On Nov 10th it was announced that more than $5 million dollars is being invested by the Department of Veterans Affairs to educate Veterans and their families about VA benefits.
The Department of Veteran Affairs, in a press release, detailed that the campaign will aggressively advertise benefits including low or no cost health care, debt-free education, $0 down payments on home loans, and no-cost memorial services. It plans to use statistics for actual cost comparisons to show the potential savings for Veterans with and without VA assistance. The goal is to make those Veterans not currently enrolled in VA health care aware of its long-term and short-term benefits. As a first-of-its-kind initiative, the campaign will be showcased across various social media platforms.
For 2023 so far, records have been set for the number of Veteran benefit applications, marking a 25% increase in healthcare enrollments year-over-year. During fiscal year 2023 itself, there has been a 21% increase in broadcast and news articles aiming at informing Veterans about their earned benefits. The department has also sent out hundreds of millions of emails about the PACT Act to veterans and initiated its first-ever text marketing campaign in Sept., leading to an enrollment surge by 179% for that specific group of Veterans. “All too often, Veterans don’t know about the full scope of the health care and benefits they’ve earned through their service to our nation,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “The goal of this campaign is to change that. We want to show Veterans and their families – in the most tangible terms possible – how VA can help them afford to stay healthy, go to school, get a job, buy a home, and more.”
The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act was signed into law by President Biden on Aug. 10th, 2022 as mentioned by a White House press release. This Act aims at removing obstacles that Veterans and their families face upon returning from combat, ensuring they get the necessary care for their sacrifices. Recognized as the most comprehensive set of administrative actions in the nation's history, it aims to support economic security for Veterans and their families. Since its enactment, benefits and healthcare have been delivered to more than 340,000 veterans and survivors.
