VA Disability Compensation: Actions Needed to Address Hurdles Facing Program Modernization. Report to Congressional Committees.

摘要

VA administers one of the nation's largest federal disability compensation programs, providing veterans with a cash benefit based on average loss of earning capacity as a result of service-connected disabilities. However, concerns exist that VA's rating schedule--the criteria used to assign degree of work disability--is not consistent with changes in medicine and the labor market. Due in part to these types of challenges, GAO designated federal disability programs as high risk. Consequently, GAO examined (1) VA's progress in revising its rating schedule with updated medical and economic information; and (2) the opportunities and challenges of various policy approaches proposed by commissions and others for updating VA's disability benefits structure. To do this, GAO reviewed literature and VA documents, and relevant federal laws and regulations, as well as interviewed VA officials, disability experts, and veteran groups.