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The United States has been paying benefits to battle-wounded soldiers since the Revolutionary War, but those figures have risen astronomically since the turn of the 21st century.聽

Today, nearly 30% of military veterans get disability pay from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In the past year alone, the volume of new veterans鈥� compensation claims has 鈥渆xceeded even our most aggressive projections,鈥� Joshua Jacobs, undersecretary for benefits at the VA, told lawmakers this week.

This surge in spending forced VA officials to go hat in hand to Congress this week, requesting $3 billion for a 2024 budget shortfall and a projected $12 billion next year.

They were granted the money Thursday to meet this year鈥檚 needs in an emergency spending bill, now headed for President Joe Biden鈥檚 desk to be signed into law.

But lawmakers predicted this will not be the last time the department struggles with its ballooning budget, which currently stands at $370 billion.聽

The veterans population decreased, so why is spending on the rise?

Between 2000 and 2022, the share of veterans in the U.S. decreased by one-third. Yet the VA鈥檚 budget nearly tripled during that time. This has been driven by an aging veterans population, rising health care prices, and what are widely agreed to be much-needed improvements to VA facilities, including hospitals.

Democrats, for their part, have decried the growing privatization of some VA health services 鈥撀爇nown in VA parlance as 鈥渃ommunity care鈥� 鈥撀爓hich is also driving up expenses. It鈥檚 a shift that began 10 years ago, after long wait times for veterans prompted a public outcry. Private care now accounts for about one-third of the VA鈥檚 $150 billion annual health care budget.

Another big driver of the latest soaring VA costs has been a law passed in 2022 called the Promise To Address Comprehensive Toxics, or PACT Act. It provides health care and other benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances like the jet fuel-ignited pits used to burn plastic water bottles and medical waste, among other things, on U.S. bases during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since the PACT Act went into effect, more than 710,000 veterans have enrolled in VA health care 鈥撀燼 34% increase, according to the agency.

The VA spent an average of $14,400 per veteran in 2022, versus $4,300 in 2005, adjusted for inflation, according to USAFacts, a nonprofit that analyzes government data.

How many more vets are getting benefits today than in the past?

Benefit claims are skyrocketing. Today, nearly one-third of America鈥檚 18.5 million veterans 鈥撀燼nd 40% of post-9/11 vets 鈥撀爂et disability pay, notes Mark Duggan, professor of economics at Stanford University.聽

By way of comparison, from 1954 to 2000, the share of former service members receiving disability payments was stable, generally somewhere between 8% and 10%.

During that same time period, average disability ratings 鈥撀爑sed to determine benefit dollars 鈥撀爃overed at around 10%.聽

Today, one-third of veterans have a disability rating of 50% or more, a 鈥渟pectacular increase,鈥� says Dr. Duggan, who has written about the topic with Lt. Col. Kyle Greenberg, associate economics professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.聽

This is in part because the VA has expanded medical eligibility criteria to cover a larger category of service-connected injuries, which now include exposure to Agent Orange for Vietnam-era vets, for example, as well as potential secondary effects like diabetes and heart disease.

Disability payments range from some $171 a month tax-free for those with no dependents and a 10% disability rating to $3,738 for those with a 100% rating. They are adjusted up each year for inflation. Vets with families receive higher payments.聽

Once they鈥檙e granted, veterans can and often do apply to have these disability ratings increased 鈥撀爇nown as being 鈥減romoted.鈥澛�

鈥淭he ratings basically never go down. If a condition improves, it鈥檚 not like people go back and say, 鈥極h, I鈥檓 doing better.鈥� It doesn鈥檛 happen, at least in the time period I looked at the data,鈥� Dr. Duggan says. 鈥淚t tends to go up.鈥澛�

Is more money making life better for veterans?

Soaring VA expenses are prompting some analysts to ask whether the VA is using its funds in a way that best helps veterans.

These questions can be sensitive for public officials to tackle. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult to have a conversation about it, because it can very easily unintentionally signal that we sent troops off to do the dirty work and now we鈥檙e going back on our commitment as a nation,鈥� says Katherine Kuzminski, director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security think tank.

What鈥檚 more, up until recently, troops who served for less than 20 years weren鈥檛 entitled to retirement benefits, even though, as in the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, they were deploying frequently, she adds. This incentivized some vets to maximize compensation they could claim through other means.聽

Putting cost aside for a moment, the standard for success should be whether these programs are improving the lives of veterans, analysts say. Research shows, however, that even as benefits increase, veterans鈥� mental health, as measured by suicide rates, has decreased relative to their peers鈥�.

This in turn risks feeding a 鈥渂roken veteran narrative鈥� and corresponding concerns among young people, borne out in recent surveys, in which they cite physical injury and psychological distress as top reasons they aren鈥檛 joining the military.

At the same time, while service-related wounds may certainly prevent some veterans from working, 20 years ago more veterans overall had jobs,聽which can support their well-being postservice, analysts say.聽

What to do about it? One possibility is to make disability benefits, which are currently provided for life, temporary, to be reevaluated periodically for conditions that are more likely to improve.

A recent Congressional Budget Office report also raises the possibility of reducing or eliminating disability compensation for higher-income vets, which the office estimates would save some $250 billion over 10 years.

Government benefits to veterans are provided in the highest spirit of gratitude and care. 鈥淪omeone who鈥檚 put their life on the line for the country deserves tremendous support from our government,鈥� Dr. Duggan says. But perhaps there are ways to spend the funds, including for job training and wage subsidies for working vets, that would prove more beneficial, he adds. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a fair question to ask.鈥澛�