The Department of Veterans Affairs office that handles benefits for widows, widowers and dependents of deceased veterans will shift from the VA's benefits administration to the secretary's office in a move officials say will streamline the claims and payment process for eligible survivors.
The department announced Monday that the Office of Survivors Assistance, or OSA, will return to the office of VA Secretary Doug Collins, where a staff of five will oversee the program and provide guidance to Collins on the program's policies and priorities.
As part of the changes, the VA also will create a survivor outreach team based in Philadelphia that will provide "white-glove" service to help beneficiaries with the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation claims filing process.
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"The last thing survivors need in their time of grief is frustrating red tape and bureaucracy. That's why we are creating a better system to more quickly and effectively provide survivors the services, support and compassion they've earned," Collins said Monday in a press release.
The OSA was created by Congress in 2008 to manage resources and compensation for spouses, children and other dependents of deceased veterans. In addition to overseeing claims and compensation for eligible dependents, it serves as a resource for funeral benefits, bereavement counseling, estate planning and related matters.
VA officials said Monday the office was moved to the Veterans Benefits Administration in 2021, and the return to the secretary's office will remove "layers of bureaucracy," in keeping with the intent of the 2008 law.
As part of the changes, the department said it also plans to upgrade the technology that processes Dependency and Indemnity Compensation claims payments and adjustments to "expedite survivors' claims and improve their experience."
The DIC program pays a minimum of roughly $1,600 a month tax free to spouses of veterans who died as a result of a service-connected illness or injury, and also compensates the children or parents of deceased veterans, depending on eligibility.
Republican lawmakers, including House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., and Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., have pushed since last year to modernize the survivor benefits process, including moving the office back to the secretary's watch.
Bost said Monday that the changes ensure that survivors again "are prioritized."
"It should go without saying that the grieving surviving families of our nation's veterans should not have to comb through piles of paperwork by themselves just to get the benefits their veteran loved ones have earned," Bost said.
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