As has been heavily covered by the media lately, if Congress can’t find a deal by this Monday, the government will shut down. This will leave just enough resources to cover the essential services of the government.
So what does this mean for veterans? What about veteran healthcare? What about pension or compensation benefits or GI Bill checks?
The good news is VA healthcare is protected. In 2011, the veterans’ community banded together to convince Congress to fund the VA one year in advance. This means that VA healthcare will be funded for an additional year beyond the government shut down. A bill is also pending before Congress that would fully fund the VA’s discretionary budget a year ahead of schedule. (Access information about the bill, HR 813, here).
Beyond VA healthcare, it is unclear how veterans will be affected by government shutdown. Based on past experience, it appears that VA compensation and pension benefits will be unaffected. However, as there has been no government shutdown since the Post-911 GI Bill was passed, it is unclear how these benefits will be impacted by a government shutdown. (Access information about the post-911 GI Bill here).
One area that will likely be affected is VA disability compensation claims processing. Since March, the VA backlog (which includes only initial claims), has decreased by nearly 30% because of priority placed on these claims and overtime. If the government shuts down, the VA will lose administrative support, and claims processing may be slowed or may even shut down. It is also unlikely whether mandatory overtime – a key component of the VA’s major process in eliminating the backlog – will continue. It is also possible that VA hotlines and customer service desks will close.
Hopefully, Congress will act to make sure the impact on veterans is as minimal as possible. As for me, I’m hoping Congress finds a solution before the end of the weekend. But if it doesn’t, at least we have an idea of what to expect.
[As a note, the best article I found on this issue was published in The Washington Post, which covers how every government shutdown has ended. (This article may be accessed here)].
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Sadly the government only TALKS about caring for the veterans and very rarely actually follows through with actions. Will this effect your business any?