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|   |                           | Office of Public | ## Wash          |
|   |                           | Affairs          | ington, DC 20420 |
|   |                           |                  |                  |
|   |                           | **Media          | **(202)          |
|   |                           | Relations**      | 273-5700**       |
|   |                           |                  |                  |
|   |                           |                  | **www.va.gov**   |
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|   | **Department of**         | ###              |                  |
|   |                           | ### News Release |                  |
|   | **Veterans Affairs**      |                  |                  |
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> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> September 12, 2000
>
> **VA Benefits Assist Millions of Americans**
>
> WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Veterans and their survivors are expected to
> receive \$1.9 trillion in disability compensation and payments for
> service-connected deaths during the next 70 years as the nation
> fulfills its obligation to care for former service members.
>
> The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) second \"Annual Benefits
> Report\" shows its programs touch millions of lives, with
> approximately 2.3 million of the nation\'s 24.4 million veterans
> directly compensated each month for injuries or illnesses connected
> with their military service.
>
> \"This new report is a reminder of the depth of the nation\'s
> commitment to those who have sacrificed to preserve our freedom,\" VA
> Under Secretary for Benefits Joseph Thompson said. \"Our beneficiaries
> include the 311,000 survivors of veterans whose deaths while in
> uniform \-- or after discharge from a service-connected condition \--
> reflect the ultimate sacrifice in serving one\'s country.\"
>
> A new section of the annual report is an estimate of future costs to
> provide compensation to veterans and survivors. The 70-year projection
> shows that spending for disability compensation and survivors'
> payments will peak at \$37.3 billion in 2032, then decline to an
> annual cost of \$10.8 billion by 2069.
>
> Direct payments to individuals for their service-connected
> disabilities at the start of the current fiscal year totaled more than
> one billion dollars a month. In a breakdown by period of service, the
> report shows that veterans who served in the military during the time
> of the Vietnam War were the largest group receiving service-connected
> disability benefits, representing 735,627 of the 2.3 million, compared
> to 541,225 World War II veterans and 282,140 veterans of the Gulf War
> time period.

\- more -

> Benefits Report -- Page Two
>
> In addition, 378,712 veterans are receiving VA pensions as wartime
> veterans who are permanently and totally disabled from other injuries
> or diseases.
>
> In VA\'s home loan guaranty program, the report shows that of the
> loans to purchase homes at the beginning of the current fiscal year,
> about 56 percent had gone to first-time homeowners. In addition to the
> 2.3 million loans to purchase homes, there were 884,457 refinancing
> loans, most for interest rate reductions.
>
> More than 72 percent of the 243,453 beneficiaries who used VA
> education benefits at the beginning of the current fiscal year
> qualified under the active-duty provisions of the Montgomery GI Bill;
> reservists accounted for nearly 19 percent. Less than one percent of
> beneficiaries were covered by the older Post-Vietnam Era Veterans
> Educational Assistance Program (VEAP). The program for certain
> eligible dependents of veterans accounted for eight percent of
> education beneficiaries.
>
> Millions of veterans are covered by the VA insurance program. In 1999
> alone, more than a quarter million new people were covered, with
> coverage totaling more than \$47 billion.
>
> The vocational rehabilitation and employment program, which provides
> job training for veterans with service-connected impairments or
> disabilities, successfully trained and found employment for
> approximately 10,000 individuals in 1999.
>
> The Annual Benefits Report, which is available on the Internet at
> <http://www.vba.va.gov/reports.htm>, is intended to identify the level
> of veteran participation in VA benefit programs. Clear data on the use
> of VA programs is important to improve VA's \"business process\" to
> make VA more user-friendly.
>
> The dozens of tables and analyses in the new report provide
> considerable information about the veterans who use VA programs,
> including age and race breakdowns for veterans of different military
> conflicts or peacetime periods.
>
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