VA DISABILITY

Actions Needed toFurther Examine Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Compensation

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has taken steps to improve how it collects race and ethnicity data to understand the experiences of veterans who may apply for disability compensation through the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). For example, VA created a working group that specifically focused on improving demographic data collection. VA’s collection efforts could enhance the data available to VBA to assess racial and ethnic disparities in disability compensation. However, VA has not developed a documented plan for how it will improve the availability of data for certain racial and ethnic groups who may not be accessing VA servicesand benefits. Without a plan to identify and document concrete actions, VA will not have the data it needs to ensure veterans are treated equitably.

GAO’s analysis of fiscal year 2010 through 2020 compared initial claims approval rates for all racial and ethnic groups to Non-Hispanic White (White) veterans—the largest group with decisions. GAO found that Non-Hispanic Black or African American (Black) veterans had the lowest approval rate among all groups (see

figure).

Similarly, GAO’s analysis of selected medical conditions most frequently decided by VA found that differences in approval rates were particularly prominent between Black male and White male veterans, with Black male

veterans’ rates being 3 to 22 percentage points lower. These differences were prevalent for nine of the 10 conditions GAO analyzed such as tinnitus and posttraumatic stress disorder. VBA has conducted studies on racial and ethnic disparities in disability compensation for some conditions and found disparities.

However, it has not comprehensively studied the root causes of the disparities it has found or potential disparities in the provisions of compensation more broadly. As a result, VA lacks the information it needs to ensure equitable decisions.

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