WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs issued a proposed rule outlining plans to expand the locations and time frames for which VA presumes exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides. If this proposed rule becomes final, VA will implement a new presumption of exposure to locations where herbicides were tested, used, or stored outside of Vietnam. Specifically, this proposed rule would add locations in the United States (full list of US locations where Agent Orange was tested or stored), Canada, and India to the existing presumptives for Agent Orange in Vietnam, Cambodia, Johnson Atoll, Guam, American Samoa, Korea, Laos, and Thailand.

A presumption of exposure means that VA automatically assumes that Veterans who served in certain locations were exposed to certain toxins. Presumptives lower the burden of proof required to receive disability benefits, helping Veterans get the benefits they deserve as quickly as possible. This expansion of presumptives will help Veterans who served in the specified locations receive health care and benefits for certain cancers and chronic conditions. To be eligible, a Veteran must have served in the identified location(s) during a specific time period and currently have a condition(s) presumptively associated with herbicide exposure.

Delivering world-class health care and benefits to toxic-exposed Veterans is a top priority for VA and the Biden-Harris Administration. As a part of President Biden’s pledge to serve Veterans with military toxic exposures, over the past few years, VA has expanded presumptive service connection for more than hundreds of  health conditions related to toxic exposures under the PACT Act – the largest expansion of Veteran care and benefits in generations. Thanks to this historic action, VA is delivering more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before in U.S. history.

“This proposed change would make it easier for Veterans exposed to herbicides who served outside Vietnam to access the benefits they so rightly deserve,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “Our goal is to provide every Veteran – of every era – with the VA health care and benefits they deserve, and this is another step in the right direction.”

Veterans who want to file an initial claim for a herbicide-related disability can visit VA’s website, use VA Form 21-526EZ, Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits, or work with a VA-recognized Veterans Service Organization to assist with the application process. Veterans may also contact their state Veterans Affairs Office. Survivors can file claims for benefits based on the Veteran’s service if the Veteran died from at least one of the recognized presumptive herbicide diseases.

This proposed rule also codifies provisions in the PACT Act, the Blue Water Navy Act of 2019, and the National Defense Authorization Act for 2021.

For more information about the changes, visit The Federal Register.

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The $5+ million campaign, “What You Earned,” focuses on educating Veterans and their families about some of the most tangible, cost-saving benefits of using VA – including low-cost or no-cost health care, debt-free education, $0 down payments on home loans, no-cost memorial services and burials, and much more. The campaign uses actual cost comparisons to demonstrate Veterans’ savings with VA vs. without VA, with the goal of encouraging Veterans who are not enrolled in VA health care or receiving VA benefits to apply for the first time.

This first-of-its-kind campaign – which will run across television, print, radio, digital media, billboards, public transit, and social media – is the next phase of VA’s aggressive efforts to bring new Veterans to VA. While last year’s campaign resulted in record numbers of Veterans applying for VA benefits, many of our nation’s heroes are still not connected with VA. The new campaign aims to reach these Veterans by providing clear, compelling reasons for them to sign up for what they’ve earned.

“All too often, Veterans don’t know about the full scope of the health care and benefits they’ve earned through their service to our nation,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “The goal of this campaign is to change that. We want to show Veterans and their families – in the most tangible terms possible – how VA can help them afford to stay healthy, go to school, get a job, buy a home, and more.”

“Our goal is to bring as many Veterans as possible to VA, because study after study shows that Veterans who use VA do better,” said Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher. “But we need to give Veterans a clear and compelling reason to sign up, and that’s what this campaign is all about: showing Veterans that they can save thousands of dollars by using their earned VA health care, home loans, GI Bill benefits, memorial services, and more.”

This new advertising campaign is a part of the largest outreach effort in VA history, which VA launched after President Biden signed the PACT Act into law as a part of his Unity Agenda for the nation. Thus far, the effort has resulted in an all-time record number of Veteran benefits applications in 2023; a 25% increase in health care enrollments year-over-year; an 80% awareness among Veterans of the PACT Act; and more. Key aspects of the effort to date include:

• Media coverage: During fiscal year 2023, VA generated 395,000+ news articles and 137,000+ broadcast pieces – a 21% increase year-over-year – with the goal of informing Veterans about the care and benefits they’ve earned.
• Events: VA has hosted more than 2,500 PACT Act-related events for Veterans across all 50 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
• Advertising: VA has executed a MarCom award-winning PACT Act advertising campaign across streaming, print, radio, podcasts, signage, sports sponsorships, digital advertising, and more. The $10+ million campaign has led millions of visitors to VA.gov/PACT and generated $13 million in donated media through public service announcements.
• Direct Veteran outreach: VA has sent hundreds of millions of PACT Act-related emails and letters to Veterans to encourage them to apply. In September, VA also executed its first-ever text marketing campaign to encourage eligible Veterans to enroll in health care before the September 30 PACT Act deadline, resulting in a 179% increase in year-to-date health care enrollments for that specific cohort of Veterans.
• Collaborations: VA has worked with the White House, Congress, Veterans Service Organizations, influencers (Jon Stewart), sports teams (Tampa Bay Rays), and major corporations (CVS and USAA) to spread the word about the PACT Act.
• VA.gov/PACT: Within one hour of the Senate passage of the PACT Act, VA launched VA.gov/PACT – a one-stop-shop for Veterans and survivors to learn about and apply for PACT Act-related care and benefits. Since then, the website has garnered more than 22 million page views.
• Print, digital, and video resources: VA has developed a library of videos, flyers, and information – in more than 10 languages – to help Veterans understand what this new law means for them.

In addition to focusing on Veterans who are newly eligible for VA care and benefits under the PACT Act, the campaign is also designed to reach historically underserved Veterans – including women Veterans, Black Veterans, Hispanic Veterans, younger Veterans, and Veterans living in rural areas. The campaign will feature ads in both English and Spanish.

Moving forward, VA will continue to aggressively reach out to Veterans to encourage them to come to VA. VA encourages all Veterans, family members, caregivers, and survivors to learn more about VA and apply for their world-class health care and earned benefits today.

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“As Americans, it’s our sacred obligation to serve Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors — just like they’ve served us,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “We at VA are proud of the care and benefits we provided these heroes during 2023, but we’re not stopping here. We won’t rest until every Veteran gets the care and benefits they deserve.”

All-time record accomplishments for Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors in fiscal year 2023 include:

• Providing more world-class health care to Veterans: VA delivered more than 116 million health care appointments to Veterans, surpassing the previous all-time record by more than 3 million appointments.
• Delivering more earned benefits to Veterans and survivors: VA delivered $163 billion in earned benefits, including $150 billion in compensation and pension benefits, to 1,535,685 Veterans and survivors – all of which are all-time records. VA also processed 1,981,854 Veteran and survivor claims, surpassing the previous all-time record by 15.9%.
• Encouraging more Veterans to apply for earned benefits: Thanks to the largest outreach campaign in VA history, Veterans submitted 2,433,729 claims applications – an all-time record and 39% more than in 2022. Veterans also submitted 2,299,815 intents-to-file – an all-time record and 62% more than in 2022.
• Supporting more Veteran caregivers: VA provided services, resources, and assistance to a record 74,270 Veteran family caregivers – supporting them while they take care of the Veterans they love.
• Supporting more Veterans in crisis: The Veterans Crisis Line received 1,002,971 million calls, texts, and chat – surpassing the previous all-time record by 15.1%. VA also provided no-cost emergency health care to 33,542 Veterans in acute suicidal crises through a new program launched in January.
• Providing more dental care to Veterans: VA dental clinics provided 5.5 million procedures to more than 560,000 patients, surpassing the previous all-time record by 4.8%.
• Providing more life insurance coverage for Veterans: VA provided an all-time record $1.5 trillion in life insurance coverage to 5.6 million policyholders. This includes new coverage awarded through VA life, a new program that extended life insurance access to millions of Veterans.
• Screening more Veterans for toxic exposures: VA screened an all-time record 4,599,009 Veterans for toxic exposures, a critical step to catching and treating potentially life-threatening health conditions as early as possible.
• Providing more resting places to our nation’s heroes: A record 5.4 million people — including 4.1 million Veterans — are now buried in VA national cemeteries.
• Commemorating more Veterans on the Veterans Legacy Memorial: Nearly 10 million of the nation’s heroes now have individual commemorative pages in the Veterans Legacy Memorial – the nation’s first digital platform dedicated to the memory of Veterans and service members. This is an all-time record, reflecting an increase of more than 5 million Veterans over the past year alone.
• Processing more Veteran appeals: The Board of Veterans’ Appeals processed 103,245 Veteran appeals, an all-time record and 8.3% increase over 2022.

Many of these accomplishments for Veterans have been made possible by the PACT Act – the largest expansion of VA health care and benefits in generations — which President Biden signed into law in August 2022. For more information on how the PACT Act is helping Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors, visit the PACT Act dashboard.

Investments in VA’s workforce are another key reason why VA has been able to deliver care and benefits to Veterans at record rates. In fiscal year 2023, VA’s Veterans Health Administration and Veterans Benefits Administration both grew at the fastest rates in 15 years. VHA now has more than 400,000 employees for the first time in history, and VBA now has more than 32,000 employees for the first time in history. VA’s retention efforts have also led to a 20% decrease in turnover rate among VHA employees from 2022 to 2023. For more information on VA’s hiring efforts, visit VA’s workforce dashboard.

These accomplishments build on many other efforts by VA and the Biden-Harris Administration to expand and improve care and benefits for Veterans over the past year. For example, VA has expanded maternity care, breast cancer screenings, and reproductive care for Veterans; housed more than 40,000 formerly homeless Veterans in 2022 and exceeded the pace to do so again in 2023; expanded caregiver support to Veterans of all eras; updated its 1959 mission statement to be inclusive of all those who have served in our nation’s military; waived copayments for eligible Native American and Alaska Native Veterans; consistently outperformed non-VA hospitals in health care ratings and Veteran outcomes; led all organizations, public or private, in the prestigious American Customer Satisfaction Index; and taken many other actions to expand access to care and benefits to Veterans.

Moving forward, VA will continue to aggressively reach out to Veterans to encourage them to come to VA. VA encourages all Veterans, family members, caregivers, and survivors to learn more about VA and apply for their world-class health care and earned benefits today.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Social Security recipients will get a 3.2% increase in their benefits in 2024, far less than this year’s historic boost and reflecting moderating consumer prices.

The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, means the average recipient will receive more than $50 more every month beginning in January, the Social Security Administration said Thursday. The AARP estimated that increase at $59 per month.

“This will help millions of people keep up with expenses,” said Kilolo Kijakazi, Social Security’s acting commissioner.

About 71 million people — including retirees, disabled people and children — receive Social Security benefits.

Thursday’s announcement follows this year’s 8.7% benefit increase, brought on by record 40-year-high inflation, which pushed up the price of consumer goods. With inflation easing, the next annual increase is markedly smaller.

“Compared to last year’s 8.7% increase, this is going to feel small and the perception is that its not keeping up with the inflation and the higher costs that retirees are still seeing,” said Martha Shedden, president of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts.

On top of that, an anticipated increase in Medicare premiums for 2024 will eat into the Social Security cost-of-living bump.

Medicare hasn’t announced the increase for traditional Medicare, but said the cost of Medicare Advantage plans is expected to remain stable.

Still, senior advocates applauded the annual Social Security adjustment.

“Retirees can rest a little easier at night knowing they will soon receive an increase in their Social Security checks to help them keep up with rising prices,” AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins said. “We know older Americans are still feeling the sting when they buy groceries and gas, making every dollar important.”

Social Security is financed by payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers. The maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes will be $168,600 for 2024, up from $160,200 for 2023.

Retirees whose sole income comes from Social Security are not subject to taxes on that income.

Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy group for the social insurance program, said that the COLA is a “reminder of Social Security’s unique importance” and that “Congress should pass legislation to protect and expand benefits.”

However, the program faces a severe financial shortfall in the coming years.

The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released in March said the program’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2033. If the trust fund is depleted, the government will be able to pay only 77% of scheduled benefits, the report said.

There have been legislative proposals to shore up Social Security, but they have not made it past committee hearings.

A March poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that most U.S. adults are opposed to proposals that would cut into Medicare or Social Security benefits, and 79% of people polled said they oppose reducing the size of Social Security benefits.

The Social Security Administration is still without a permanent leader. President Joe Biden in July nominated former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to lead the agency.

The COLA is calculated according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index, or CPI. But there are calls for the agency to instead use a different index, the CPI-E, which measures price changes based on the spending patterns of the elderly, like health care, food and medicine costs.

Any change to the calculation would require congressional approval. But with decades of inaction on Social Security and with the House at a standstill after the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., seniors and their advocates say they don’t have confidence any sort of change will be approved soon.

The cost of living adjustments will have a big impact on people like Alfred Mason, an 83-year-old Louisiana resident. Mason said that “any increase is welcomed, because it sustains us for what we are going through.”

As inflation is still high, he said, anything added to his income “would be greatly appreciated.”

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WASHINGTON — VA announced that Veterans and their survivors have filed more than one million claims for toxic exposure-related benefits under the PACT Act since President Biden signed it into law Aug. 10, 2022. VA has processed more than 551,000 of these claims, granting 77.9% of them and awarding more than $2.2 billion in earned benefits to Veterans and survivors. Supporting Veterans and their families is a core pillar in President Biden’s Unity Agenda for the nation, and today’s announcement helps deliver on his promise to comprehensively address military related toxic exposure.

Thanks to the largest outreach campaign in VA history, Veterans and survivors are applying for their earned benefits at record rates. In this fiscal year alone, Veterans and survivors have submitted 2.29 million total claims (PACT and non-PACT) — 40.4% more year-to-date than last fiscal year, which was the previous all-time record. Veterans have also submitted more than 2.1 million “intents to file” during this fiscal year — 53.1% more than all of last fiscal year and also an all-time record.

The PACT Act is the biggest expansion of Veteran health care and benefits in decades. VA encourages all eligible Veterans and survivors to file a claim — or submit their intent to file a claim — for PACT Act-related benefits now.

“Thanks to President Biden, the heroes who fought for our country are now getting health care and compensation for the conditions that followed them home from war,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “We’re proud that more than one million Veterans and survivors have applied for their hard-earned benefits to date, but this is just the beginning — and we won’t rest until every Veteran and every survivor gets the VA health care and benefits they deserve.”

Partly due to the PACT Act, VA is delivering more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before. Key results to date include:

• Delivering benefits to Veterans and their survivors: VA has processed 1.85 million total Veteran claims (PACT and non-PACT) thus far in this fiscal year —15.7% more to date than last fiscal year and already surpassing last year’s all-time record total of 1.7 million claims processed.
• Increasing Veteran access to health care: Since Aug. 10, 378,995 Veterans have enrolled in VA health care. This includes more than 158,691 enrollees from the PACT Act population (Vietnam, Gulf War, and Post-9/11 era Veterans).  
• Screening Veterans for toxic exposures: More than 4.4 million enrolled Veterans have received 5-minute screenings for toxic exposures from VA under the PACT Act.

Right now, there is also a special enrollment period for Veterans to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits. Specifically, until 11:59 p.m., local time, Sept. 30, Veterans who deployed to a combat zone, never enrolled in VA health care, and left active duty between Sept. 11, 2001, and Oct. 1, 2013, are eligible to enroll in VA health care without first applying for disability compensation benefits. VA encourages all of these Veterans to visit VA.gov/PACT or call 1-800-MYVA411 to learn more and sign up for VA health care before the deadline.

VA is delivering health care and benefits at record rates partly due to a dramatic increase in hiring at VA. For the first time in VA’s history, the Veterans Health Administration has over 400,000 employees and the Veterans Benefits Administration has over 31,000 employees — and both organizations are growing at the fastest rates in 20 years. Moving forward, VA will continue to modernize and expand capacity to deliver health care and benefits to Veterans as quickly and effectively as possible.

For more information on VA’s implementation of the PACT Act, visit the PACT Act Dashboard. VA is publishing this dashboard every other Friday to document the implementation of this legislation and showcase its impact on Veterans and survivors. The next dashboard, which will reflect the data in this release, will publish on Sept. 15. 

Veterans and survivors may apply or learn more about the PACT Act by visiting VA.gov/PACT or calling 1-800-MYVA411.

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WASHINGTON — VA released a PACT Act Year-In-Review Dashboard showcasing the care and benefits that VA has delivered to Veterans and their survivors since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law on Aug. 10, 2022. Partly due to this historic law, VA is delivering more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before. Key results to date include:

• Delivering benefits to Veterans and their survivors: VA has delivered more than $1.85 billion in earned PACT Act benefits to Veterans and their survivors. VA is delivering these benefits to Veterans at the fastest rate in our nation’s history, processing 1.65 million total Veteran claims thus far in this fiscal year (including 458,659 PACT Act claims) — 16% more year-to-date than the previous all-time record.
• Increasing Veteran access to health care: Since August 10, 332,252 Veterans have enrolled in VA health care — which is nearly 50,000 more enrollees than during the previous year. This includes more than 113,719 enrollees from the PACT Act population (Vietnam, Gulf War, and Post-9/11 Veterans).  
• Screening Veterans for toxic exposures: More than 4.1 million Veterans have received free, 10-minute screenings for toxic exposures from VA under the PACT Act — a critical step to catching and treating potentially life-threatening health conditions as early as possible.
• Spreading the word to Veterans and their survivors: Thanks to the largest outreach campaign in VA history, Veterans and survivors are applying for their earned benefits at record rates. In this fiscal year, Veterans and survivors have submitted 1.95 million total claims (including 843,448 PACT Act-specific claims) — 37% more than last year and on pace to break an all-time record. Veterans have also submitted 1.65 million “intents to file” during this fiscal year — 44% more than last year and also on pace to break an all-time record.

The PACT Act is here to stay, and Veterans and survivors can apply anytime for the care and benefits they’ve earned. Veterans and survivors who apply (or submit their intent to file) for PACT Act benefits by 11:59 p.m., ET, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023 will be eligible to have their benefits backdated to Aug. 10, 2022 — the day that President Biden signed the PACT Act into law. This is an extension from the original deadline of Aug. 9, 2023. VA encourages all Veterans and survivors to visit VA.gov/PACT to apply — or submit their intent to file — today.

“Thanks to President Biden, millions of Veterans who fought for our country are now getting health care and compensation for the conditions that followed them home from war,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “We’re proud that so many Veterans and survivors have already benefited from the PACT Act, but this is just the beginning: we won’t rest until every Veteran and every survivor gets the VA health care and benefits they deserve.”

For more information about how one year of the PACT Act has helped Veterans, visit VA’s PACT Year-in-Review Dashboard. This dashboard is a special highlight edition of VA’s regular PACT Act dashboard, which VA publishes every other Friday to document the implementation of this legislation and showcase its impact on Veterans and survivors. The Year-in-Review Dashboard includes national and state-level data on PACT Act benefits and health care.

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Throughout July, VA will host 50+ Summer VetFest events across all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico. The events will be casual summer gatherings featuring Veterans, their families, Veteran advocates, and the VA health care and benefits professionals who serve them. At the events, VA staff will be ready to help Veterans apply for PACT Act-related benefits (or submit an intent to file), enroll in VA health care, get screened for toxic exposures, and more.

VA encourages all eligible Veterans and survivors to file a claim — or submit their intent to file a claim — for PACT Act-related benefits now. Veterans who do so by Aug. 9 may have their benefits, if granted, backdated to Aug. 10, 2022, the day that President Biden signed the bill into law.  

“There are millions of Veterans and survivors across America who are eligible for new health care and benefits, and we will not rest until every one of them gets what they’ve earned,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “That’s what this Summer VetFest is all about: educating Veterans, their families, and survivors — and encouraging them to apply today.”

Since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law, VA has delivered more than $1.4 billion in PACT Act benefits to Veterans. Additionally, more than 665,000 Veterans have applied for PACT Act-related benefits, more than 3.7 million Veterans have received the new toxic exposure screenings, and more than 287,000 Veterans have enrolled in VA health care (this is 40,000 more enrollments than during the same timeframe last year, and it includes 94,000 enrollees from the PACT Act target population) .

The PACT Act Summer VetFest is just one component of VA’s nationwide PACT Act Veteran outreach campaign, which is the largest coordinated outreach campaign in VA history. The campaign has one goal: ensuring that every eligible Veteran and survivor gets the PACT Act-related health care and benefits they have earned. Highlights of the campaign to date:

• Within one hour of the Senate passage of the PACT Act, VA launched VA.gov/PACT — a one-stop-shop for Veterans and survivors to learn about and apply for PACT Act-related care and benefits. Since then, the website has garnered more than 13.4 million page views from 10 million unique visitors.
  • VA is executing an aggressive national and local earned media campaign, seeking to inform Veterans and survivors about the PACT Act and encourage them to apply. Between Aug. 10, 2022, and June 9, 2023, these efforts have helped generate 30,000+ news articles and 24,000+ broadcast items about the PACT Act.VA is executing a nationwide, targeted advertising campaign across streaming video (Hulu, Roku, YouTube); print (Military Times, Military.com, USA Today); radio (satellite, traditional); podcasts; signage (including Times Square ads, D.C. Metro ads, airports, billboards, and more); sponsorships (such as Military and Armed Forces Bowls); digital advertising, including Search (Google and Bing), Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, iHeartRadio, ESPN online, RallyPoint, and more. To date, VA has spent more than $7.5 million on PACT Act advertising, driving millions of visitors to VA.gov/PACT, and generating hundreds of millions of impressions. Through Public Service Announcement distribution along with vendor negotiations, VA has also achieved $7.9 million in added value between October 2022 and May 2023, more than doubling the media value of PACT Act efforts. By the Aug. 9 filing deadline, we anticipate that VA will spend more than $11.4 million. This campaign is focused on reaching all eligible Veterans and survivors, especially those who have not previously come to VA for benefits or care.Since Aug. 10, 2022, VA has hosted hundreds of PACT Act-related events across all 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico with Veterans, their families, caregivers, survivors, and Veteran advocates. This includes a PACT Act Week of Action in December, when VA hosted more than 120 events across the nation. At the events, Veterans applied for benefits, got screened for toxic exposures, enrolled in VA health care, and learned more about what the PACT Act could mean for them and their families.VA has developed a library of PACT Act flyers, videos, and fact sheets to help Veterans understand what this new law means for them. The videos have been viewed more than 4 million times across platforms, and the resources have been shared directly with Veterans, VA facilities, Veterans Service Organizations, and other partners nationwide. VA has also released PACT Act flyers and information in more than 10 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
  • VA has sent more than 300 million PACT Act-related e-mails to Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors, which were opened more than 94 million times.

VA encourages all eligible Veterans and survivors to apply for their earned PACT Act-related health care and benefits now. Veterans and survivors can apply or learn more about the PACT Act by visiting VA.gov/PACT, by calling 1-800-MYVA411, or by attending one of July’s events.

For more information about VA’s implementation of the PACT Act, visit the PACT Act Dashboard. VA is publishing this dashboard every other Friday to document the implementation of this law and showcase its impact on Veterans and survivors. 

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The Agency Equity Team, known as the I*DEA (inclusion, diversity, equity, and access) Council, will be responsible for helping VA improve outcomes for historically underserved Veterans, identifying and eliminating any disparities in VA health care and benefits, creating and implementing a VA Equity Action Plan, listening to and learning from historically underserved Veteran communities, and more. The Council will also work to eliminate disparities and barriers to recruit, hire, develop, promote, and retain employees, including those from historically underserved communities. The Council will report directly to VA’s Deputy Secretary.

VA also announced that it has created a new Equity Assurance Office within the Veterans Benefits Administration. This office will work in coordination with the I*DEA Council 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 will be led by Laurine Carson and will report directly to the Office of the Under Secretary for Benefits.   

VA is standing up the I*DEA Council and the VBA Equity Assurance Office as a part of its mission to provide world-class care and benefits to all Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. These efforts are also a part of executing President Biden’s Executive Orders on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, 13985 and 14091,whichcharged the federal government with advancing equity for all and addressing systemic racism in policies and programs.

“At VA, it’s our mission to serve all Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors as well as they’ve served our country,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “This new Agency Equity Team will help us deliver on that promise, making sure that we provide every Veteran with the world-class care and benefits they deserve — no matter their age, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, or sexual identity. The team’s first order of business will be identifying any disparities in VA health care and benefits and eliminating them.”

The new I*DEA Council is an evolution of VA’s I*DEA Sub-Council, which Secretary McDonough established in 2021 to embed inclusion, diversity, equity and access into all VA activities. The new action-oriented Council will be comprised of senior leaders from across VA, including leaders from the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, the National Cemetery Administration, the Center for Women Veterans, the Center for Minority Veterans, and other parts of VA. The Council will be empowered to make decisions across VA to ensure equitable outcomes for Veterans, and it will work directly with historically underserved Veteran communities, as well as Veterans Service Organizations, Congressional partners, union partners, and others.  

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The Veterans Health Administration increased its total workforce by 13,627 (3.6%) between October 2022 and April 2023, the highest growth rate for VHA in over 20 years. The Veteran Benefits Administration hired 4,120 employees during the same time period, the highest growth rate for VBA in 15 years. VHA now has 393,500 employees, and VBA now has more than 28,000 employees for the first time ever.

This hiring push will help VA continue to deliver more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before. It will also help VA implement the PACT Act, the largest expansion of Veteran care and benefits in generations.

“At VA, we’re hiring and retaining the best, most talented, and dedicated employees in health care — because Veterans deserve to be treated by the very best,” said Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal. “With this hiring push, we’re bringing on new people with one goal in mind: providing world-class care to every Veteran who entrusts us with their health.”

“The more people we hire, the faster we can deliver Veterans the benefits they deserve — it’s as simple as that,” said Under Secretary for Benefits Josh Jacobs. “There’s no better mission in the world than serving Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors, and we encourage anyone who might be interested in joining us to go to VA.gov/Jobs today.”

Thanks to recent hiring efforts, in 2022, VA processed a record number of Veteran benefit claims — delivering more than $112 billion to Veterans — and is currently 15% ahead of that record pace in 2023. In 2022, VA also provided more than 91 million outpatient visits to the 9 million Veterans enrolled in VA health care.

In total, VHA aims to hire a record 52,000 new employees in fiscal year 2023 to meet increasing Veteran demand. VHA is ahead of pace, having hired 32,921 new employees from October through April — the most ever in the first seven months of the year.

For more information about VA’s hiring efforts, visit VA’s new workforce dashboard. VA is publishing this dashboard once a month to document our hiring efforts. The next dashboard, which will reflect the numbers listed above, will publish in June. 

Visit VA.gov/Jobs to learn more about working at VA.

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“Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors deserve world-class benefits for their service to our country, and there’s nobody better to lead VA in delivering those benefits than Josh Jacobs,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “Josh is an excellent leader who has dedicated his career to advocating for Veterans — and under his leadership, I’m confident that VA will continue delivering more benefits, more quickly, to more Veterans than ever before.”   

In this role, Jacobs will help oversee the implementation of the PACT Act, the biggest expansion of Veteran health care and benefits in generations. Since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law Aug. 10, 2022, Veterans and their survivors have filed more than 500,000 PACT Act-related claims for toxic exposure benefits. To date, VA has awarded more than $1 billion in earned benefits to Veterans and survivors who filed PACT Act-related claims. 

VBA is currently delivering more benefits, more quickly, to more Veterans than ever before. In April, VBA processed its millionth disability compensation and pension claim during fiscal year 2023, putting VA on pace to process a record number of Veteran claims for the third year in a row. Thanks to aggressive hiring and modernization efforts, VA processed a record number of Veteran claims in 2021, exceeded that in 2022, and is on track to exceed it again in 2023. In total, VA has delivered more than $65 billion in earned compensation benefits to Veterans during fiscal year 2023.

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