The Veterans Benefits Administration
The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is “an organizational element of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs” that is in charge of administering the department’s programs that offer financial as well as other kinds of assistance to veterans, their dependents, and their survivors. The mission for the VBA, in partnership with the Veterans Health Administration plus the National Cemetery Administration, is to provide benefits and services toward the veterans and their own families in a responsive, timely, and compassionate manner in recognition of the service they gave to the nation.
Some of the major benefits include the following:
-Veterans’ compensation
-Veterans’ pension
-Survivors’ benefits
-Rehabilitation and employment assistance
-Education assistance
-Mortgage loan guaranties
-Life insurance coverage
Insurance Programs
The Insurance Programs were intended to provide life insurance policies at a “standard” premium rate to members of the armed forces that are exposed to the extra hazards of military service. Veterans meet the criteria to keep their VA life insurance coverage following discharge. In general, a brand new program was made for each wartime period since World War I. The following are the life insurance programs that still issue coverage in addition to an application of traumatic injury coverage:
Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) – Provides up to $400,000 of insurance coverage to active-duty people in the Uniformed Services and people in the Reserves, cadets and midshipmen associated with four service academies, people in the Reserve Officer Training Corps, and members who volunteer for assignment to a mobilization category within the Individual Ready Reserve. SGLI also provides Family Servicemembers’ Group term life insurance (FSGLI) for as much as $100,000 in coverage for a servicemember’s spouse, if the servicemember is on active duty or an associate for the Ready Reserve of a uniformed service. All dependent children are automatically insured for $10,000 at no cost.
Veterans’ Group Life Insurance (VGLI) – Individuals who separate from service with SGLI coverage can convert their coverage to VGLI, regardless of health, by submitting a software using the first month’s premium within 120 times of discharge. After 120 days, the average person may still be granted VGLI provided proof of insurability is submitted within one-year of this end of this 120-day period. In the event that member is totally disabled at separation, SGLI coverage continues free of charge for two years, after which VGLI may be granted without evidence of insurability.
Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (SDVI) – A Veteran who’s got a VA service-connected disability rating but is otherwise in good health may submit an application for insurance coverage as high as $10,000 within couple of years from the date of being notified by VA of the service-connected status. This insurance is restricted to veterans who left service after April 25, 1951. In the event that veteran is totally disabled, premiums are waived, and he or she may make an application for an extra $30,000 of coverage under this program.
Programs Administered by VBA
VBA is one of three administrations falling underneath the Department of Veterans Affairs’ larger umbrella. Along with the Veterans Health Administration as well as the National Cemetery Administration, VBA is responsible for administering VA’s extensive nonmedical benefits. According to VA’s 2010 Organizational Briefing Book, VBA is further subdivided into business lines covering specific benefits:
Compensation and Pension Service
Compensation and Pension Programs provide direct payments to Veterans, dependents, and survivors due to the veteran’s service-connected disability or because of financial need.
Disability Compensation is a monetary benefit paid to Veterans with disabilities which are caused by a disease or injury incurred or aggravated during active military service. The advantage amount is graduated based on the amount of the veteran’s disability on a scale from 10 percent to 100 percent (in increments of 10 percent). You are able to have a noncompensable rating (0 percent) for a disability as well. The veteran can receive free treatment into the VA medical system for such a condition but will not receive monetary compensation because of it.
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits are often payable to the survivors of servicemembers who died while they were on active duty or survivors of Veterans who died from their service-connected disabilities.
Pension programs are created to provide income support to Veterans with wartime service and their own families for a nonservice-connected disability or death. These programs are for low-income veterans and survivors.
Burial and Interment Allowances are payable for certain Veterans. A higher rate of burial allowance applies if the veteran’s death is service-connected.
Spina Bifida Monthly Allowance under 38 U.S.C. 1805 is provided for children born with spina bifida who are children of individuals who served in the Republic of Vietnam through the Vietnam Era or served in or near the demilitarization zone in Korea throughout the period September 1, 1967, through August 31, 1971. Payment is made at certainly one of three levels and is predicated on amount of disability suffered by the child.
Children of females Vietnam Veterans born with certain defects the program provides a monetary allowance, healthcare, and vocational training benefits to eligible children born to women who served into the Republic of Vietnam through the period beginning on February 28, 1961, and ending May 7, 1975, if they suffer from certain covered birth defects. VA identifies the birth defects as those that are from the service of the mother in Vietnam and end up in permanent physical or mental disability.
S. 2258, Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2014: There is a guaranteed cost-of-living increase by 1.5 percent for disability compensation, and other specified categories.
Education Programs
Education Programs provide resources to Veterans, servicepersons, reservists, and certain Veterans’ dependents to support readjustment and restore educational opportunities lost because of service into the country, to extend great things about advanced schooling to qualified persons who may well not otherwise be able to afford it, to aid in military recruitment in addition to retention of highly qualified personnel, to encourage membership within the Selected Reserve, and to improve the national workforce.
The Post-Vietnam Era Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP) can be acquired for eligible veterans who entered active duty between January 1, 1977, and June 30, 1985. Benefits and entitlement will be based on the contributions paid while servicemen were on active duty and veterans have a decade after separation in which to make use of the power.
Montgomery GI Bill – Active Duty (MGIB) provides an application of education benefits that may be used while on active duty or after separation. There are lots of distinct eligibility categories. Generally a veteran will receive three years of entitlement and has a decade after separation to use this benefit.
Montgomery GI Bill – Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR) is a program funded and managed by the Department of Defense (DoD) and is open to members of the Selected Reserve. VA administers this program but the DoD determines the member’s eligibility. Generally a professional person in the Reserve will get three years of entitlement and will have 14 years for which to use the power.
Reservists Educational Assistance Program (REAP) is a program funded and managed by DoD and it is available to members of the Selected or Ready Reserve that are called to active duty to aid contingency operations. VA administers this system but DoD determines the member’s eligibility. Generally an experienced person in the Selected or Ready Reserve will get three years of entitlement and will also be able to utilize the benefit provided that he or she remains when part of the Selected or Ready Reserve.
National Call to Service is a course of education benefits which may be used while on active duty or after separation. The person will need to have enlisted on or after October 1, 2003, beneath the National Call to Service program and selected one of the two education incentives provided by that program. A Veteran will get education benefits based on the education initiative selected. These are either (1) education benefits of as much as one year of MGIB benefits (the 3-year rate), or (2) education advantages of as much as 36 months of this MGIB benefits (half the 2-year rate).
Dependents Educational Assistance Program (DEA) is made to assist dependents of Veterans who (1) have now been determined to be 100 percent permanently and totally disabled due to a service connected condition, (2) died as a result of a service-connected condition, or (3) died while on active duty. Dependents typically receive 45 months of eligibility. The criteria for making use of this benefit are:
-A spouse of a living veteran has 10 years to make use of this benefit.
-A surviving spouse of a veteran who died on active duty has twenty years to utilize this benefit.
-A surviving spouse of a veteran who died with a 100 percent service-connected condition has 10 years to use this benefit.
-Children have eight years to make use of this benefit.
Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program (Post 9/11-GI Bill) is an innovative new education assistance program for many people with a qualifying amount of active duty service after September 10, 2001. Individuals is going to be eligible for educational assistance in the shape of tuition and fees, a monthly housing allowance, and a books and supplies stipend. The latest program also provides certain individuals the chance to transfer unused educational advantageous assets to their spouses and children. The latest program is beneficial August 1, 2009. The Post-9/11 GI Bill also contains the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Frye Scholarship Program for the children of servicemembers who died while on active duty.
Loan Guaranty
The mortgage Guaranty Program provides assistance to veterans, certain spouses, and service members in order to buy and retain homes. Assistance is provided through VA’s partial guaranty of loans produced by private lenders in lieu of the substantial advance payment and private mortgage insurance required in conventional mortgage transactions. This protection implies that more often than not qualified Veterans can obtain that loan without making a down payment. Also, the Loan Guaranty Program offers the annotated following:
Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) Grants are available to Veterans which have specific service-connected disabilities for the purpose of constructing an adapted dwelling or modifying a current dwelling to fulfill the veterans ‘needs. The goal of the SAH Program is to provide a barrier-free living environment that affords the Veterans a level of independent living he or she might not have otherwise enjoyed.
Native American Direct mortgage loans are accessible to eligible Native American Veterans and, in a few circumstances, spouses who would like to purchase or construct a house on trust lands. These loans are direct loans created by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Servicing Assistance provides help for borrowers having difficulty in creating their loan payments. The assistance may take several forms but the goal is to try to keep the Veteran within the property and steer clear of foreclosure.
Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) – Mortgage life insurance protection for as much as $200,000 is available to severely disabled Veterans who receive a SAH Grant.
Servicemembers’ Traumatic Injury Protection (TSGLI) - is a rider to the SGLI policies and offers automatic traumatic injury coverage to all or any servicemembers under SGLI, effective December 1, 2005. It gives an amount for payment between $25,000 and $100,000 (with respect to the sort of injury) to SGLI members who sustain a traumatic injury that leads to certain severe losses. The advantage is retroactive to October 7, 2001, if the loss was a result of injuries incurred in Operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom.
Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment
The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Program is authorized by Congress under Title 38, USC, Chapter 31 and Code of Federal Regulations, Part 21. It really is sometimes known as the Chapter 31 program. This program assists Veterans with service-connected disabilities to get ready for, find, and keep suitable jobs. For veterans with service-connected disabilities so severe that they cannot immediately consider work, this system offers services to boost their capability to live as independently as possible. Services that may be given by the VR&E Program include the following:
-Assistance finding and keeping a job, such as the usage of special employer incentives and job accommodations
-Comprehensive rehabilitation evaluation to determine abilities, skills, and interests for employment
-Employment services such as for example job-training, job-seeking skills, resume development, as well as other work readiness assistance
-On the Job Training (OJT), apprenticeships, and nonpaid work experiences
-Independent living services for veterans who struggling to work due to the severity of their disabilities
-Post-secondary training at a college, vocational, technical, or business school
-Supportive rehabilitation services including case management, counseling, and medical referrals
-Vocational counseling and rehabilitation planning for employment services
