT Act, Congress authorized the TEF to invest in the delivery of health care associated with exposure to environmental hazards and any expenses incident to the delivery of health care and benefits associated with exposure to environmental hazards in the military.
The budget continues this commitment and includes $24.5 billion for the TEF in fiscal year 2025.
Support the delivery of health care for veterans across America: At a time when VA is expanding access to health care for millions of veterans and delivering record numbers of appointments, we are making sure that Veterans have access to world-class health care whenever and wherever they need it. This budget invests $112.6 billion in discretionary medical care funding in fiscal year 2025.
In addition to fully funding inpatient, outpatient, mental health, and long-term care services, the budget supports programs that enhance VA healthcare quality and delivery, including a $2 billion investment for non-recurring maintenance to improve medical facility infrastructure, and continued efforts to address the opioid and drug overdose epidemic.
This funding is critical because veterans who are enrolled in VA health care are proven to have better health outcomes than non-enrolled veterans, and VA hospitals have dramatically outperformed non-VA hospitals in overall quality ratings and patient satisfaction ratings.
Additionally, VA health care is often more affordable than non-VA health care for Veterans.
Prioritize mental health care and suicide prevention for Veterans. The budget invests $135 million in VA research programs — along with $17 billion within the VA Medical Care program — to increase access to quality mental health care and lower the cost of mental health services for veterans, with the goal of helping veterans take charge of their treatment and live full, meaningful lives.
In addition, the budget provides $583 million to further advance the Administration’s Veteran suicide prevention initiatives, including continued support of the 988 Veterans Crisis Line (Dial 988, press 1) and additional support for VA’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy.
Support health care for women veterans. The budget invests $13.7 billion for women veterans’ healthcare, including $1.1 billion towards women’s gender-specific care. More women are choosing VA healthcare than ever before, with women accounting for over 30 percent of the increase in enrolled Veterans over the past five years. Investments support comprehensive specialty medical and surgical services for women veterans, improving maternal health outcomes, and more.
Bolster efforts to end veteran homelessness. VA and the Biden-Harris administration believe that every veteran should have permanent, safe, and sustainable housing with access to healthcare and other supportive services, and VA has permanently housed more than 40,000 homeless veterans each of the past two years.
The budget invests $3.2 billion to help VA’s efforts to end veteran homelessness and prevent Veterans from becoming homeless in the future. The budget also includes funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to expand housing vouchers to more veterans in need.
Invest in claims processing and benefits delivery for veterans. The budget provides $4 billion to the Veterans Benefits Administration to support the continued timely processing of claims and delivery of benefits to Veterans. This is critical at a time when Veterans are applying for benefits at record rates and VA is delivering benefits at record rates; in FY 2023 alone, VA completed more than 1.9 million disability compensation and pension claims — an all-time record that surpassed the previous record by 15.9% — and VA is continuing this record-breaking trend. .
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
In the next 90 days, VA is making urethral cancers presumptive for service connection for eligible Gulf War and post-9/11 veterans. This means that Gulf War and post-9/11 veterans who deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Uzbekistan and the entire Southwest Asia theater of operations will not need to prove that their service caused their urethral cancer to receive benefits for it.
Instead, VA will automatically assume service connection for the disease and provide benefits accordingly to veterans who have submitted claims. In the next 90 days, urethral cancers will be added to the list of 300+ conditions considered presumptive under the PACT Act, along with many other cancers.
VA is beginning the process to formally evaluate urinary bladder and ureteral cancers for presumptions of service connection for eligible Gulf War and post-9/11 veterans. Over the coming months, VA will evaluate whether there is a relationship between urinary bladder and ureteral cancers and toxic exposures for Gulf War and post-9/11 veterans who deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Uzbekistan, and the entire Southwest Asia theater of operations.
VA will then determine whether these conditions become presumptive conditions for veterans who served in those locations and time periods.
VA is expanding access to genetic, lung, and colorectal cancer screening for veterans. By the end of this year, VA will offer genetic testing to every veteran who may need it, which will help VA understand, treat, and ultimately cure some patients with cancer by reading the code locked in their DNA.
VA will also bring a lung cancer screening program to every VA medical facility, which will help save the lives of the nearly 5,000 Veterans who die from lung cancer every year, and VA will expand screening for colorectal cancer — the second leading cause of cancer death in America — by providing more than one million veterans nationwide with convenient, safe, and effective tests that can be completed in the comfort of their homes.
VA continues to expand the reach of smoking cessation services to Veterans across the nation. As the 1-855-QUIT-VET tobacco quitline and the SmokefreeVET text message program pass their 10-year anniversaries of service, VA will add at least six additional sites to the Quit VET eReferral program by the end of 2024. This will expand capacity to offer veteran-specific, tailored tobacco-use treatment to Veterans.
Additionally, VA recently launched a new pilot program to integrate smoking cessation services into lung cancer screening in recognition of the inherent connection between smoking and lung cancer risk – and VA plans to add at least five additional sites between 2024-2025.
These programs have supported tens of thousands of veterans with high-quality tobacco cessation resources in English and Spanish: Quit VET has provided over 62,000 calls to veterans, and more than 48,000 veterans have made a quit attempt with the SmokefreeVET text program.
In 2023, more than 5,100 veterans enrolled in the SmokefreeVET text program and Quit VET recorded its highest volume of incoming calls yet, with counselors answering 23% more calls than the prior year.
Direct referrals from VA facilities grew 34% over the same time period and by the end of 2023, 40 VA programs were implementing a patient referral program.
This work is a part of fulfilling President Biden’s Unity Agenda and Cancer Moonshot and VA’s aggressive efforts to provide world-class care for over one million Veterans on the cancer care continuum, from screening to survivorship.
“Cancer impacts far too many veterans every year, and under President Biden’s leadership of the Cancer Moonshot, we are fighting to end cancer as we know it,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “These steps will help us save lives and provide the world-class care and benefits that Veterans with cancer so rightly deserve.”
“VA is planting the seeds for the future of cancer care,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, M.D. “By investing in screenings, expanding access, and embracing cutting-edge technologies, VA is revolutionizing cancer care delivery, providing the best care possible to our nation’s heroes.”
This effort builds on VA and the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive efforts to care for Veterans with cancer. Last July, VA expanded cancer risk assessments and mammograms (as clinically appropriate) to veterans under 40, regardless of age, symptoms, family history, or whether they are enrolled in VA health care.
Last September, VA and the National Cancer Institute announced a historic data-sharing collaboration to better understand and treat cancer among veterans. VA has also prioritized claims processing for veterans with cancer — delivering nearly $516 million in PACT Act benefits to veterans with cancer between August 10, 2022 and March 3, 2024. And VA has screened more than 5 million veterans for toxic exposures under the PACT Act — a critical step to detecting, understanding, and treating potentially life-threatening health conditions like cancer.
Moving forward, through advancements in cancer care and forward-thinking research endeavors, VA aims to save even more lives and significantly improve the long-term health outcomes in veterans for generations to come. For more information about VA cancer care, visit https://cancer.va.gov/.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
This commitment, championed by Dr. Jill Biden, is a voluntary commitment by employers to adopt at least one of the following military spouse employment policies that could expand employment and career opportunities for military spouses: 1) facilitate job transferability; 2) offer remote or telework; 3) offer flexible work hours; 4) provide paid or permissive Permanent Change of Station (PCS) leave. VA has committed to all four of those policies, as well as extending Leave Without Pay status to military spouses whose active-duty military members receive PCS orders.
This effort is part of President Biden’s Executive Order 14100, “Advancing Economic Security for Military and Veteran Spouses, Military Caregivers, and Survivors,” a plan to address unemployment for the 16,000+ military-connected spouses in the federal workforce.
“To build the strongest possible workforce to serve our nation’s heroes, we need to hire and support military spouses – many of whom are Veterans themselves,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “We at VA are proud to make these commitments and support our nation’s military spouses every way we can.”
“As a military spouse, I know firsthand that these commitments will make a real difference,” said VA Chief of Staff Kimberly Jackson. “Military spouses are some of the most talented and dedicated professionals in the public and private sector, and by making these commitments, VA will be better positioned to recruit and retain these public servants as we execute our nation’s most sacred obligation: caring for Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.”
While VA will continue to work to fulfill the 4+1 commitments, VA already supports military spouses in many ways, including:
Facilitating job transferability: VA supports the reassignment of military spouses to vacant funded positions for which they are qualified when required to move as part of the service member’s military service. Military spouse employees will be offered leave without pay in instances where reassignment is not feasible.
Offering remote or telework: VA offers telework and remote work positions into which military spouses can be appointed. VA uses the remote jobs filter on USAJobs to post these announcements, making it easier for military spouses to find these employment opportunities with VA. Additionally, VA policies allow employees to request authorization for telework if their spouse in the military received orders for reassignment or relocation.
Domestic Employees Teleworking Overseas, or DETO policy and program: VA currently supports employees on approved DETO agreements, which allows employees to receive authorization from VA and the Department of State to work overseas if their spouse in the military received orders for an overseas assignment.
Offering flexible work hours:Recognizing the ever-changing demands of military life, VA policy provides military spouses opportunities to request flexible work hours or compressed work schedules.
Providing paid or permissive PCS leave:VA leave approving officials can approve up to five paid administrative leave days for PCS.
DoD’s Military Spouse Employment Partnership: VA has been a part of MSEP since Fall 2019.
For more information about working at VA, visit https://www.va.gov/jobs/.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The report features veterans across the state urging the Biden Administration to designate or expand five national monuments.
“California’s national monuments and other public lands have long provided service members and veterans with necessary refuge and respite from the demands of military service,” said Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of Vet Voice Foundation and a Marine Corps veteran. “These lands are places of reflection, reunion, and healing for millions of veterans throughout the country. They also protect cultural resources, including military heritage sites, and important habitat, and help ensure access to nature for all communities, particularly those that lack parks or other green spaces close to home.”
With more than 30 military installations, California is home to 1.8 million veterans, 157,639 active duty military personnel, and 55,537 reservists and National Guard members — more than any other state in the nation.
Earlier this month, Goldbeck traveled throughout the state meeting with local veterans at several of the proposed national monument locations and hearing why they want the President to permanently protect these places.
“Together with veterans from around our state, I urged President Biden to protect these special places — from tribal lands in Northern California to the majestic San Gabriel Mountains above LA to World War II training sites in the California Desert,” continued Goldbeck. “We see protecting these places as an extension of our service to this country and the duty of anyone who thinks of themselves as a patriot. We urge President Biden to designate national monuments in our state.”
Currently, President Biden is on track to protect more public land than any other modern first-term president in history.
Vet Voice Foundation is urging President Biden to look to California next and expand and designate these national monuments via the Antiquities Act. The Antiquities Act of 1906 is a law that grants the president the ability to designate federal public lands, waters, and cultural and historical sites as national monuments with a Presidential Proclamation.
The locations featured in Vet Voice Foundation’s report include the following:
Expansion of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument
The expansion of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument would increase equitable access to nature, protect critical wildlife habitat, and conserve an important water source for Los Angeles. Over 18 million people live within a 90-mile radius of these public lands and the proposed expansion area is considered the “gateway” to the Angeles National Forest. According to the U.S. Forest Service, the national forest received 4.6 million visitors in 2021 — more than the Grand Canyon or Yosemite National Park received in the same year. In addition to advocating for the monument's expansion, local veterans and advocates are also highlighting the urgent need for increased resources for the region to ensure sustainable recreation.
Expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument (Molok Luyuk)
Stretching from Napa County in the south to Mendocino County in the north, Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument is located about an hour away from Travis Air Force Base, providing opportunities for the thousands of people who live and work on the base to relax and recreate outdoors. The proposed expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument would add 13,753 acres of public lands to the existing monument. These lands are of tremendous present-day cultural and religious importance to the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and include sites central to their origin stories. The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation has called for the expansion of the monument and a return to the Indigenous name (Molok Luyuk) for these lands.
Chuckwalla National Monument
The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument would protect approximately 660,000 acres of federal public lands in Riverside and Imperial Counties. The proposed monument would help preserve the California Desert’s rich history, including World War II training sites where General Patton trained military units for desert warfare. Moreover, analysis shows that desert conservation is critical to support ongoing modern-day missions from five major military bases - Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, Edwards Air Force Base, Fort Irwin National Training Center, and Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms.
Medicine Lake Highlands (Sáttítla)
The Pit River Tribe is calling on President Biden to protect ancestral homelands and spiritual sites in an area known as Sáttítla, within the Medicine Lake Highlands area of northern California. This 200,000-acre area is located in northeastern California, just 30 miles from Mount Shasta. For thousands of years, the forested lands and clear blue water have been sacred to numerous Tribes including the Pit River, Modoc, Shasta, Karuk, and Wintu. Sáttítla and the Medicine Lake Highlands are a spiritual center. Tribes continue to use the area for religious activities, ceremonies, and gatherings.
Kw'tsán National Monument
The Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe is leading an effort to establish the Kw'tsán National Monument, calling on President Biden to protect more than 390,000 acres of the Tribe’s ancestral homelands located in Imperial County, California. The proposed boundary incorporates the Indian Pass Area, Pilot Knob, Singer Geoglyphs, Buzzards Peak, and Picacho Peak Wilderness areas. These lands contain incredible cultural, ecological, recreational, scenic, and historic values that the tribe is asking to be preserved for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
California veterans who need assistance with filing an initial claim for benefits can receive assistance at no charge from their county veteran service office or from another U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs accredited representative.
The VA also accredits attorneys and claims agents who can represent veterans before the VA and assist with benefit claims.
VA-accredited agents have to pass a certification exam that tests their knowledge, have to pass a background check, and complete ongoing training.
The fees that VA-accredited attorneys and agents can charge are capped by law, and they are subject to discipline — including revocation of their accreditation — if they don’t represent their clients competently and in accordance with the law.
In contrast, claims sharks are individuals and organizations that are not accredited, but still charge veterans for help with their benefits claims.
While some unaccredited individuals and organizations are well-intentioned, many charge exorbitant fees for subpar or worthless services, and operate outside of the VA accreditation system and the oversight and consumer protections that it provides to veterans.
This bill, sponsored by Attorney General Bonta and authored by Senator Menjivar, would prohibit claim sharking, make it a crime for claim sharks to obtain unauthorized access to the VA claims system using a veterans’ login information, and prohibit the charging of fees that exceed what a VA-accredited attorney or claims agent can legally charge to represent a veteran with a benefits claim.
“Claim sharks pose a risk to veterans who need help with their benefits claims,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “With the introduction of SB 1124, we are making it clear: if you want to charge veterans for help with their benefits claims you need to follow the rules and become a VA-accredited representative. California will vigorously protect those who have sacrificed so much to protect us.”
“Veterans bravely serve and oftentimes sacrifice their wellbeing for our country. Those living with the consequences of their selfless service deserve a smooth process in accessing the benefits they have earned. However, that process can be daunting and vulnerable,” said Senator Caroline Menjivar. “Therefore, we must ensure we have accredited advocates working on their case to ensure oversight and the proper dispersal of funds. Let’s protect the personal information, financial interests, and health of the veterans who have sacrificed to protect us.”
Specifically, SB 1124 would:
• Prohibit any person from being paid for work related to the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of any claim for federal veterans benefits unless they are accredited by the VA as an attorney or claims agent.
• Make it a crime for claim sharks to access VA computer systems using a veteran’s login information.
• Make it illegal for any person to charge a fee for assistance with a veteran’s benefits claim that exceeds the fee that could be lawfully charged by a VA-accredited attorney or claims agent for those services.
SB 1124 is part of Attorney General Bonta’s larger effort to protect veterans from exploitation:
In September 2023, Attorney General Bonta announced the sentencing of Don Azul for defrauding the relatives of veterans as part of a fraudulent veterans educational benefits scheme.
In August 2023, Attorney General Bonta joined a bipartisan coalition of 44 attorneys general in a letter to Congress expressing his support for federal legislation to protect veterans from financial exploitation.
In September 2022, SB 1311, a bill Attorney General Bonta sponsored to protect the rights of California service members and veterans, was signed into law. In November 2021, Attorney General Bonta issued a consumer alert warning veterans and their families to be aware of targeted scams and fraud.
And Attorney General Bonta is continuing to pursue a lawsuit against the Neptune Society for, among other things, failing to provide legally-required disclosures on mailers which advertised seminars that purported to provide information concerning veterans benefits.
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This is a result of VA’s new 2023 policy that eligible American Indian and Alaska Native veterans are no longer required to make copayments for VA health care, urgent care, or prescriptions.
Under this policy, VA also reimburses for copayments paid on or after Jan. 5, 2022.
“To live their best lives, Veterans need access to affordable health care,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, M.D. “This copayment exemption honors our treaties with sovereign nations and the distinguished service of American Indian and Alaska Native veterans.”
Eligible veterans include any American Indian and Alaska Native veteran who meets the definitions of “Indian” or “urban Indian” under the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
VA is continuing to receive, review, and process documentation for the copayment exemption.
To apply for the copayment exemption, veterans should mail 1) a completed VA Tribal Documentation Form (VA Form 10-334), and 2) a copy of official tribal documentation to VHA Tribal Documentation at P.O. Box 5100, Janesville, WI 53547.
Find more information on the copayment exemption for American Indian and Alaska Native veterans.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
As a part of this effort, VA also released the findings of a new study today investigating disparities in grant rates for disability compensation for mental health conditions.
This study found that recently separated Black veterans have grant rates better than or equal to other veterans when they apply for disability compensation benefits within the first year of leaving the military and use a VA-accredited Veterans Service Organization.
This is a critical discovery because ― while Black veterans receive VA benefits at higher rates than other Veterans – their grant rates are lower for mental health conditions.
In response to this new data, VA will be visiting 15 or more Department of Defense installations to work with transitioning service members, updating our Transition Assistance Program curriculum that is provided to all transitioning service members, updating VA Solid Start scripts to inform recently transitioned service members of their earned benefits, working directly with VSOs to engage with Black veterans, and doing direct outreach to encourage Black veterans to file for disability compensation benefits within the first year of discharge and utilize VA-accredited VSOs when filing a claim.
VA released this 2024 update to its Agency Equity Action Plan in coordination with the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government equity agenda.
VA’s Equity Action Plan is part of the Department’s efforts to implement the President’s Executive Order on “Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government,” which reaffirmed the Administration’s commitment to advance equity and build an America where we serve all veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.
“It’s our job to provide every veteran with the world-class care and benefits they deserve, no matter who they are, what they look like, who they love, where they are from, or how they identify,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “That means investigating any disparities in VA health care and benefits and eliminating them – and that’s exactly what this new study and plan will help us do. We will not rest until any and all disparities at VA are a thing of the past.”
As VA continues to deliver more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before, VA will strive to ensure that every veteran gets the care and benefits they deserve. Using the Agency Equity Plan, VA will work urgently to improve outcomes and eliminate disparities in Veteran benefits and health care; increase access to VA services; enhance economic security for all veterans, including historically underserved veteran communities; listen to and learn from Veteran communities; and more. These efforts are spearheaded by VA’s new agency equity team, which was launched in June 2023 to lead VA’s equity efforts.
Since releasing its first-ever equity action plan in 2022, VA has taken the following steps:
• Expanded care for women veterans: Over the past two years, VA has expanded breast cancer screenings and mammograms for Veterans with potential toxic exposures; supported access to reproductive health services, including contraception, abortion counseling and – in certain cases – abortion care for Veterans and VA beneficiaries; and dramatically expanded one-on-one maternity care coordination for women Veterans – the fastest growing cohort of Veterans at VA. Women Veterans are also enrolling in VA health care at higher rates under the PACT Act, and VA recently hosted its first Women Veterans Experience Action Center, helping more than 340 women Veterans apply for the care and benefits they deserve.
• Reached new, historic agreement with NAACP to improve quality of life for Black veterans: Under this partnership,VA and the NAACP are working to increase the number of Black veterans enrolled in VA health care, increase awareness of VA benefits and services among Black veterans, and increase recruitment of culturally competent providers at VA. VA and the NAACP also meet regularly, share expertise, and coordinate on outreach to minority veteran communities.
• Removed barriers to benefits for LGBTQ+ veterans: VA closed a gap in benefits for survivors of LGBTQ+ veterans, righting a wrong that was a legacy of the discriminatory federal ban on same-sex marriages. Previously, VA also increased access to benefits for veterans who were given “Other Than Honorable” discharges due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, and more.
• Increased access to care and benefits for American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans: In April 2023, VA announced that eligible American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans are no longer required to make copayments for health care and urgent care received through VA ― making VA health care more accessible and affordable. VA also lowered the interest rate for VA Native American Direct Loans from 6% to 2.5%, making access to housing loans more affordable for Native American veterans.
• Updated its mission statement to include all veterans: In March 2023, VA updated its 1959 mission statement to be inclusive of all those who have served in our nation’s military — including women veterans ― and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors. The new mission statement is: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those who have served in our nation’s military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.”
• Increased service delivery to veterans with Other Than Honorable discharges: Over the past 10 years, VA’s eligibility determination rate for veterans with Other Than Honorable discharges has been 74% ― meaning that 74% of those Veterans were granted benefits and/or healthcare. VA has also conducted extensive outreach to Veterans who received Other Than Honorable discharges, increasing the number of Veterans with Other Than Honorable discharges who applied for VA care or benefits from approximately 1,700 in 2012 to more than 10,000 in 2023.
• Released new data showing that the PACT Act is helping eliminate disparities at VA: In September 2023, VA released its first quarterly demographic supplement to the PACT Act dashboard, with data showing that the PACT Act is helping VA reach and serve all Veterans, including those in historically underserved communities. For example, American Indian/Alaska Native and Black veterans are submitting PACT Act related claims at higher rates than the pre-PACT baseline. Additionally, Asian, Black, Hispanic veterans, women veterans, and the youngest veterans are all enrolling in VA care at higher proportions than a comparable baseline.
• Created a VBA Equity Assurance Office and Equity Assurance Plan to eliminate disparities in Veteran Benefits: In June, VA announced that it has created a new Equity Assurance Office within VBA to eliminate any disparities in the delivery of earned benefits to veterans ― including disability benefits, housing benefits, GI Bill benefits, and much more. This office released an Equity Assurance Plan, which includes actions like requiring all VBA employees to take unconscious bias and implicit bias training and increasing recruiting from minority-serving institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities, tribal colleges and universities, and hispanic-serving institutions.
As this work continues, updates will be posted on VA.gov/Equity. Learn more about the administration’s equity work at whitehouse.gov/equity and check out all Federal Equity Action Plans at performance.gov/equity.
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All World War II veterans who served between Dec. 7, 1941, and Dec. 31, 1946, are eligible under this expansion, regardless of their length of service or financial status.
These veterans will not have to pay copays, enrollment fees or monthly premiums.
VA is reaching out by phone and mail to encourage World War II veterans who are not currently enrolled in VA care to apply today.
Veterans who enroll may also keep their private providers, Medicare, and most other insurance to meet their health care needs.
“These members of the Greatest Generation answered the call to serve when our nation – and the world – needed them most. Now, it’s our job to serve them in every way that we can,” said VA Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Shereef Elnahal. “We are proud to provide world-class, no-cost health care to these heroes at VA, and we encourage all of them to enroll today.”
All World War II veterans are encouraged to enroll in VA health care – the best, most-affordable health care in America for veterans.
Veterans who are enrolled in VA health care are proven to have better health outcomes than non-enrolled veterans, and VA hospitals have dramatically outperformed non-VA hospitals in overall quality ratings and patient satisfaction ratings.
Veterans who were not approved for VA health care in the past due to income limits should apply again; income levels no longer apply due to this expansion.
VA cannot automatically enroll these veterans in health care; World War II veterans must apply for VA health care if they are not currently enrolled.
This expansion is made possible through the Joseph Maxwell Cleland and Robert Joseph Dole Memorial Veterans Benefits and Health Care Improvement Act of 2022 (Cleland-Dole Act), signed in December 2022.
To apply for VA health care, visit VA’s health care enrollment website, call 1-800-MyVA411 (800-698-2411), or visit your nearest VA medical center or clinic.
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