United States Department of Veterans Affairs

Overview
The United States Department of Veterans [sic] Affairs (VA) is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is responsible for administering programs of veterans’ benefits for veterans, their families, and survivors. The benefits provided include disability compensation, pension, education, home loans, life insurance, vocational rehabilitation, survivors’ benefits, medical benefits and burial benefits. It is administered by the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

History
It was formerly called the Veterans Administration, also called the VA, which was established July 21 1930, to consolidate and coordinate government activities affecting war veterans. The VA incorporated the functions of the former U.S. Veterans’ Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. On October 25, 1988, President Reagan signed legislation creating a new federal Cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs to replace the Veterans Administration effective March 15, 1989. In both its old and new forms, the VA drew its mission statement from President Abraham Lincoln’s eloquent second inaugural address. The specific phrase quoted by VA is: “...to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan...”.

Function
It is a single-payer government run health care system and the federal government’s second largest department, after the Department of Defense. With a budget of more than $70 billion, VA employs approximately 230,000 people at hundreds of VA medical centers, clinics and benefits offices.

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs lists several benefits for veterans including education, home loans, compensation, pension, survivor’s benefits, burial, vocational rehabilitation, employment, and life insurance.

Organization
The Department of Veterans Affairs is headed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The current Secretary of Veterans Affairs is James Peake.

The Department has three main subdivisions, known as Administrations, each headed by an Undersecretary:
 * Veterans Health Administration - responsible for providing health care in all its forms, also for medical research
 * Veterans Benefits Administration - responsible for initial veteran registration, eligibility determination, and five key lines of business (benefits and entitlements): Home Loan Guaranty, Insurance, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment, Education (GI Bill), and Compensation & Pension
 * National Cemetery Administration - responsible for providing burial and memorial benefits, and maintenance of VA cemeteries

Costs for care
As is common in any time of war, recently there has been an increased demand for nursing home beds, injury rehabilitation, and mental health care. VA categorizes veterans into eight priority groups and several additional subgroups, based on factors such as service-connected disabilities, and one’s income and assets (adjusted to local cost of living). Veterans with a 50% or higher service-connected disability as determined by a VA regional office “rating board” (e.g., losing a limb in battle, PTSD, etc) are provided comprehensive care and medication at no charge. Veterans with lesser qualifying factors who exceed a pre-defined income threshold have to make co-payments for care for non-service-connected ailments and pay $8 per 30-day supply for each prescription medication. VA dental and nursing home care are more restricted. Reservists and National Guard who served stateside in peacetime settings or have no service-related disabilities generally do not qualify for VA benefits. (Detailed list of eligibility criteria.) VA in recent years has opened hundreds of new convenient outpatient clinics in towns across America, while steadily reducing inpatient bed levels at

VA’s budget—which has always been sparse—has been pushed to the limit in recent years by the War on Terrorism. In December 2004, it was widely reported that VA’s funding crisis had become so severe that it could no longer provide disability ratings to veterans in a timely fashion. This is a problem because until veterans are fully transitioned from the active-duty TRICARE healthcare system to VA, they are on their own with regard to many healthcare costs. The VA has worked to cut down screening times for these returning combat vets (they are now often evaluated by VA personnel well before their actual discharge), and they receive first priority for patient appointments. VA’s backlog of pending disability claims under review (a process known as “adjudication”) peaked at 421,000 in 2001, and bottomed out at 254,000 in 2003, but crept back up to 340,000 in 2005.

Many veterans may not know that they may qualify for VA services with no copayment required for military-related conditions. If a veteran is dealing with a problem that started or was aggravated due to military service, it is still advisable for that person to go to a VA Regional Office and apply for a service connected disability. Service organizations such as the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Disabled American Veterans (the claimant need not be a member), as well as state-operated Veterans Affairs offices and County Veteran Service Officers (CVSO), can also assist in this process. It will be beneficial for the affected veteran to support their claim with proof of ongoing health care.

Security breach
In May 2006, a laptop computer containing in the clear (unencrypted) the social security numbers of 26.5 million U.S. veterans was stolen from a Veterans Affairs analyst’s home. The analyst violated existing VA policy by removing the data from his workplace. On August 3 2006, a computer containing personal information in the clear on up to 38,000 veterans went missing. The computers have since been recovered and on August 5 2006, two men were charged with the theft. In early August 2006, a plan was announced to encrypt critical data on every laptop in the agency using disk encryption software. Strict policies have also been enacted that require a detailed description of what a laptop will be used for and where it will be located at any given time. Encryption for e-mail had already been in use for some time but is now the renewed focus of internal security practices for sending e-mail containing patient information.

Related legislation

 * 1944 - Mustering-out Payment Act PL 78-225
 * 1944 - Servicemen’s Readjustment Act PL 78-346
 * 1944 - Veterans' Preference Act PL 78-359
 * 1952 - Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act PL 82-550
 * 1974 - Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act
 * 1988 - Department of Veterans Affairs Act PL 100-527