{"id":7466,"date":"2025-05-05T14:12:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T14:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7466"},"modified":"2025-05-05T14:12:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T14:12:03","slug":"va-announces-major-survivor-benefits-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7466","title":{"rendered":"VA announces major survivor benefits reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2025-05-05T14:12:03+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WASHINGTON<\/strong> \u2014 The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced a three-pronged approach to eliminate barriers and streamline the process for how eligible survivors and dependents of deceased Veterans and servicemembers apply for and receive VA benefits and services.<\/p>\n<p>Specific improvements include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Starting this month, VA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/survivors\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Office of Survivors Assistance<\/a> will be moved from the Veterans Benefits Administration to the Office of the VA Secretary, reversing a Biden-era decision that buried OSA under layers of bureaucracy.<\/li>\n<li>Starting this month, VA will create a \u201cwhite-glove\u201d survivor outreach team to guide and assist eligible survivors throughout their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/family-and-caregiver-benefits\/survivor-compensation\/dependency-indemnity-compensation\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Dependency and Indemnity Compensation<\/a> (DIC) claims process.<\/li>\n<li>Starting immediately, VA will begin work to identify areas where automation can be used to make the DIC claims process easier to navigate for survivors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cThe last thing survivors need in their time of grief is frustrating red tape and bureaucracy. That\u2019s why we are creating a better system to more quickly and effectively provide survivors the services, support and compassion they\u2019ve earned,\u201d said <strong>VA Secretary Doug Collins.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Background information on the changes VA announced today is below.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Relocating OSA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 2021, the Biden administration moved OSA from the Office of the VA Secretary to the Veterans Benefits Administration, creating a siloed system at odds with the intent of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/110th-congress\/senate-bill\/3023\" rel=\"noopener\">Veterans\u2019 Benefits Improvement Act of 2008<\/a>. Starting this month, VA will reverse this decision and move OSA to the Office of the VA Secretary, where a staff of five full-time employees will advise the Secretary on all matters related to the policies, programs and legislative issues affecting survivors and dependents.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWhite-Glove\u201d Survivor Outreach Team<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Under previous administrations, there were gaps in the survivor claims system and no defined outreach process for VA employees to gather information from survivors navigating the benefit process. VA\u2019s \u201cWhite-Glove\u201d Survivor Outreach Team will begin operations in May 2025 and consist of experts based out of the Philadelphia VA Regional Benefit Office. These experts will receive specialized training and guide and assist eligible survivors throughout every step of the DIC claims process with the goal of getting to \u201cyes\u201d on DIC claims decisions for eligible survivors.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Automation Improvements<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>VA now automates more than 1,000 DIC claims payments or adjustments per day and is in the process of ongoing enhancements to increase automation that will expedite survivors\u2019 claims and improve their experience. VA will also be identifying additional areas where automation can be used to make all benefits delivery processes easier to navigate for eligible surviving dependents.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/va-announces-major-survivor-benefits-reforms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced a three-pronged approach to eliminate barriers and streamline the process for how eligible survivors and dependents of deceased Veterans and servicemembers apply for and receive VA benefits and services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-caregivers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>VA announces major survivor benefits reforms - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced a three-pronged approach to eliminate barriers and streamline the process for how eligible survivors and dependents of deceased Veterans and servicemembers apply for and receive VA benefits and services.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7466\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA announces major survivor benefits reforms - 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