Veterans benefits then and now

Amy Scott Nov 12, 2012
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Veterans benefits then and now

Amy Scott Nov 12, 2012
HTML EMBED:
COPY

When John Yaeger, 26, left the Marines three years ago, he had trouble finding work — like a lot of veterans. So he went to college with benefits from the post-9/11 G.I. bill.

“It’s amazing, actually,” he says, “One hundred percent of my tuition is covered.”

A housing subsidy covers most of his mortgage payment. Yaeger gets a disability check, too, for a shoulder injury. Yaeger says support for veterans seems better for his generation than it was for his father and grandfather, who also served. But others say it hasn’t changed enough.

Injured veterans have strong disability benefits, says Tom Tarantino, chief policy officer for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

“But the process to get those benefits is still stuck in the 1960s,” he says. “It’s too hard, it takes too long, and the decisions have a shockingly high error rate.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs has been working to modernize the claims process, but Tarantino says there’s another threat on the horizon. As Congress takes on the federal budget crisis, he says veteran’s benefits could be in danger.    

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.