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Black veterans are less likely to receive physical or mental health benefits than their White counterparts when requested by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
According to new data from the VA, Black veterans do not receive as much benefits, despite having the same occupation.
In 2023, there was nearly a five percent difference that separated the two groups from one another. Out of the Black men who applied, 84.8% of them received physical or mental health benefits. In comparison, 89.4% of their White counterparts were granted benefits.
Since at least 2017, White veterans have been given bigger benefit packages than Black veterans, the VA’s data shows.
New Initiative enacted to help Black veterans
On Thursday, the VA launched a new Agency Equity Team. The purpose of the initiative is to determine the different rates of health benefits based on skin color.
“At VA, it’s our mission to serve all Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors as well as they’ve served our country. This new Agency Equity Team will help us deliver on that promise,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough stated. “The team’s first order of business will be identifying any disparities in VA health care and benefits and eliminating them.”
The new data confirms that Black veterans receive fewer benefits, and are more likely to be denied disability benefits after Post Traumatic Stress disorder, compared to their White counterparts.
Terrence Hayes, VA press secretary, referred to the establishment of the Agency Equity Team, as a “unique opportunity to re-engage with veterans who filed claims in the past and were denied and may have lost faith in the system.”
“They may have lost trust with the VA because of those denials, but now we have a unique opportunity to bring them back in our health care system or to get them to re-apply to get the benefits they earned,” he said.
With the new data showcasing the percentage, it conveys the large disparity, while also signifying the amount of work that needs to be done to make things equal.
Someone should address the fact that vets who served less than 24 continuous months active duty can’t get crap from the VA but spouses and other family members of vets who’ve never served a day don’t have this limitation? This is one of the many reasons the Military has a recruitment gap. Black vets have always gotten the short end of the stick, not to mention being disproportionately gang stalked & unhoused in America. If you are considering the military, DON’T!!!!!