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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was established on March 15, 1989, succeeding the Veterans Administration. It is responsible for providing federal benefits to veterans and their families. Headed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, VA is the second largest of the 15 Cabinet departments and operates nationwide programs for health care, financial assistance and burial benefits.
Of the 24 million veterans currently alive, nearly three-quarters served during a war or an official period of conflict. About a quarter of the nation's population, approximately 74.5 million people, are potentially eligible for VA benefits and services because they are veterans, family members or survivors of veterans.
The responsibility to care for veterans, spouses, survivors and dependents can last a long time. Three children of Civil War veterans still draw VA benefits. About 232 children and widows of Spanish-American War veterans still receive VA compensation or pensions.
VA's fiscal year 2007 spending is projected to be over $80 billion, including $34.9 billion for health care, $41.5 billion for benefits, and $160.7 million for the national cemetery system. President Bush sought $87 billion in the fiscal year 2008 budget for VA, a 77 percent increase during his presidency.
Compensation and Pension
Disability compensation is a payment to veterans who are disabled by injury or disease incurred or aggravated during active military service. Wartime veterans with low incomes who are permanently and totally disabled may be eligible for monetary support through VA’s pension program.
In fiscal year 2006, VA provided $34.4 billion in disability compensation, death compensation and pension to 3.6 million people. About 3.0 million veterans received disability compensation or pension from VA. In addition, about 533,000 spouses, children and parents of deceased veterans received VA benefits. Among them are 156,320 survivors of Vietnam-era veterans and 250,432 survivors of World War II veterans.
Education and Training
Since 1944, when the first GI Bill began, more than 21.8 million veterans, service members and family members have received $75.6 billion in GI Bill benefits for education and training. The number of GI Bill recipients includes 7.8 million veterans from World War II, 2.4 million from the Korean War and 8.2 million post-Korean and Vietnam era veterans, plus active duty personnel.
Since the dependents program was enacted in 1956, VA also has assisted in the education of more than 775,000 dependents of veterans whose deaths or total disabilities were service-connected. Since the Vietnam-era, there have been approximately 2.7 million veterans, service members, reservists and National Guardsmen who have participated in the Veterans’ Educational Assistance Program (VEAP). VEAP was established in 1977, and the Montgomery GI Bill, established in 1985.
In 2006, VA helped pay for the education or training of 331,557 veterans and active-duty personnel, 89,852 reservists and National Guardsmen and 75,460 survivors.
Medical Care
Perhaps the most visible of all VA benefits and services is health care. From 54 hospitals in 1930, VA’s health care system now includes 155 medical centers, with at least one in each state, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. VA operates more than 1,400 sites of care, including 872 ambulatory care and community-based outpatient clinics, 135 nursing homes, 45 residential rehabilitation treatment programs, 209 Veterans Centers and 108 comprehensive home-care programs. VA health care facilities provide a broad spectrum of medical, surgical and rehabilitative care.
Almost 5.5 million people received care in VA health care facilities in 2006. By the end of fiscal year 2006, 78 percent of all disabled and low-income veterans had enrolled with VA for health care; 65 percent of them were treated by VA. In 2006, VA inpatient facilities treated 773,600 patients. VA’s outpatient clinics registered over 60 million visits.
VA manages the largest medical education and health professions training program in the United States. VA facilities are affiliated with 107 medical schools, 55 dental schools and more than 1,200 other schools across the country. Each year, about 90,000 health professionals are trained in VA medical centers. More than half of the physicians practicing in the United States had some of their professional education in the VA health care system.
VA’s medical system serves as a backup to the Defense Department during national emergencies and as a federal support organization during major disasters.
During the last ten years, VA has put its health care facilities under 21 networks, which provide more medical services to more veterans and family members than at any time during VA’s long history.
VA has experienced unprecedented growth in the medical system workload over the past few years. The number of patients treated increased by 29 percent from 4.2 million in 2001 to nearly 5.5 million in 2006.
To receive VA health care benefits most veterans must enroll. The VA health care system had nearly 7.9 million veterans who were enrolled as of October 2006. When they enroll, they are placed in priority groups or categories that help VA manage health care services within budgetary constraints and ensure quality care for those enrolled.
Some veterans are exempted from having to enroll. People who do not have to enroll include veterans with a service-connected disability of 50 percent or more, veterans who were discharged from the military within one year but have not yet been rated for a VA disability benefit and veterans seeking care for only a service-connected disability.
Veterans with service-connected disabilities receive priority access to care for hospitalization and outpatient care.
Since 1979, VA’s Readjustment Counseling Service has operated Vet Centers, which provide psychological counseling for war-related trauma, community outreach, case management and referral activities, plus supportive social services to veterans and family members. There are 209 Vet Centers.
Since the first Vet Center opened, over 2 million veterans have been helped. Every year, the Vet Centers serve over 130,000 veterans and provide more than 1 million visits to veterans and family members.
Vet Centers are open to any veteran who served in the military in a combat theater during wartime or anywhere during a period of armed hostilities. Vet Centers also provide trauma counseling to veterans who were sexually assaulted or harassed while on active duty, and bereavement counseling to the families of service members who die on active duty.
VA provides health care and benefits to more than 100,000 homeless veterans each year. While the proportion of veterans among the homeless is declining, VA actively engages veterans in outreach, medical care, benefits assistance and transitional housing. VA has made more than 300 grants for transitional housing, service centers and vans for outreach and transportation to state and local governments, tribal governments, non-profit community and faith-based service providers.
Programs for alcoholism, drug addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder have been expanded in recent years, along with attention to environmental hazards.
Indispensable to providing America’s veterans with quality medical care are more than 90,000 active volunteers in VA’s Voluntary Service who donate 13 million hours each year to bring companionship and care to hospitalized veterans.
To read the rest
of this excellent fact sheet about the Department of Veterans
Affairs, produced by the Department of Veterans Affairs, please
click here: http://www1.va.gov/opa/fact/vafacts.asp
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