A push to cut veterans disability benefits is gaining traction, experts warn

A growing chorus is calling for cuts to Veteran Affairs disability benefits as a way to save federal dollars — a move that ignores the very real costs of two decades of war, and could cause irreparable harm to generations of veterans, experts warn.

The most recent call for cuts is a widely criticized opinion article in The Economist on Nov. 28 that described veterans’ disability benefits as “absurdly generous.” Experts told Task & Purpose that the essay is representative of widespread public misperceptions that threaten to reduce veterans’ compensation for service-connected health conditions.

The Economist piece echoes an argument made by the Washington Post’s editorial board last year that limiting disability payments to veterans would help get America’s financial house in order.

These arguments may now have a real chance of becoming law.

Policies laid out in Project 2025, touted as a blueprint for a second Donald Trump term, would revamp the Department of Veterans of Affairs with proposals to increase privatization, narrow the eligibility criteria for health benefits and replace civil service-style employees with political appointees in its ranks. Produced by the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington, D.C., the policy guide states that a growing number of health conditions that qualify for VA disability are “tenuously related or wholly unrelated to military service.”

In mid-November, President-elect Donald Trump has tappedRussell T. Vought, one of the key players in Project 2025, to lead the Office of Management and Budget, a powerful federal post that oversees government spending.

Patrick Murray, national legislative service director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars office in Washington, D.C., views the The Economist editorial as the latest example of an ongoing push to cut veterans’ disability benefits, said 

“More and more, it’s becoming a trend that, for some reason, we need to go after disabled veterans and the ‘absurdly generous’ benefits that we get, which I think is flat-out bulls—t,” said Murray, a Marine veteran who lost his right leg in a September 2006 roadside bomb attack in Fallujah, Iraq. “I can’t get out of bed without the use of a prosthetic or a wheelchair. What the hell is absurd about my medical care and benefits?”

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office again, reducing the size of government has been a leading theme. His top ally Elon Musk has vowed to cut government spending by as much as $2 trillion.

“I think we have a new administration coming in saying everything is on the table,” said David Shulkin, who served as VA Secretary from 2017 to 2018 under Trump. “We’re going to relook at the definition of how government operates. We’re going to focus on efficiency,” “I think that it’s natural in a period where you’re in a transition – you don’t yet know the position of the political leaders coming in – for these questions to be coming up.”

However, any attempt to reduce disability compensation would likely be met with a strong pushback from the American public, said Shulkin, who is now on the advisory board of Burn Pits 360, a nonprofit organization that helps veterans dealing with ailments stemming from toxic exposure.

Shulkin noted that Senate Republicans came under intense criticism in 2022 when they initially blocked the PACT Act, which established 23 health conditions linked to toxic substance exposure during military service and expanded care for Vietnam veterans who are ill due to Agent Orange.

Rep. Mark Takano, the ranking Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said he has heard arguments in favor of cutting veterans disability benefits many times. He argues that Republican lawmakers now want to reduce benefits and privatize VA healthcare “under the guise of saving money.”

“I can think of no greater responsibility as a nation than to care for those who have put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms,” Takano said in a statement to Task & Purpose.

Disability compensation is a monthly tax-free payment that veterans can receive depending on whether they were injured, harmed or became ill as a result of their service. Disability ratings are based on a percentage scale from 0% to 100%, which is designed to indicate the severity of one’s disability.

But advocates say they fight the misperception that disability compensation is a free handout for veterans, many of whom have been exposed to toxins from burn pits and other sources and are dealing with the physical and mental toll of more than two decades of war, constant deployments, and physically demanding and often dangerous training.

“VA disability compensation benefits are hard earned — and deserved — by Veterans for their service and sacrifice for our country,” said VA Under Secretary for Benefits Josh Jacobs, who added that VA services have been proven to keep veterans healthy, in a good financial shape, and at a lower risk of death by suicide.

Many Americans don’t understand that disability compensation helps offset the financial burden that veterans face because of their injuries, Murray told Task & Purpose. For example, Murray often has to take a taxi or Uber to travel short distances that would just be a brisk walk for people who have use of both of their legs. He also has a co-pay for his wheelchair.

“It’s not just getting cash for the sake of cash,” Murray said.

Disability compensation covers more than combat wounds, he noted. Veterans can receive chronic injuries and ailments from their service.

Murray also took issue with an argument made in The Economist story that disability benefits make veterans not want to get better, saying “I’d love to get my right leg back. Tell me how getting benefits incentivizes me not to get better?”

The consequences of any reduction in veterans disability benefits would be “a lot of suffering,” said Dan Clare, a spokesman for DAV (Disabled American Veterans).

DAV is very concerned about calls to cut disability compensation because the veterans’ healthcare needs are “tremendous” after two decades of war, said DAV spokesman Dan Clare.

“We’ve seen the VA budget increase, like everyone else has, and we fought for that because we’ve been at war for 20 years,” Clare told Task & Purpose. “We’ve had tons of people sacrifice tremendously for their country in that period of time. Some of the illnesses and injuries don’t come to surface right away.”

“We’re talking about veterans who aren’t able to work at their full capacity because of service-connected disabilities,” Clare said. “The inability to take care of your family is a huge issue. A lot of these people are counting on these benefits. That’s how they are able to keep their homes, to keep their lives stable. Taking away those benefits or making arbitrary cuts in benefits would be devastating for our community.”

If the U.S. government ultimately decided to reduce disability compensation, it would exacerbate the already serious problems of veterans homelessness and suicide, Shulkin said.

“I think there’s way too much at stake to be treating this as a fiscal exercise,” Shulkin told Task & Purpose. “Clearly, I think, that the veterans are 100% service disabled, the veterans that have come to rely on these benefits would not be able to continue to get the type of care and services that they need. We would see more veterans who are homeless. We would see more veterans who are having to rely on charity. I think everybody understands how serious that’s going to be.”

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American Legion National Commander James A. LaCoursiere described The Economist story and other arguments in favor of cutting veterans benefits as “abhorrent.” 

“We don’t put a price tag on freedom, and we should not put a price tag on the health of those who risked their lives to protect our freedoms,” LaCoursiere said.

While the overall number of American veterans has declined, the cost of healthcare has dramatically increased, LaCoursiere said in a statement to Task & Purpose.

Since the PACT Act was signed into law more than 1.2 million veterans have received care for health conditions caused by toxic exposure, LaCoursiere said.

“Cut those PACT Act benefits, and that potentially means 1.2 million American families grieving the preventable loss of their veteran spouse or child or parent,” LaCoursiere said.

Arguments in favor of cutting veterans’ disability compensation have been growing since the PACT Act was signed into law in August 2022, said former Marine Maj. Kyleanne Hunter, of the RAND Corporation.

Critics of disability compensation tend to focus on the total amount of money that the VA spends on benefits without considering how many veterans have served during more than 20 years of war, Hunter told Task & Purpose.

“People are just looking at a number that is coming out and saying, “Oh, that just seems like a lot of money,’” Hunter said.

A widespread misperception held by many of those who have not served is that veterans often game the system to get as many benefits as they can, even if they don’t qualify for them, Hunter said. The reality is that service-connected injuries get worse as veterans age, and health conditions stemming from military service can start to appear when veterans get older, all of which require more medical care over time.

The general public’s lack of understanding about veterans’ injuries as well as the benefits they’re eligible to receive underscores that fewer and fewer Americans are connected to the military and veterans community, Hunter said.

“This [civilian-military] divide is part of the problem: The fact that it’s very easy to create caricatures out of veterans and not actually dig in and do the hard work to support them,” Hunter said. “I think some of this really is a symptom of how divided we are.”

It’s not widely understood outside the veterans community just how difficult applying for disability compensation is, said Army veteran Kayla Williams, who ran the VA’s Center for Women Veterans from 2016 to 2018 and later served as the VA’s assistant secretary of public and intergovernmental affairs from 2021 to 2022.

Veterans must not only prove that they have an injury or ailment, but they must also prove that it was caused by their military service before they can receive compensation, Williams told Task & Purpose.

“It’s not just a simple thing: you fill out a form, you’re granted compensation,” Williams said. “I do hope that if folks understood that a little better, they might be less inclined to want to trim those benefits.”

Williams also argued that the increase in VA spending for disability compensation is not a sign that the government is getting too big. Rather, she argued, it shows that veterans are finally getting the benefits they are entitled to.

Those who argue in favor of curtailing veterans benefits would also have to change existing laws to remove certain health conditions, she said, adding that giving veterans the benefits they’ve earned costs less than treating them when they are in poor health.

“It is cheaper to pay for a veteran to get a flu vaccine than to pay for treating the flu in a 75-year-old person,” Williams said. “Giving people top-notch healthcare is going to be more cost-effective than denying healthcare until they are sicker.”

While it is essential to look at ways to improve how the VA provides services to veterans, cutting disability benefits is not the solution, said retired Army Lt. Gen. Walt Piatt, CEO of the Wounded Warrior Project. 

“Unlike other federal benefits, veterans earn disability compensation through the injuries and illnesses they sustained while serving our country,” Piatt told Task & Purpose. “The price these heroes pay to protect our freedoms can mean a lifetime of physical and emotional scars. Our nation has a solemn obligation to care for those who have made these sacrifices. We must keep our promise to those who have served and protected our American way of life.”

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