Expanded Burial Benefits

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends its adjudication regulations pertaining to burial benefits to conform to statutory changes enacted by the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 and the Burial Equity for Guards and Reserves Act of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022. The conforming regulatory changes implement an expansion of the transportation benefit and provision of a single payment rate for non-service-connected burial allowances regardless of the location of a qualifying Veteran's death and coincide with the effective date for the statutory amendments (January 5, 2023). The conforming regulatory changes also implement the extension of the VA plot or interment allowance to Tribal organizations for interment of eligible Veterans on trust land owned by, or held in trust for, the Tribal organization and coincide with the effective date for the statutory amendments (March 15, 2022). VA also provides additional clarifying changes to its burial benefits regulations.