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Veterans Affairs committee We do. That function falls under our policy and planning, over at the department. They maintain veteran population statistics and all sorts of demographic statistics. Within the different administrations—benefits, health, and cemetery—we do our own predictions for our workload. As you mentioned, the World War II veterans are quickly passing away, so that population is decreasing.
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee The benefits administration, actually, does not administer home care programs. That would fall under our Veterans Health Administration.
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee Our discretionary funds are primarily used for administration of new initiatives and programs: information technology programs, any enhancements to how we process claims, employee training, and those sorts of issues. So the 1% is generally adequate to cover what our needs are.
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee Thank you.
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee When you mention comprehensive home care, which program are you referring to?
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee Our home care programs would fall under the Veterans Health Administration. Hopefully, Ms. Patterson will include that in her presentation. If not, please feel free to ask her that. From the benefits side, we do just strictly pay out moneys for veterans who are eligible to receive benefits based on service-related injuries, or who have had wartime service and meet our income requirements.
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee Part of our loan guarantee program is the loan servicing program, and part of that is foreclosure avoidance. We have a very good foreclosure avoidance rate. So very few of our veterans foreclose—I'm sorry, I don't have the exact percentage for you—or fewer veterans have loan foreclosures than the general population in the United States.
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee I have those figures for you, if you'll just give me a moment.
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee For a spouse or a child who is going to school full time, for what we consider to be full time, they currently receive $915 per month. They can apply that to either their tuition and fees or their housing, whatever they feel they need. Depending upon what school they go to, that may or may not cover all of their expenses.
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee No, it's Virginia.
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee If I'm understanding your program correctly, our program works a little bit differently. We can only pay one spouse of a veteran at a time.
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee Now I understand better. Actually, yes. In our program, they can get that benefit. It doesn't matter how old a veteran is or how many times he has married. If he is eligible to receive additional benefits for a spouse and he divorces that spouse or that spouse dies and he remarries sometime later, we will then establish that spouse as a dependant on his benefits program.
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee Yes. I apologize. I should have said he or she.
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens
Veterans Affairs committee Were you referring, by mentioning a major loss, to the lump-sum payment under the life insurance program?
March 11th, 2009Committee meeting
Leigh Ann Skeens