BENEFITS AND SERVICES PROVIDED TO MILITARY VETERANS

Veterans in the military are important people who have served the country and its people ensuring security and even peace. It is for this reason that it is only prudent for them and their family to be taken care of by the government due to the sacrifice they have made for the country in the past. The government does this through providing services to benefit them and their families and also benefits to take care of most of their needs. The paper will look at the services and benefits offered to the veterans as a way of compensating for their sacrifices in the military.

One of the primary services that the veterans receive is health care. The law requires that the Veteran Affairs department provide hospital care and outpatient services defined as needed. The department defines “needed” as health services that will preserve, restore and promote a veteran’s health. The services included treatment procedures and supply of medical needs that may be useful in the recovery of the veteran. To determine whether there exists the need, a health care provider must decide by the accepted standards of medical practice.

Under the US Department of Veteran Affairs, Veterans receive various benefits that provide support for them, their dependents and other survivors. The benefits they receive include; compensation, education, life insurance, home loans and vocational rehabilitation. There are different types of compensation benefits which include disability compensation, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), and Special Monthly Compensation (SMC). Under disability compensation, a veteran may have incurred an injury or a disease during the time of services that may render him/ her disabled. A tax-free financial benefit is offered to the individual, and the amount is determined by the scale of disability the injury has caused to the veteran. Under DIC is a tax-free monetary benefit provided to the spouse, child or parents of a service member who died on either active duty, active duty for training or survivor veteran who died due to an injury that occurred during his/her service years. SMC is a tax-free benefit paid to a veteran, their spouse or parents due to special circumstances. The special circumstance may be need of help and attendance by another person due to loss of use for legs or hands, and it is paid on the basis of aid by another person.

The other benefit is that of education and training where service members, veterans, and their families are offered benefits that help them pay tuition fee. Through this program, they are assisted in finding the schools and training programs that perfectly suit them and their career needs. The critical aspect of this program is that career counseling is offered. Under life insurance benefit, Servicemembers together with veterans and their families are offered an insurance cover that protects them from uncertainties that come especially with the line of work. As a result, it ensures financial security for the military members hence allowing them to focus on their work.

Veterans also receive home loans which allow them and their spouses to own homes. The credits also ensure that a member of the military or a veteran can buy, build, repair adapt a home for personal occupancy. With this, the members have been assured the security of owning a home even after leaving the military. The loans are not directly provided by the Veteran Affairs department but by private lenders. The Veteran Affairs department, however, guarantees a percentage of the credit and as a result provision of more favorable terms for the veteran or Servicemember.

The final benefit a veteran receives from the Veteran Affairs department is the vocational rehabilitation and employment. The benefit helps veterans by training them by training them on a job, developing their resumes, employment accommodation and even job searching skill coaching. The benefit provides for independent living services to those severely disabled and are not able to work or a traditional employment setting, Other than this, it also assists those who wish to start their own business rather than being employed.

Reference

Office, V. (2018). U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Va.gov. Retrieved 20 March 2018, from

https://www.va.gov/