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Department of Veterans Affairs
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) operates the largest direct health-care delivery system in the country; administers veterans' benefits, including monthly disability payments, educational assistance, life insurance, home loans, and vocational rehabilitation; and runs a nationwide system of veterans' cemeteries while awarding other burial benefits.
- Highlights
- The declining population of veterans ultimately will mean that fewer veterans will seek medical care and monthly disability benefits. However, on the horizon, there will be increased usage of some VA benefits and services, as veterans age and more women draw on them. For FY'03, the Administration's budget requests $28 billion for the VA Medical Care program, an increase of $2.7 billion.
- A dramatic increase is proposed for the VA Medical and Prosthetic Research Business Line, which focuses on areas particularly relevant to the veteran population-aging, chronic disease, mental illness, substance abuse, military occupations, and environmental exposure. The FY'04 budget requests a total of $822 million, an increase of $28 million from FY'03.
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