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 Washington, D.C. Headquarters | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | March 15, 1989 |
| Preceding agency |
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| Jurisdiction | United States federal government |
| Headquarters | Veteran Affairs Building 810 Vermont Avenue NW Washington, D.C., U.S. 38°54′04″N 77°02′06″W / 38.90111°N 77.03500°W |
| Employees | 412,892 (June 2020) |
| Annual budget | FY2022: $112.2 billion (appropriated) FY2023: $301.4 billion (requested) |
| Agency executives |
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| Child agencies | |
| Website | va.gov |
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers and outpatient clinics located throughout the country. Non-healthcare benefits include disability compensation, vocational rehabilitation, education assistance, home loans, and life insurance. The VA also provides burial and memorial benefits to eligible veterans and family members at 135 national cemeteries.
While veterans' benefits have been provided by the federal government since the American Revolutionary War, a veteran-specific federal agency was not established until 1930, as the Veterans' Administration. In 1982, its mission was expanded to include caring for civilians and people who were not veterans in case of a national emergency.[2] In 1989, the Veterans' Administration became a cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs. The president appoints the secretary of veterans affairs, who is also a cabinet member, to lead the agency.[3][4]
As of June 2020,[update] the VA employed 412,892 people[5] at hundreds of Veterans Affairs medical facilities, clinics, benefits offices, and cemeteries. In fiscal year 2016 net program costs for the department were $273 billion, which includes the VBA Actuarial Cost of $106.5 billion for compensation benefits.[6][7] The long-term "actuarial accrued liability" (total estimated future payments for veterans and their family members) is $2.491 trillion for compensation benefits; $59.6 billion for education benefits; and $4.6 billion for burial benefits.[8]
- ^ "Home | Department of Veterans Affairs OIG". www.va.gov.
- ^ Horton, Alex (March 17, 2020). "VA's mission to see civilian patients in times of crisis vanished from its website". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
- ^ U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 2.
- ^ Department of Veterans Affairs Act § 18(b), 38 USC § 301 (2017).
- ^ "VA - Department of Veterans Affairs". United States Office of Personnel Management. June 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
- ^ "2016 VA Agency Financial Report, Section II – Financial Statements, Net Program Costs By Administration Before Changes In Veterans Benefits Actuarial Liability Assumptions" (PDF). Department of Veterans Affairs. November 15, 2016. p. 36. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
VA expends a substantial amount of its budgetary resources on medical care for Veterans and also disburses large cash amounts for Veteran's compensation and education benefits programs.
- ^ "2016 VA Agency Financial Report, Section I – Analysis of Entity's Financial Statements and Stewardship Information, Net Cost of Operations, Chart 5: FY 2016 Program Costs (Gross)" (PDF). Department of Veterans Affairs. November 15, 2016. p. 30. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
- ^ "2016 Financial Report of the United States Government, Notes to the Financial Statements, Note 12. Federal Employee and Veteran Benefits Payable" (PDF). Bureau of the Fiscal Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury. January 12, 2017. pp. 101–109. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 29, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2017.