United States Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the United States federal government that is tasked with the responsibility of providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at one of the 170 VA medical centres and outpatient clinics located throughout the country. Disability compensation, vocational rehabilitation, educational help, assistance purchasing a house, and life insurance are all examples of benefits that are not related to healthcare. In addition, the VA offers burial and memorial benefits in one of the nation's 135 national cemeteries to qualified veterans and family members of veterans.
Although the federal government has been responsible for providing benefits to veterans ever since the American Revolutionary War, it wasn't until 1930 that a federal office dedicated only to veterans, known as the Veterans Administration, was founded. In 1982, its mandate was expanded to include a fourth mission, which included providing medical assistance to civilians and non-veterans in the event of a national emergency. In 1989, the Veterans Administration was elevated to the status of a cabinet-level department when the Department of Veterans Affairs was established. The President is responsible for selecting cabinet members, including the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, who then serves as the agency's leader.
There are hundreds of Veterans Affairs medical institutions, clinics, benefits offices, and cemeteries, and together they employ a total of 412,892 individuals as of the month of June 2020. During the 2016 fiscal year, the department's total net programme expenses were $273 billion. This figure takes into account the VBA Actuarial Cost, which was $106.5 billion and covers compensation benefits. The long-term "actuarial accrued liability" (total estimated future payments for veterans and their family members) for compensation benefits is $2.491 trillion, while the "actuarial accrued liability" for education benefits is $59.6 billion, and the "actuarial accrued liability" for burial benefits is $4.6 billion.