On May 6, 2025, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a new three-part initiative for survivors and dependents of deceased veterans and servicemembers. This three-part initiative was a plan of reforms designed to expedite and simplify access to their VA benefits.
The major reform included relocating the Office of Survivors Assistance (OSA) from the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) back to the Office of the VA Secretary. This reform reversed a 2021 decision that, according to a VA spokesperson, “buried the office under layers of bureaucracy and limited its’ effectiveness.”
According to the VA, the 2021 decision created “a siloed system at odds with the intent of the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008.”
The reform is intended to restore OSA’s original role as a central advisory body, giving it direct access to VA leadership. A five-person team will now be formed to advise the VA Secretary on survivor-related legislation, policies, and programs.
The second reform focused on the launching of a personalized “White- Glove” Survivor Outreach Team. Starting on May 6, 2025, the Outreach Team will be based at the Philadelphia VA Regional Benefits Office.
The newly formed Team will consist of highly trained experts who will guide survivors through the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) claims process.
According to the VA, the experts on the “White-Glove” survivor Outreach Team will receive specialized training. They will guide and assist eligible survivors throughout every step of the DIC claims process with the goal of getting to “yes” on DIC claims decisions for eligible survivors.
The DIC Program provides a minimum of approximately $1,600 a month tax-free income to spouses of veterans who died because of a service-connected illness or injury, and compensates the children or parents of deceased veterans, depending on eligibility.
The last reform in this action will be to expand automation in the veterans’ benefits system. The overall objective is to close long-standing gaps in communication and ensure eligible families receive personalized assistance from start to finish.
To further streamline access, the VA is expanding its use of automation in processing DIC claims. Currently, the VA automates more than 1,000 DIC claims payments or adjustments each day.
Officials state that the new automation efforts will speed up claims, reduce delays, and make it easier for survivors to receive the benefits they deserve. The VA is also exploring additional ways automation can improve the overall delivery of survivor-related services.
These three (3) new measures are part of an overall effort by the VA to modernize and improve the way it delivers support to families of fallen service members. All three reforms are set to begin immediately or within the month, with full implementation expected to continue throughout 2025.
Republican Congressional lawmakers, including House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, with Representatives Juan Ciscomani and David Valadao, have pushed since 2024 to modernize the survivor benefits process by moving the office back to the VA Secretary’s supervision.
Congressman Bost said, on May 6, 2025, that the changes ensure that survivors again “are prioritized.”
“It should go without saying that the grieving surviving families of our nation’s veterans should not have to comb through piles of paperwork by themselves jus to get the benefits their veteran loved ones have earned,” Congressman Bost said.
“The last thing survivors need in their time of grief is frustrating red tape and bureaucracy,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins. “That’s why we are creating a better system to more quickly and effectively provide survivors the services, support and compassion they’ve earned.”
VA Secretary Collins has said multiple times that the VA has long been associated with bureaucratic inefficiency and under-delivering on its promises. According to the VA, this reform effort, to revamp the survivor benefits process, is part of its attempt to live up to its core mission.
“By getting rid of the bureaucracy and freeing up money, we will have more claims processed,” concluded VA Deputy Secretary Paul Lawerence. “We will have more doctors and healthcare providers as a result.”
My Opinion: In the February 23, 2023, issue of The Clermont Sun newspaper, I firmly stated that the VA and Congress should expand eligibility for the DIC Program by removing the “ten-year” rule with a scale of benefits that begins at five (5) years for the initial eligibility.
The newly introduced bipartisan H.R. 680, Caring for Survivors Act of 2025 would accomplish that and finally increase the amount of DIC monthly compensation to a totally disabled veteran.
This would finally bring parity to payments for DIC recipients, which currently lags behind other similar Federal program payments by nearly twelve (12%) percent.
The rate of compensation paid to survivors of service members who die in the line of duty or veterans who die from service-related injuries or diseases was established back in 1993.
It has only been minimally adjusted since that time. Benefits are currently restricted for survivors if the veteran was disabled for less than ten (10) years before death.
The recent VA reforms of the DIC Program are the first steps, but they should be followed with actions like the Caring for Survivors Act of 2025!
BioSketch: John Plahovinsak is a retired 32-year Army veteran, who served from 1967 to 1999. He is the current Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio’s Hospital Chairman and Adjutant of Chapter #63 (Clermont County). He can be contacted at: plahovinsak@msn.com.
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