State Summary: Arkansas - Public and Intergovernmental Affairs

General Information

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a wide variety of programs and services for the nation’s 23.4 million veterans. In 2008, about 5.6 million people were treated in VA health care facilities, 3.8 million veterans and survivors received VA disability compensation or pensions, more than 540,000 used GI Bill education benefits and nearly 180,000 home loans were guaranteed by GI Bill home loan benefits. Nearly 72,000 veterans took advantage of VA’s vocational rehabilitation and employment service in 2008. Nationally, veterans held more than 1.3 million life insurance policies valued at $15.5 billion. More than 103,000 veterans and family members were buried in VA’s national cemeteries and more than 360,000 headstones and markers were provided for veterans’ graves worldwide.

General Information – Arkansas

o Number of veterans: 260,000

o VA expenditures in Arkansas: $1.4 billion

o Compensation and pensions: $635 million

o Readjustment benefits: $31 million

o Medical and construction programs: $642 million

o Insurance and indemnities: $10 million

o Number of veterans and survivors receiving disability compensation or pension payments in Arkansas: 50,136

o Number of Arkansas veterans using GI Bill education benefits: 5,090

o Number of home loans in Arkansas backed by VA guarantees: 2,218

o Value of Arkansas home loans guaranteed by VA: $329 million

o Number of VA life insurance policies held by Arkansas residents: 12,083

o Value of VA life insurance policies held by Arkansas residents: $135 million

o Number of Arkansas participants in vocational rehabilitation: 743

o Number of veterans buried in Arkansas VA national cemeteries: 801

o Number of headstones and markers provided for graves of Arkansas veterans and survivors: 4,732

Health Care

One of the most visible of all VA benefits is health care. VA has 153 hospitals, 755 community-based outpatient clinics, 230 Vet Centers, 132 Community Living Centers, 48 residential rehabilitation treatment programs and 128 comprehensive home care programs. To improve patients’ ability to access care, VA has changed from a hospital-based system to a primarily outpatient-focused system over the past decade. Veterans will make more than 65 million outpatient visits to VA health care facilities this year.

Health Care - Arkansas

o Inpatient admissions, statewide, fiscal year 2008: 14,824

o Fayetteville: 4,250

o Central Arkansas (Little Rock and North Little Rock): 10,574

o Outpatient visits, statewide, fiscal year 2008: 1,059,000

o Outpatient clinic locations

VA has launched special efforts to provide a "seamless transition" for those returning from service in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF). Each VA medical facility and benefits regional office has a point of contact to coordinate activities locally to help meet the needs of these returning combat service members and veterans. In addition, VA increased the staffing of benefits counselors at key military hospitals where severely wounded service members from Iraq and Afghanistan are frequently sent. Once home, recent Iraq and Afghan veterans have ready access to VA health care, which is free of charge for five years following separation for any health problem possibly related to wartime service. Some 425,000 veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have sought VA health care since returning stateside, about 43 percent of the total number of men and women leaving military service.

o Number of veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan seeking treatment in 2008: 5,393

Not all military service-related issues end when people are discharged from active duty. About 2.9 million veterans receive monthly VA disability compensation for medical conditions related to their service in uniform. VA pensions go to about 316,000 wartime veterans with limited means. Family members of about 528,000 veterans qualify for monthly VA payments as the survivors of disabled veterans or pension recipients.

Most men and women who served in the military are eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery, as are their spouses and dependent children. VA manages the country’s network of national cemeteries with more than 2.9 million gravesites at 128 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico, as well as in 33 soldier’s lots and monument sites. In 2008, more than 103,000 veterans and dependents were buried in VA's national cemeteries. Additionally, VA provided more than 360,000 headstones and markers and 511,000 Presidential Memorial Certificates to the loved ones of deceased veterans. VA-assisted state veterans cemeteries provided nearly 25,000 interments.