U.S. Announces Major Change to Veterans Benefits as Concern Over Cuts Rises
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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced a series of major changes to veterans benefits.
In a May 5, 2025, press release, the VA announced "a three-pronged approach to eliminate barriers and streamline the process for how eligible survivors and dependents of deceased Veterans and service members apply for and receive VA benefits and services."
The day after these changes unfolded, ProPublica published a major investigation into budget and research cuts at the VA, which it reported were imperiling enrollment in clinical trials. VA officials across the country have warned in emails of impact from cuts, including to a registry tracking cancer, ProPublica reported.
"Doctors and other health care providers across the VA have been left scrambling and short-staffed amid an ever-shifting series of cuts, hiring freezes and other edicts" from the White House, ProPublica reported.
In March, PBS, citing an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press, reported that The Department of Veterans Affairs is "planning an 'aggressive' reorganization that includes cutting 80,000 jobs."
However, in an April 29, 2025, press release, the VA wrote that its changes at the agency were designed to "refocus the department on its core mission" to provide better services to veterans and their families.
That press release said the VA had opened "six new health are clinics around the nation," brought "thousands of employees off of remote work," shifted treatment funds to helping paralyzed veterans and amputees, processed a "record number of disability claims," accelerated a near-dormant electronic health record system, and redirected hundreds of millions of dollars from "non-mission-critical efforts to health care, benefits and services that directly support VA beneficiaries' families."
On May 5, the VA's release outlined these changes:
Starting this month, the VA's Office of Survivors Assistance will move to the Office of the VA Secretary in an attempt to remove the office from "layers of bureaucracy."
The VA will create a 'white-glove' survivor outreach team "to guide and assist eligible survivors throughout their Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) claims process," also in May 2025.
Starting immediately, the VA "will begin work to identify areas where automation can be used to make the DIC claims process easier to navigate for survivors."
'The last thing survivors need in their time of grief is frustrating red tape and bureaucracy. That's why we are creating a better system to more quickly and effectively provide survivors the services, support and compassion they've earned,' said VA Secretary Doug Collins.
At the Office of the VA Secretary, a staff of "five full-time employees will advise the Secretary on all matters related to the policies, programs and legislative issues affecting survivors and dependents," the release said.
The VA's 'White-Glove' Survivor Outreach Team "will begin operations in May 2025 and consist of experts based out of the Philadelphia VA Regional Benefit Office," according to the news release. "These experts will receive specialized training and guide and assist eligible survivors throughout every step of the DIC claims process."
The VA "now automates more than 1,000 DIC claims payments or adjustments per day and is in the process of ongoing enhancements to increase automation that will expedite survivors' claims and improve their experience," the release added. "VA will also be identifying additional areas where automation can be used to make all benefits delivery processes easier to navigate for eligible surviving dependents."
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