“About 556,000 veterans receive disability benefits for eczema, 332,000 for hemorrhoids, 110,000 for benign skin growths, 81,000 for acne and 74,000 for varicose veins, the most recently available figures from VA show.” That’s from a recent report in the Washington Post:
Taxpayers will spend roughly $193 billion this year for the Department of Veterans Affairs to compensate about 6.9 million disabled veterans on the presumption that their ability to work is impaired….millions of the claims are for minor or treatable afflictions that rarely hinder employment, such as hair loss, jock itch and toenail fungus….Individual payouts for such mundane conditions vary, but collectively they cost billions of dollars a year…VA typically pays veterans diagnosed with sleep apnea, a common breathing disorder, more than a combat vet with a leg amputated below the knee…Far fewer veterans receive compensation for certain combat-related injuries. About 10,900 service members who have suffered “severe” or “penetrating” brain injuries since 2000 are eligible for benefits. Fewer than 1,700 receive disability payments for losing limbs during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq….Disability payments to veterans are tax-free and typically last for life. Last year, disabled vets received $25,046 on average….the vast majority of disabled veterans under age 65 still work and collect paychecks from full-time jobs.
Disability claims have mushroomed even as the number of living veterans has fallen by a third over the past quarter century. In 2024, “680,834 veterans were categorized as disabled for allergic rhinitis, or hay fever,” a 22-fold increase since 2006. Payouts for hay fever “can range between $176 and $750 a month.”
