The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) announced that Joshua Jacobs will be the new Under Secretary for Benefits.
According to a press release by the VA’s Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, this is the first time since 2014 that the VA has confirmed an Under Secretary for Benefits, Under Secretary for Health and also an Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs.
“Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors deserve world-class benefits for their service to our country, and there’s nobody better to lead VA in delivering those benefits than Josh Jacobs,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “Josh is an excellent leader who has dedicated his career to advocating for Veterans — and under his leadership, I’m confident that VA will continue delivering more benefits, more quickly, to more Veterans than ever before.”
Jacobs’ role involves leading the way in delivering earned benefits to Veterans as well as their families, survivors and caregivers. He will oversee the implementation of PACT Act, which is the largest Veteran health care and benefit expansion in many years. The PACT Act started on August 10, 2022, when it was signed into law by President Joe Biden. More than 500,000 PACT-Act related claims for toxic exposure have been made and more than $1 billion in earned benefits have gone to Veterans and survivors who filed these claims since its inception.
According to the release, these are unprecedented times for the VBA, as they are delivering benefits quicker and more efficiently than ever. Last month, the one millionth disability compensation and pension claim was filed for fiscal year 2023. At this rate, the VA will process a record number of claims for three years straight.
“Thanks to aggressive hiring and modernization efforts, VA processed a record number of Veteran claims in 2021, exceeded that in 2022, and is on track to exceed it again in 2023,” the press release stated. “In total, VA has delivered more than $65 billion in earned compensation benefits to Veterans during fiscal year 2023.”
