VA sees record rise in benefits delivery, but promises even more

Veterans Affairs officials on Tuesday announced record-high levels of medical care delivery and disability benefits payouts in fiscal 2024, but also promised to push those marks even further in coming months with efforts to broaden support for veterans.

“By nearly every metric, VA is smashing records that we had set last year,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough said during his annual pre-Veterans Day report on department progress at the National Press Club in Washington. “That means even more care, even more benefits to even more veterans.”

On the medical front, VA saw its highest level of health care appointments ever in fiscal 2024: about 127.5 million, up 6% over the previous fiscal year.

Some of that was driven by the 2022 adoption of the PACT Act, which eased eligibility for medical care and disability benefits for a host of military toxic exposure issues. More than 796,000 veterans have enrolled in VA health care in the last two fiscal years, up 37% from the previous 24 months.

On the benefits side, the department processed 2.5 million disability benefit claims in fiscal 2024, a 27% increase over fiscal 2023. Roughly 6.7 million veterans and survivors received $187 billion in benefits last year, another department record.

Officials also saw increases in the number of dental care appointments (6 million, up 9% over fiscal 2023), calls fielded by the Veterans Crisis Line (1.1 million, up 12% from fiscal 2023) and caregiver assistance services (88,095, up 19% from fiscal 2023).

McDonough said the high level of activity points to success in aggressive outreach efforts by the department in recent years and helps justify the growing size of the VA workforce, which topped 450,000 workers last fiscal year.

But he also said department leaders are still committed to doing more. On Tuesday, he unveiled that VA planners have started the rulemaking process to establish bladder cancer and other genitourinary tract cancers as presumptive illnesses for troops stationed at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan.

That group — more commonly known as K2 veterans — were exposed to a host of contaminants including jet fuel and lead paints during their deployments. About 12,000 of the 16,00 troops known to have served there are already enrolled in VA health care.

VA has already granted presumptive condition status for several other illnesses related to base contamination. That move makes it easier for veterans to apply for and receive disability benefits, eliminating paperwork requiring proof of a link between military service and sicknesses later.

He also promised more news soon on efforts to make leukemias and multiple myeloma a presumptive condition for troops exposed to burn pit smoke in Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations around the world.

“We’re a new VA, one that works with veterans, and one that delivers outcomes for veterans,” McDonough vowed. “We will no longer take decades to consider new presumptive conditions, but will instead use the tools provided by the PACT Act to move as quickly as possible.”

The rapid expansion of services and benefits to veterans has drawn both praise and concern from lawmakers in recent months, with some questioning if VA can keep pace with their public promises.

VA officials have said they are already about $12 billion short of funding they need for fiscal 2025 to keep pace with the increase in demand from veterans and survivors. Lawmakers are expected to consider a funding boost when they return from their legislative break next month.