Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1953-02-03
6 Billion Spent
By VA In 1852

The cost of operating Veterans
Administration during fiscal year
1852 took less than 5 cents out of
each tax dollar that VA spent in
that year VA announced today.
Cash payments took slightly
more than 79 cents.
Medical expense and veterans
counseling took nearly Ia cents.
And construction and repairs took
a little over 2 cents.
This information is contained in
VAS Annual Report for fiscal
1852, now on sale at the Govern
ment Printing Office in Washing
ton, ID. c.
VA spent $500 billion during
fiscal 1852, ending June 80, 1852.
OF this amount, $4 Sc billion was
spent from funds appropriated by
the Congress and the balance,
from trust and other funds.
The amount spent from appro-
priated funds came from the tax
payers; whereas, the amount
spent from trust and other funds
came from the premiums paid by
veterans on their CT life insurance,
for which VA acts as the trustee,
and from additional sources other
than the taxpayers.
OF the $486 billion spent from
the taxpayers dollars, $685. bill
lion was distributed in cash bene-
fits to or in behalf of veterans or
their dependents and beneficiaries
under laws enacted by the Con-
gress. This represents 1872 percent
Of the expenditures from the tax
payers dollars.
The remaining 81 billion of ex-
penditures from the taxpayers
money was spent as follows
-$664 million, or 1877 percent,
for medical, hospital and domici-
liary care; for the legally author
lied travel of veterans; for the
counseling of veterans laws that
education and training laws that
VA administers and for the burial
of veterans who died in VA in
stallation.
SPA million, or 48 percent,
for administrative costs, including
those for medical, hospital and do
miciliary care; and,
-S113 million, or 23 percent
for the construction of new hos
pitals and other VA buildings,
and for major alterations, impro-
vements and repairs to VA hos
pitals and installations.
The cash benefits, which are the
major item in VAS expenditures,
cover a wide variety of items.
Compensation and pension pay
ments to living veterans and to
dependents of deceased veterans
was the chief expenditure in this
classification with a total of $2.1
billion distributed in cash
Insurance payments for mill
tary extra-hazardous deaths and
free indemnity payments for
deaths in military service, for
which the taxpayers foot the bill
under laws enacted by the Con-
gress cost S217 million.
Education and training under
the CT Bill and under Public Law
16 for the, disabled veterans re-
quired cash outlay of $1.4 bill
lion for subsistence payments to
veterans and for tuition, materials,
supplies and equipment payments
to the school and training estab-
lishments.
The CT loan program cost the
taxpayers $78.4 million in cash
payments for the A percent gra-
tuity to veteran-borrowers, as
authorized by the CT Bill, and for
claims paid by VA on loans which
veterans defaulted.
Special housing grants for SER
iously disabled veterans and auto
mobiles for certain disabled yeter-
ars cost another S8.1 million.
The. final item in the cash bene-
fits total wa statutory burial
awards, provided by law for the
reimbursement of the burial ex-
pensess for deceased veterans up
to $3.50. This item cost $13 million
VAS Annual Report stated
there were more veterans in civil
life on June 30, 1852 than at any
previous time. The estimated ve-
terans population as of that date
was placed at 19,288,00O veterans,
representing a net increase of
475,O00 veterans during the year.
The population total has swelled
by another 100000 since then.
The Annual Report goes on to
state that VA cut the number of
its field stations from 613 to 541
during the year, and the total
number of its employees from
1882 to 174,597 over the same
period despite an increase of ap-
proxinlately 6,100 employees in
the medical program during the