Noteboom The Law Firm

The VA May Be Held Responsible For Funeral Costs

The Department of Veterans Affairs is vehemently opposing pending legislation that would force them to pay for funeral honors. More specifically, if passed, the bill would require the VA to reimburse some incidental expenses for veterans and retirees volunteering to present military funeral honors.

One main reason the VA is opposing this legislation is to avoid establishing what could be a dangerous precedent. If the VA is required to reimburse volunteers in this instance, there is nothing stopping every other volunteer from demanding payment for their "volunteer" service.

H.R. 811 would mandate the travel and incidental expense reimbursements be paid to members of any group, including veterans service organizations, as long as they are VA-approved for providing burial details.

This country's military no longer possesses the capacity to be able to provide military honors at every funeral for a veteran. Therefore, they use volunteers, especially those from veterans organizations to provide such services.

Likely every veteran organization considers it incredibly offensive and improper veterans are being buried without proper military honors. It would be easier to attract volunteers if their out-of-pocket expenses were reimbursed.

The VA, however, points to the Department of Defense (DoD) as already addressing this issue. The DoD is authorized to pay either a daily stipend or travel and transportation expenses. Forcing the VA to also pay these costs would be duplicative.

They go further in saying there is no additional money being allocated for the VA's National Cemetery administration, which would be tasked with charging the volunteers' time. Finally, the VA is opposing the legislation because if they were forced to reimburse these volunteers, they would likely create feelings of inequality in their workforce because not every volunteer will be reimbursed.

If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veterans disability rights firm today - 1-888-234-5758.