Proposed 2025 Defense Budget Includes 4.5% Military Pay Raise
On Mon, Mar 11, 2024, the White House released its 2025 federal budget request, which includes a 4.5% proposed pay raise for the military. Learn more.
News
VA Joins Blue Star Families and HOH to Help Military Spouses Find Employment
The VA is part of a public/private partnership to help military spouses find and keep jobs even when a PCS or other relocation is required. The agency announced its participation on March 7, 2024, as a step forward in the effort to support military spouse employment. Learn more.
House Passes VA Budget
The House of Representatives approved funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs and other federal agencies through the end of the fiscal year. The funding also applies to long-delayed military construction projects. The official site for the House Appropriations Committee Chair Kaye Granger notes the passage of House Resolution 4366, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024,… Read more »
Congress Passes 4th Continuing Resolution
Update: On March 6, 2024, the House passed a multiple-agency spending package fully funding the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction projects until the end of the fiscal year. The measure moved to the Senate where it passed and moved to the President’s desk for signature on March 9, 2024. What follows is preserved… Read more »
Cyberattack Disrupts U.S. Military Pharmacies Worldwide
Update 4/9/2024: Military pharmacies are back to full operating capacity following the cyberattack mentioned in the article below. Change Healthcare (the agency responsible for processing aspects of military pharmacy benefits related to insurance coverage) removed itself from the military healthcare system while it worked on the security breach. It has since returned to full operations…. Read more »
Defense Budget Warning From Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warns that PCS moves and military construction projects may be threatened if lawmakers in the House and Senate can’t agree to a full-year defense budget. The DoD would be nearly $6 billion short if a full-year Pentagon spending bill cannot be agreed to. A Brief History of… Read more »
Will a Government Shutdown Affect Federal Benefits Open Season?
Update: Federal Benefits Open Season is now closed. On Wednesday, November 15, 2023, the Senate approved a stopgap spending bill and sent it to the President’s desk for signature. The bill extended the current operation of the U.S. government in a two-tiered fashion, with the last of the temporary funding expiring in February 2024. The… Read more »
VA Glitches Continue: 40 Thousand Pension Earners Potentially Overpaid
Multiple sources report as many as 40 thousand veterans, and surviving family members have been overpaid by the Department of Veterans Affairs since 2011. These beneficiaries are typically those who qualify for VA pensions, and now the VA is trying to decide what to do about the overpayments. Typically, when the VA overpays a benefit,… Read more »
Guard and Reserve Disability Claims Less Likey to be Approved?
A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) indicates that Guard and Reserve VA claims are less likely to be approved than their active duty counterparts. That might sound like discrimination at first glance, but the reality of the situation seems to be related in part to a lack of awareness in the Guard/Reserve of… Read more »
VA Warning on Increased Benefit Redirection Scams
The Department of Veterans Affairs is warning against rising numbers associated with a type of veteran benefits scam called “payment redirection fraud.” Due to increased volume in VA claims, a higher profile for those claims thanks to headlines about the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (PACT Act), and other factors, VA.gov notes,… Read more »