Mandatory Spending
Function 700 - Veterans' Benefits and Services
Narrow Eligibility for Veterans' Disability Compensation by Excluding Certain Disabilities Unrelated to Military Duties
CBO periodically issues a compendium of policy options (called Options for Reducing the Deficit) covering a broad range of issues, as well as separate reports that include options for changing federal tax and spending policies in particular areas. This option appears in one of those publications. The options are derived from many sources and reflect a range of possibilities. For each option, CBO presents an estimate of its effects on the budget but makes no recommendations. Inclusion or exclusion of any particular option does not imply an endorsement or rejection by CBO.
| Billions of dollars | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2015-2019 | 2015-2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change in Outlays | 0.0 | -2.5 | -2.3 | -2.1 | -2.3 | -2.2 | -2.2 | -2.4 | -2.2 | -2.1 | -9.1 | -20.3 |
Note: This option would take effect in October 2015. Estimates are relative to CBO’s August 2014 baseline projections.
Veterans may receive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs for medical conditions or injuries that occurred or worsened during active-duty military service (excluding those resulting from willful misconduct). Some medical conditions and injuries that are deemed to be service-connected disabilities were incurred or exacerbated in the performance of military duties, but others were not. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), seven qualifying medical conditions that are generally neither caused nor aggravated by military service are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, arteriosclerotic heart disease, hemorrhoids, uterine fibroids, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, and osteoarthritis.
This option would cease veterans’ disability compensation for the seven medical conditions identified by GAO. Under the option, veterans currently receiving compensation for those conditions would have their compensation reduced or eliminated following a reevaluation, and veterans who applied for compensation for those conditions in the future would not be eligible for it.