VA burial benefits increased

VFW Magazine, April, 2002 by Tim Dyhouse

A new law gives the families of deceased veterans more money to bury their loved ones. The increase is included in P.L. 107-103--the Veterans Education and Benefits Expansion Act of 2001 (February 2002 "Washington Wire").

For veterans who die as a result of a service-connected disability, families now receive $2,000--up from $1,500--for burial and funeral expenses. Some 9,800 families receive the service-connected funeral reimbursement each year. It is the first increase since 1988.

The law also raised--for the first time since 1973--the cemetery plot allowance for certain other disabled veterans from $150 to $300. It is available to vets buried in non-government cemeteries. To be eligible, vets must have: been eligible to receive either VA disability compensation or a pension; been discharged from the military due to disability; or died in a VA hospital. Some 90,000 families receive the plot allowance each year.