3 Ways Veteran Benefits Could Be Impacted If Trump Wins the Election
Written by
J. Arky
Edited by
Chris Cluff
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With the 2024 election approaching, some are wondering how a potential Trump second term as president might reshape veteran benefits and services. There are echoes of his first term potentially on the agenda, as well as several other ways that veterans might see things change for their benefits if Trump is reelected.
GOBankingRates put the call out to some veterans to get their takes on how benefits could be impacted if Trump wins the election.
Also see why Trump wants to eliminate income taxes and why that could impact your retirement plans.
Expansion of Private Healthcare Options
“During Trump’s first term, the VA Mission Act aimed to expand veterans’ access to private healthcare, reducing the dependency on VA facilities by allowing veterans to seek care in the private sector when wait times were too long or travel was too far,” explained Brandon Leon Newberry, Esquire, a VA disability attorney and U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
As a veteran, Newberry views this as a significant improvement when it comes to veteran benefits, noting how this made it easier “to seek timely medical care and has drastically reduced the wait times that many veterans faced in the past.”
Joe Hudak, retired master sergeant in the Special Forces, has a different take on this issue and a potential second term of Trump, opining, “A second term would reduce the private healthcare options for all America, but vets who haven’t retired through their military service would need to get insurance through their employers, just like civilians.
“The VA will always treat veterans for emergency issues and vaccinations, but they can’t treat all vets for everything. Vets like me who are retired have a certain amount of coverage through the VA, and medically retired folks (also me) have full coverage through the VA for everything, and my family has full coverage through TriCare.”
Hudak said he thinks his “double-dipping” status would change under another Trump term because he thinks the VA budget would shrink due to tax cuts.
Potential Budget Cuts to VA Programs
While budget cuts can be concerning, they also present an opportunity to streamline operations within the VA, Newberry said.
“Like many federal departments, the VA suffers from inefficiencies due to a lack of training and overlapping responsibilities across multiple departments,” he said.
Hudak said “budget cuts are a foregone conclusion” and the VA’s long wait times will get that much longer if Trump is reelected. “The VA is already so understaffed that much of their care is sent out into the community through programs like ‘Community Cares.’
“Not specialty clinics though. If you have a lung disorder from exposure to the burn pits overseas, well your six-month wait for a pulmonologist just turned into nine months. Got mental health concerns? Community Cares program will get you a dozen visits or so, then the paperwork Nazis get involved and your therapist gets changed.
“The VA is more admin than healthcare, and it shows in the minds of veteran patients,” Hudak added. “Another round of Trump is gonna gut what little healthcare remains when the GOP decides that it’s an ‘entitlement’ that us ‘freeloaders’ or ‘suckers and losers’ no longer merit.”
Reform of Disability Compensation
Newberry said the current disability benefits process is often slow and complex, plagued by undertrained personnel and inconsistent determinations.
“Reforms that streamline this process could be beneficial, making it easier for veterans to navigate the system and reducing the revolving door of appeals,” Newberry said. “These changes would likely be carried out through executive orders or directives to the VA, focusing on reducing delays and increasing the accuracy of initial claims decisions.”
Project 2025 is an extensive plan that some think the Republicans are looking to implement on Day 1 of Trump’s potential second term. It calls for the dismantling of many federal programs and a drastic reshaping of American government. Project 2025 plans to eliminate double-dipping Hudak talked about above.
“The choice for folks when they retire from the military will then be to receive a pension or receive healthcare for the myriad injuries sustained in a 20-year career of constant physical and mental hardships,” Hudak said. “Additionally, the [Department of Defense] has changed the pension such that it’s akin to a 401(k) now, which may make the above choice moot. Trump will continue to inflate the DoD budget, which gives the majority of the budget to defense contractors like Lockheed and Raytheon, while the rank-and-file troops are on WIC and EBT. The troops in barracks will battle crumbling buildings with no maintenance or improvement plans or budget.”
Editor’s note on election coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
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