Amid looming defense cuts, President Barak Obama has assured veterans that funding for their benefits and health care will remain unaffected.
As part of the debt compromise passed in July, the military budget will be cut by $500 billion over the next 10 years. Moreover, if Congress can’t find money elsewhere, the military budget may be reduced another $500 billion through sequestration.
As reported by the Huffington Post in this recent article concerning veterans benefits, President Obama recently assured members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars that veterans’ benefits and health care are exempt from the automatic cuts. Commenting on the situation, Fox News’ Ed Henry tweeted, “President tells VFW they will NOT be affected by defense cuts: “your veterans benefits are exempt from sequestration. They are EXEMPT!”
Cuts to the nation’s military defense budget have emerged as a hot topic for this year’s presidential election. Candidate Mitt Romney criticized President Obama for allowing the cuts to occur in the first place during the campaign. Given President Obama’s re-election it looks like the VA benefits will remain protected for the foreseeable future.
When I do planning for VA benefits, I’m shocked at how few people know about the benefit at all. I wonder how loudly people will scream if they knew all of the benefits that were available. It seems like “VA Benefits” falls under this large umbrella without any real understanding of what it all entails.