For those veterans with and without disabilities who have served in the United States Armed Forces, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers extensive benefits to care for veterans, spouses, survivors and dependents.

More Veterans Benefits Available
The number of individuals eligible for veterans' benefits is increasing. According to the VA, about a quarter of the nation’s population, approximately 74.5 million people, are potentially eligible for veterans' benefits and services because they are veterans, family members or survivors of veterans.

Of the more than 250,000 Americans with serious spinal cord injuries (SCI) and disorders, about 42,000 are veterans eligible for medical care and other disability benefits from the VA. In 2006, the VA provided a full range of care to nearly 26,000 veterans with spinal cord injuries and SCI specialty care to about 13,000 of these veterans.

In 1977, while serving on active duty with the U.S. Army, Sebastian DeFrancesco, 54, of Santa Cruz, CA, sustained a C5, 6 spinal cord injury in a jeep accident near Verona, Italy. In critical condition, DeFrancesco was flown first to a military hospital in Germany for immediate medical care, then to the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC, before finally completing an intensive spinal cord injury rehabilitation program at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

“While an injury like mine is more than life-changing, I was fortunate to have been serving in the military when it happened,” explained Sebastian DeFrancesco. “My service connection has allowed me to pursue a career in sports and make important decisions about my path in life,” he added.

Service-Connected Disability
A service-connected disability, according to the VA, is an injury incurred or aggravated during active military service. Benefits such as compensation, vocational rehabilitation and employment, Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grants, medical care and prioritization, adaptive automobile assistance grants, aides and attendants as well as sensory and prosthetic equipment assistance is available at different levels to veterans who have been assigned a service-connected disability rating. Some are also available to those who are classified as non service-connected.

“Having a service-connected disability is very similar to drawing disability insurance if you were injured while working on a job,” said DeFrancesco. “The benefits package is complete, and the VA tailors it to each veteran,” he added.

Disabled Veteran Success
In the last three decades, DeFrancesco has done more in a wheelchair than most people dream of accomplishing in a lifetime. He represented the United States in five different Paralympics Games (as well as numerous national and world championships) in track and field and table tennis, and was a 1998 inductee into the Wheelchair Sports Hall of Fame.

Over the years, he has volunteered his time helping other disabled children and adults at facilities such as the Massachusetts Hospital School in Canton, Massachusetts, and has served on the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) National Sports Board. DeFrancesco is now the treasurer of the Bay Area & Western Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

He attributes much of his success to his affiliation with the VA.

“Because of my access to certain VA grant programs, I was one of the first athletes to receive a rigid frame sports chair as well as a handcycle. The VA makes an investment in each veteran and understands the need for personalized and sports-specific equipment and makes the correct investment in the athlete. The equipment is definitely expensive, but if a veteran uses it for the right reasons, like improving overall health or competition, the VA will continue to offer the benefit,” DeFrancesco said.

DeFrancesco has also utilized several other VA grants for himself and his family. These include the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant, HISA grant and adaptive automobile assistance grants as well as educational assistance for his eldest daughter Alicia, 21, who is a senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Overall, I have never had any major problems getting care and service from the VA and, even now, I have the option to go back to school if I wanted,” he stated.

DeFrancesco first used his educational grant to go to school at the University of Massachusetts. While athletic commitments and a series of medical issues changed his course, he is considering going back to school to finish his bachelor’s degree and earn a teaching certificate.

DeFrancesco concluded, “The VA, along with agencies like the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), is constantly working to ensure that American veterans receive top-notch benefits. The VA works hard to stay ahead of the needs of the veteran and make life for those with and without a disability as rewarding and complete as it can be.”

VETERANS BENEFITS OVERVIEW

Disability Compensation and Pension
Disability compensation is a payment to veterans who are disabled by injury or disease incurred or aggravated by military service. Veterans with low incomes or who are permanently and totally disabled, or are age 65 or older, may be eligible for monetary support if they have met active duty service requirements and have been discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. In this case, payments are made to bring the veteran’s total income to a level set by Congress.

Veteran Education and Training
VA educational benefits may be used while the service member is on active duty or after the service member’s separation from active duty with a fully honorable military discharge.

Since the GI Bill began in 1944, more than 21.8 million veterans, service members and family members have received $75.6 billion in GI benefits for education and training. Since the dependents’ program was enacted in 1956, the VA has also assisted in the education of more than 775,000 dependents of veterans whose deaths or disabilities were service-connected. Since the Vietnam-era, there have been approximately 2.7 million veterans, service members, reservists and National Guardsmen who have participated in the Veterans’ Educational Assistance Program (VEAP).

VA Health Care
Perhaps the most visible of all VA benefits is medical care. VA’s healthcare system now includes 155 medical centers with at least one in each state, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. The VA also operates more than 1,400 sites of care including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, domiciliaries, readjustment counseling centers, and other facilities.

During the last 10 years, the VA has put its healthcare facilities under 21 networks, which now provide more medical services to more veterans and their families than at any other time in history. Disabled veterans with service-connected disabilities receive priority access to hospital and outpatient care. Approved medical services also include access to prosthetic, mobility, recreational and sensory aid equipment to help maintain and improve quality of life.

Home Loan Assistance and Housing Grants
Home loans are offered by the VA to help veterans and their families purchase homes. VA home loan guarantees are issued to help veterans, reservists, and unmarried surviving spouses obtain homes, condominiums, residential cooperative housing units, and manufactured homes as well as to refinance loans.

The most common grant offered by the VA is the Home Improvement and Structural Alterations (HISA) grant. It is offered in different amounts to service-connected (up to $4,100) and non service-connected veterans (up to $1,200) who may have disabilities that prevent their access to the home or essential lavatory or sanitary facilities or that require special home installation of therapeutic equipment, rehabilitative devices, or other equipment associated with medical treatment.

Veterans who have specific service-connected disabilities may be entitled to a grant for the purpose of modifying an existing home to meet their adaptive needs. The Special Home Adaptations (SHA) grant is available to service-connected veterans to assist veterans with mobility and accessibility throughout their existing homes. It is currently capped at $10,000.

The Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) Grant Program is also available to create a wheelchair accessible home. The goal of this program is to provide a barrier-free living environment that affords the veteran a level of independent living that he or she may not have otherwise enjoyed. This grant is currently limited to $50,000.

Veteran Life Insurance for Brain Injury
The VA directly administers six life insurance programs. In addition, the VA supervises the Service member’s Group Life Insurance (SGLI) and Veteran’s Group Life Insurance (VGLI) programs. The Traumatic Injury Protection program under SGLI provides coverage to active-duty personnel who sustain traumatic brain injuries that result in severe losses. Benefits range from $25,000 to $100,000, depending on the loss.

Vocational Rehabilitation
VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program provides services to enable disabled veterans to achieve maximum independence in daily living and, to the maximum extent feasible, obtain and maintain employment.

In this program, VA pays all the costs of approved training programs and may also offer a subsistence allowance. This program may also include training, such as a certificate, two- or four-year college, work study, post graduate, or technical programs. Necessary educational materials (such as a personal computer and books) are often covered.

Veteran Burial and Memorial Benefits
Veterans discharged from active duty under conditions other than dishonorable and service members who die while on active duty, as well as spouses and dependent children of veterans and active duty service members may be eligible for VA burial and memorial benefits. Burial in a VA national cemetery is available for eligible veterans, their spouses and dependents at no cost to the family and includes the gravesite, grave-liner, opening and closing of the grave, a headstone or marker and perpetual care as part of a national shrine. The VA currently maintains 124 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico. The VA also administers the Presidential Memorial Certificate program, which provides gold-embossed certificates signed by the president to commemorate honorably discharged deceased veterans. Other benefits (such as burial flags furnished by the VA, military funeral honors, and reimbursement of burial expenses) are also available.

Other Veterans' Benefits
The VA also administers benefits such as transition assistance (a program to help veterans transition from military to civilian life), pre-separation counseling and temporary unemployment compensation, as appropriate. Other benefits are also available for dependents and survivors. These include educational assistance to qualifying dependents and VA medical care provided to family members. Veterans may also receive certain benefits (such as small business assistance or loans for farms) through VA relationships with other federal agencies.

Eligibility for Veteran Benefits and How to Get Started
Eligibility for most VA benefits is based upon discharge from active duty under other than dishonorable conditions. Active service equates to full-time service (other than active duty for training) as a member of the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Aid force, Coast Guard, or as a commissioned officer of the Public Health Services, Environmental Science Services Administration or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or its predecessor, the Coast and Geodetic Survey.

To receive VA benefits for the first time, veterans must submit a copy of their service discharge form (DD-214, DD-215 or WD form) or give their full name, military service number, and branch and date of service. Many benefits are administered through either a VA regional office or at a VA medical facility, depending on the benefit.VA counselors and staff work with each veteran on an individual basis to begin the benefit process.

For most veterans, entry into the VA health care system begins by applying for enrollment by completing the VA Form 10-10EZ, Application for Health Benefits, which may be obtained from any VA health care facility or regional benefits office, online, or by calling 1-877-222-VETS. During enrollment, each veteran is assigned a rating and priority group. Once enrolled, a veteran can receive medical care at VA health care facilities anywhere in the country.

About the Department of Veterans Affairs
Established on March 15, 1989, succeeding the Veterans Administration, VA is the second largest of the 15 Cabinet departments and operates nationwide programs for health care, financial assistance and burial benefits. VA’s fiscal year spending was projected to be over $80 billion, including $34.9 billion for health care, $41.5 billion for benefits and $160.7 million for the national cemetery system.

The above descriptions were compiled from the 2007 edition of Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents as well as from Department of Veterans Affairs benefit information releases and fact sheets.

For detailed benefit information, please visit http://www.va.gov/ or visit your regional VA office.

See Related Articles
For more information about healthcare and disability benefits for disabled veterans, see The VA Health Care System Offers Special Disability Benefits.

Discover how veterans with disabilities maintain a healthy lifestyle, despite their injuries, in VA Equipment Grants Help Veterans with Disabilities Stay Active.