SIC 9451 Administration of Veterans Affairs, Except Health and Insurance

Encyclopedia of American Industries | 2005 | Copyright

SIC 9451
ADMINISTRATION OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, EXCEPT HEALTH AND INSURANCE

This category includes government establishments primarily engaged in administration of programs of assistance, training, counseling, and other services to veterans and their dependents, heirs, or survivors. Also included are offices that maintain liaison and coordinate activities with other service organizations and governmental agencies. Veterans hospitals are classified in Hospitals categories, and veterans' insurance in the Insurance Carriers industries.

NAICS Code(s)

923140 (Administration of Veteran's Affairs)

Industry Snapshot

In 2002, there were an estimated 25 million veterans in the United States, most of whom served during periods of armed conflict. More than 70 million Americans, including veterans and their dependents, were potentially eligible for veterans benefits provided by the U.S. government, representing approximately one-third of the nation's population.

Veterans' benefits were administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, second in size only to the Department of Defense among government departments. In 2004, the Department of Veterans Affairs had a budget of approximately $63.6 billion. About $30.2 billion of the department's budget went to discretionary funding and $33.4 billion to entitlements. Department-wide employment was about 203,000 in 2000, down from 266,000 in 1993.

Organization and Structure

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is organized into three functional agencies: the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery System. The VHA operates the largest health care system in the nation, including 173 medical centers, 133 nursing homes, 40 domiciliary care units, and 398 outpatient clinics. An estimated 3.6 million veterans received medical treatment in 1999. Combat veterans also received counseling at more than 200 Vietnam Veteran Outreach Centers for a variety of problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder. The budget for medical programs in 1999 accounted for more than 40 percent of the total budget.

The Veterans Benefits Administration is responsible for most nonmedical benefit programs, including disability compensation, pensions, burial benefits, rehabilitation assistance, home loan guarantees, and insurance. These entitlement programs amounted to $20.1 billion in 1999, when the agency processed approximately 3.5 million claims by veterans seeking disability compensation or pensions. Another 631,640 widows, children, or parents of deceased veterans were receiving survivor benefits. In addition, more than 370,000 veterans or their dependents were receiving educational benefits, and about 343,954 veterans had received home loan guarantees for new mortgages, as well as refinancing. Since the GI Bill of Rights was passed in 1944, the government has guaranteed home loans for more than 15 million veterans and their dependents. About 20.7 million veterans and dependents have attended college or received job training. The Veterans Benefits Administration also administers the fourth largest insurance program in the United States, with 2.2 million policyholders.

The National Cemetery System consists of 114 cemeteries and 34 memorials and monuments to veterans of the nation's wars. More than 2 million veterans and family members are buried in these national cemeteries, which occupy more than 5,000 developed acres. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also provides headstones and markers for veterans' graves in private cemeteries. In 1999, the National Cemetery System's 1,300 employees provided more than 61,370 interments. The agency projects that its interments will increase nearly 50 percent by 2008.

Background and Development

The United States has provided veterans' benefits since 1818, when Congress finally agreed to pay veterans of the Revolutionary War pensions they had been promised for more than 40 years. During the War, the Continental Congress had encouraged enlistments by promising pensions for soldiers who were disabled in the fighting. It also approved a lifetime pension amounting to half-pay for all officers. However, because the Continental Congress did not have the power to raise money through taxes, there was no practical way to fulfill either promise.

In 1780, the Continental Congress voted to give officers who served until the end of...

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