Pursuit's Take
The number of older veterans receiving Individual Unemployability benefits, a disability supplement, has been increasing, as has the total amount of benefit payments. In fiscal year 2013, 330,000 veterans received this benefit, which the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides to disabled veterans of any age who are unemployable because of service-connected disabilities. From fiscal years 2009 through 2013, the most recent data available, there was a 22 percent increase in the number of veterans receiving these benefits, and a 73 percent increase in the subgroup of beneficiaries aged 65 and older. Moreover, among new beneficiaries in 2013, about 2,800 veterans were 75 and older, of which more than 400 were 90 and older.
These trends have given rise to questions about what constitutes “unemployability.” Only a small proportion, 4 to 6 percent, of beneficiaries had benefits discontinued during these years—about 70 percent of which were due to the death of the beneficiary. During the 5-year study period, disability payments to those receiving Individual Unemployability—the base payment plus the supplement—increased by 30 percent (to $11 billion in fiscal year 2013). For that year, GAO estimated $5.2 billion for the supplement alone.
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