Important Veterans Benefits Update – Everything could change as of this date

There are good news for U.S veterans coming. With the increase in inflation over the past few years and the volatility of the economy, the benefits of they were receiving were not able to keep up with their expenses. This is why the Senate passed a new bill, The Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2024.

This bill, passed with unanimous consent, will soon be sent to President Joe Biden so that it can be signed and passed into law. If it all goes according to plan, starting in December, millions of veterans will likely receive increased benefits, including increased wartime disability compensation, additional financial support for dependents, and an expanded clothing allowance for veterans with certain disabilities. The bill also includes an increase to dependency and indemnity compensation for the families of veterans, like surviving spouses and children.

To make the matter easier, the benefits will be increased by the same percentage as Social Security benefits, which is tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), specifically the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). The figure for next year’s increase was announced on October 10, and, thanks to the analysis of multiple experts, the 2,5% increase that was announced did not come as a surprise.

Multiple members of the Senate gave statements after the passing of the bill, emphasizing the importance of the increase for the former members of the troops and their families. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee chairman Jon Tester said in a statement “At a time when folks are struggling with rising costs, from housing to groceries, veterans deserve absolute certainty when it comes to providing for their families.”

Committee ranking member Jerry Moran also said of the bill “We have a responsibility to provide care and support for our nation’s veterans and their families. Making certain earned benefits stay on pace with rising prices will help provide veterans and their families with much-needed peace of mind. I am thankful for the support of my colleagues on this important legislation and look forward to the President signing it into law.”

The experts that predicted the Social Security and now Veteran benefits increase

Although he final number for the benefits increase has already been announced and is now set in stone, it is important to note that nor everyone was in agreement about the amount of the increase. Some expert, the most conservative ones, ended up being the ones to correctly interpret the early data and fill in the blanks to get to the 2.5 percent increase.

Amongst the correct predictors, we can find independent Social Security and Medicare policy analyst Mary Johnson, who, in a statement to Newsweek posited with certainty “The 2025 COLA will be the lowest received by Social Security beneficiaries since 2021, at the same time inflated prices persist on key essentials such as housing, meats, auto insurance, any type of service and repairs. Despite it being the lowest COLA since 2021, a 2.5 percent COLA would be considered about average.”

But before the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the final figures, some optimists like retirement expert Burt Williamson from PlanPrep were hopeful that the Social Security Administration would increase benefits more than expected to combat the ravages of inflation in seniors’ finances “I believe they will increase Social Security benefits this year by no less than 3 percent, highly volatile energy costs are the leading factor holding inflation down. They have to consider a spike in those costs in the winter months, which would spike the cost of living for seniors. Anything less than 3 percent will have a negative impact on the sentiment of most seniors, who continue to deal with much higher costs of everything that spiked over the last few years.”

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Regrettably the 3percent increase did not come to fruition, but thanks to The Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2024, both retirees and veterans can now enjoy a benefit that is adjusted to the prices of today.

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