John Plahovinsak
For several years the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) has been fighting for several modifications of the existing Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Cemetery Administration (NCA) policies on behalf of our disabled veterans and their families.
On September 23, 2023, the VA Under Secretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs announced that veterans, and their families, caregivers, and survivors will now have access to three (3) expanded burial benefits.
These new expanded benefits will help with end-of-life expenses related to a veteran’s gravesite, burial, funeral, and transportation of remains to their final resting place. These benefits are available to individuals who pay for a veteran’s burial and funeral costs that are not reimbursed by any other organization.
“Last fiscal year, VA delivered more than 84,000 burial benefits to families of our veterans,” said VA Under Secretary Jacobs. “Expanding burial benefits means we are able to ensure veterans are honored in their final resting place, and assist their family, caregivers, and survivors during the difficult time of their loved one’s passing.”
The first of the expanded burial benefits is to institute a more generous single payment rate for non-service-connected burial benefits. The second is to extend the VA plot or interment allowance to Tribal organizations.
The third expanded benefit is the reimbursement of transportation expenses, to include costs for transporting remains, to state or Tribal Veterans’ cemeteries in addition to previously eligible national cemeteries.
The VA provides burial benefits for all legal burial types, including cremation, burial at sea, and donation of remains to a medical school. Eligible individuals include a surviving spouse or legal partner, surviving child, parent, or executor of the veteran’s estate.
Additionally, the VA may pay burial benefits to a funeral home or third party who handled burial arrangements for a veteran whose remains are unclaimed.
Veterans have been encouraged to plan with the end-of-life benefits provided by the VA. These benefits include VA life insurance, care preferences, survivor benefits, and burial benefits that can be applied for in advance of the veteran’s passing. For more information on these benefits, please contact www.va.gov/plan-ahead.
There is no time limit to file for a service-connected burial, plot or interment allowance, or transportation benefit. However, claims for non-service-connected burial benefits must be filed within two years of the veteran’s burial or cremation. A non-service-connected burial benefit is one in which the cause of death was not related to military service.
My Opinion: These expanded benefits by the NCA are a win – but only a small win. To my knowledge, the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and other Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) have been advocating more substantial NCA policy modifications since 2018.
For example, the DAV has supported Congressional legislation to increase the burial allowance payable in the case of death due to service-connected disability, regardless of whether the death occurs in a VA facility.
In the July 5, 2023 issue of the Clermont Sun newspaper, an article addressed this specific situation. If a veteran who has a non-service-connected disability and does not pass away at a VA facility, the surviving families are not entitled to the $893.00 burial and funeral expenses.
The DAV, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars has supported the passage of H.R. 234, Gerald’s Law, which would correct this particular situation.
Another issue that should be addressed and changed is the scheduling of weekend burials at National Veteran Cemeteries, such as the Dayton VA Cemetery.
Providing weekend burials at a National Veterans Cemetery eases scheduling and lightens the burden of veteran survivors’, many of whom may need to travel great distances to pay their last respects and honor their loved one as he or she are laid to rest.
VSO volunteer Honor Guards often render final military honors at funeral service burials. Having weekend burials would allow many veterans, who work during the week, to participate in the Honor Guards.
Another issue is the amount of burial allowance. Effective October 1, 2023, for veteran deaths on or after October 1, 2019, the VA will pay up to $796.00 toward burial and funeral expenses if the veteran was hospitalized by the VA at the time of death.
If the veteran was not hospitalized in a VA facility, the VA will pay up to $300.00 toward burial and funeral expenses.
I believe that these amounts are extremely low for the costs of a funeral/burial service at a non-National Veterans Cemetery and these amounts should be increased. This will require Congressional action and the DAV has been advocating/fighting for this since 2018.
BioSketch: John Plahovinsak is a retired 32-year Army veteran who served from 1967 to 1999. He is the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio’s Hospital Chairman and Adjutant of DAV Chapter #63 (Clermont County). He can be contacted at plahovinsak@msn.com.