VA breaks records for veterans served despite slowing hiring

The Veterans Affairs Department delivered record levels of health care and benefits to veterans in fiscal 2024, achieving the new highs despite tapering its hiring of new staff in the year. 

VA saw its health care appointments climb by 6% year to year to 127.5 million, boasting it did so while cutting wait times at its facilities across the country. The benefits VA doled out jumped by 15% to $187 billion, while the number of disability benefit claims processed soared by 27% to more than 2.5 million. 

All of those figures set all-time records at VA, breaking the highs VA had set the previous year. VA also permanently housed 48,000 previously homeless veterans in fiscal 2024. 

“By nearly every metric, VA is smashing records we had set last year,” department Secretary Denis McDonough said at a National Press Club event in Washington on Tuesday. “That means even more care, even more benefits to even more veterans. It's not just more care, it's better world class care, and it's better health outcomes for veterans than in the private sector.” 

Nearly 800,000 veterans have enrolled in VA since President Biden signed the PACT Act into law, which newly made eligible for VA care and benefits veterans at risk of toxic exposure. That marked a 37% increase over the previous equivalent time period. Benefit claims increased by 30% over the last two years compared to the prior two. 

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif,. the top Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, praised the department's accomplishments as "tremendous news." 

"It is important that we keep our commitment to veterans to pay for all costs of war," Takano said, though he added there was still more work to do. "We must continue to build on its success in getting more healthcare and benefits to the veterans who need them."

The department increased the number of veterans it served despite a significant slowdown in its hiring rate compared to its record-setting year in fiscal 2023. The Veterans Health Administration, where the vast majority of VA employees work, still grew its workforce by 2% in fiscal 2024, but that was down from 7% growth the previous year. The Veterans Benefits Administration saw its workforce increase by 10% last fiscal year, but that was down from a 23% spike in fiscal 2023. 

VA is expected to continue operating a constrained hiring environment in fiscal 2025, with the department saying it expects to shed 10,000 workers through attrition. The Biden administration is seeking a supplemental appropriation of $12 billion to plug shortfalls in VA’s fiscal 2025 budget, however, which Congress has yet to award and Congressional Republicans have said they still have outstanding questions. McDonough said with the extra funding, VHA would slightly grow its workforce to meet growing demands in certain regions. 

“We're hopeful that, as we make this argument to Congress, we'll get their attention and their help, as we have routinely in the past,” McDonough said Tuesday. “We'll see how this plays out over the course of next month.” 

VA officials previously expressed confidence they could sustain the growth in care and benefits despite the workforce reductions, noting they are seeing veterans and processing claims more quickly. They said short-term efforts to ramp up appointments available, combined with long-term hiring and technology improvements that boost productivity, have led to shorter wait times for veterans. Still, many veterans have reported significant delays in receiving mental health care appointments. 

McDonough praised employees for their dedication, particularly in the wake of Hurricane Helene. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, the department had identified 2,600 veterans at risk in Asheville, North Carolina, including those undergoing chemotherapy or requiring oxygen support. VA employees went out to check on those veterans and were eventually able to account for all of them. McDonough said those employees risked their own lives to support veterans, all while dealing with destroyed homes and other impacts to their personal lives. 

“They are the best, most compassionate, highest performing, most dedicated workforce in the federal government, in the entire country,” McDonough said.