I.

Introduction

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), executive department of the United States government, created by Congress in 1988 and officially established in March 1989. The department is administered by a secretary who is appointed by the president, with the approval of the Senate, and who is a member of the cabinet.

The new department has taken over all the functions of the former Veterans Administration, which was an independent government agency established in 1930 to administer national benefits for veterans. The federal laws under which it operated were adjusted following each military conflict that took place after 1930.

II.

Service Categories

The VA provides a wide variety of services to veterans and their eligible dependents and to the dependent survivors of deceased veterans. These services fall into seven main categories: education, insurance, counseling, health care and rehabilitation, pensions, home loans, and burial benefits. Not all veterans, dependents, or survivors are eligible for all the benefits. Eligibility varies according to the war served in; whether disability is service-connected or not; the dependent's relationship to the veteran; and, in the case of widowed survivors, the status of marriages subsequent to that with the veteran.

Organized into three areas—medicine, veterans benefits, and memorial affairs—the VA has regional offices throughout the U.S. and suboffices wherever the number of veterans in need of benefits is sufficient to justify a facility. VA hospitals and domicilaries are also located throughout the U.S. Information on eligibility requirements and on services and benefits may be obtained from the VA in person, by mail, or by telephone through the use of toll-free numbers.

III.

Benefits Available

Currently, benefits are paid under laws passed to help Spanish-American War, Mexican border campaign, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War veterans, and their dependents and survivors. Some benefits—for example, home loans, nonservice disability pensions, hospitalization, education, and insurance—are available even if a veteran was not injured while in the service. Others accrue only as a result of service-connected death or disability. Some benefits go to widowed survivors, parents, and even adult offspring who became unable to care for themselves prior to the age of legal adult status. As a result, benefits may be paid for decades beyond the time when all the veterans of a particular war have died. Although benefits such as those for education, unemployment, counseling, and dental care may expire for a particular group, medical care, home loans, burial, and other benefits have no time limit but are subject to certain other restrictions. The status of a veteran's discharge may affect eligibility, as may incarceration. Special cases are handled by VA counselors who can provide information on the laws involved, as well as guidance to further material on unemployment compensation, job assistance, federal employment, and review or correction of military records.

IV.

The GI Bill

The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, popularly referred to as the GI Bill of Rights, provided unemployment and education allowances and home, farm, and business loans for millions of World War II veterans. The GI Bill program currently also covers men and women who served in the armed forces between 1955 and 1976, but a limit has been placed on the period in which the program's benefits can be used after discharge. Loans for houses, condominiums, and mobile homes, however, are available indefinitely; men and women who served in the armed forces starting in 1940 and their unmarried surviving spouses are generally eligible. Entitlement to such loans can be reestablished as well, so this benefit may be taken advantage of more than once.