Changes to Veteran’s Benefits: What You Should Know
If you or a loved one is a veteran, you should know about these recent changes to certain benefits. Eligible veterans who served in the U.S. military, their spouses, and certain family members may qualify for direct stimulus payments, healthcare through the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), disability compensation, and burial benefits. As a certified Veterans Funeral Specialist (VFS), Tulip is committed to helping veterans and their families obtain the benefits and honors they deserve.
More Vets Qualify for Care Under PACT Act
Effective March 5, 2024, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) expanded eligibility under the PACT Act. The PACT Act ensures health care services for veterans exposed to Agent Orange, burn pits, and other toxic substances. Under the revised guidelines, these groups may seek health care through the VA right now:
- Veterans exposed to toxins during military service
- Veterans assigned to certain duty stations in Southwest Asia or parts of Africa
- Veterans who deployed in support of specific operations post-9/11
Veteran's Stimulus Check 2024
In a significant financial assistance initiative for 2024, the U.S. government announced the distribution of stimulus checks worth $3,600 as part of the Veterans Benefits Administration's effort to support disabled war veterans, survivors, and those with limited incomes.
- Qualifying veterans and their beneficiaries will receive a direct payment of $3,737 in the Spring of 2024.
- Another stimulus payment of up to $1,400 per person will be distributed in late April 2024, focusing on VA beneficiaries who typically do not file tax returns.
Increased VA Burial Benefits Ease Funeral Costs
Burial benefits for qualifying veterans and their families recently received a historic increase. The bi-partisan Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Act of 2023 boosted disability compensation, certain allowances, survivorship pensions, and burial benefits by an average of 8.7 percent.
Boosts to VA Burial Allowances
Qualifying family members may apply for a burial allowance within two years of a non-service-connected death. There is no time limit for filing for service-connected transportation or burial, plot, and interment allowance.
The VA gives qualified veterans or their eligible family members a financial break on burial, funeral, and cremation costs. Some of these benefits include:
- An allowance for burial, funeral, or cremation costs
- An allowance for the internment, plot, or grave marker
- Transportation reimbursement for transporting the remains to a final resting place
Burial Allowance for 2024
The VA provides a burial and funeral expense allowance, with a plot-interment allowance available under certain conditions.
- Burial allowance amounts for a service-connected death (after 9/2001): $2,000
- Burial allowance amounts for a non-service-connected death (after 10/2023): $948 burial allowance and $948 for a plot
Expanded Eligibility for VA Burial Transportation Money
More military families now qualify for the VA burial transportation allowance. The VA pays to transport a veteran’s remains from the place of death to the location of burial if the following is true:
- The veteran’s date of death is after January 5, 2023
- Death and burial occur within a state
- Veteran meets any of the following:
- The veteran’s remains are unclaimed
- At the time of death, the veteran received VA disability compensation, military retired pay in place of disability compensation, or VA Pension (also called Non-Service-Connected Pension)
Transportation benefits for death while in VA care are always paid if the veteran dies in a VA Medical facility or another facility approved under VA expense.
Veterans: Save $100 with Tulip
Tulip is a certified Veterans Funeral Specialist (VFS) with special training to make and coordinate arrangements for veterans and their families. Click here to learn more about our dignified direct cremation and get a coupon code to save $100.