New law could increase compensation for Gold Star families if it makes it through Senate

A new bill could offer surviving family members of troops and veterans a slight increase in monthly compensation, along with a more sizable annual increase in benefits for the most severely disabled veterans.

The House of Representatives recently passed the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, which calls for a 1.5% increase in Dependency and Indemnity Compensation over the next two years. Experts told Task & Purpose that the increase would be modest — coming in at less than $100 a month. 

If the Senate also passes the bill, it would also provide an $833.33 per month in Special Monthly Compensation, or SMC, for veterans with severe service-connected disabilities, such as blindness or the loss of one or more limbs, for a total of $10,000 more per year.

Several veteran groups support the bill, which is named for Sharri Briley, whose husband, Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Donovan Briley, was killed in 1993 during the Battle of Mogadishu. It is also named for Eric Edmundson, an Army veteran who was severely wounded by an improvised explosive device while deployed to Iraq in 2005.

“The American Legion strongly supports survivors’ access to the resources that meet their unique needs,” said Cole Lyle, director of veterans affairs and rehabilitation for the American Legion. “These families have already sacrificed more than most Americans could imagine. But now they are facing an inexcusable burden of spending significantly more on things like in-home support, medical and adaptive equipment, transportation, and household costs.”

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Source: Task & Purpose
Website: taskandpurpose.com