Cristina Johnson is a Navy veteran advocate for Asbestos Ships, a nonprofit whose primary mission is to raise awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure on Navy ships.
Amid record-breaking government debt, all agencies underwent scrutiny for unnecessary spending, including the Department of Veterans Affairs. Here, the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are to be eliminated from all VA structures, saving well over $6.1 million in costs for cultural awareness training and resources, as well as for employee salaries. According to the 2026 Veterans Affairs’ budget proposal, the money saved will go into improving other services provided to former service members. However, this decision may impact vulnerable veterans already facing barriers in accessing services.
Since 2022, with the enactment of the PACT Act, veterans no longer need to prove a causal link between exposure to certain toxic agents and several diseases to receive compensation. In 2021, more than 280,000 new claims were processed by the VA, with 14% more refusals in compensation for veterans from ethnic minority groups. In 2022, 1.7 million claims were analyzed under the PACT Act, of which the VA approved more than 1.1 million, with a 75% increase in claims granted to veterans from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
While the structured approach for approval set out by the PACT Act contributed significantly to the increase in the number of approved claims, the sharp increase in claims approved to ethnic minority veterans does indicate that DEI initiatives may have been quite successful in addressing claims processors’ implicit biases and allowing more veterans to receive the benefits they deserve. Notably, not all toxic agents and conditions are recognized under the act, meaning that, for several diseases, claims processors will still need to evaluate benefits applications. Without the framework provided by the PACT Act, assessor bias may result, once again, in fewer claims for veterans from underserved communities.
Implicit bias and inequity in veteran compensation
Research conducted before the PACT Act and DEI shows that women veterans and veterans from marginalized racial or ethnic groups more frequently report negative experiences of care associated with bias from medical professionals. These behaviors have a strong impact on health outcomes, as veterans vulnerable to discrimination bias tend to have less access to services, abstain from regular checkups to avoid a new negative encounter and mistrust their providers, resulting in poor adherence to prescribed therapies.
On a parallel line, it is important to understand that discrimination within Veterans Affairs against underserved military communities is not initiated consciously or voluntarily by personnel meant to support and provide care to all veterans. Implicit bias, or unconscious bias, occurs when deeply ingrained stereotypes subtly influence decisions and behavior, often without the individual being aware of their effect. In the VA context, this can result in disparities in how veterans are assessed, spoken to and prioritized for care. Research into addressing implicit bias indicates that education can make staff more aware of these effects, allowing people to initiate behavioral changes, which in turn, address disparities in service provisions.
One of the scopes of DEI initiatives was to provide cultural awareness education for VA staff, thus addressing potential unconscious bias. These resources provided focused and tailored support, adjusted per region depending on the needs of every veteran community. Now, these tasks are most likely going to be passed on to the Office of Health Equity. Simultaneously, in the U.S., any form of discrimination is forbidden and punishable, in line with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Yet these regulations existed before DEI, and their effects were below what DEI managed to achieve. As a result, all progress may be reversed within the next few years without education on bias and discrimination.
DEI reversal and impact on veterans
More than 58,000 veterans live in Delaware; almost 19,000 of them are part of an ethnic minority group, and more than 7,000 are women. Data includes Dover’s veteran community. The reversal of DEI initiatives may disproportionately affect these veterans, as without cultural education and awareness training, Veterans Affairs staff may be less equipped to navigate the unique needs of these communities. While the VA continues to invest in health care infrastructure and service delivery, these efforts may fall short if they are not coupled with training that ensures equitable treatment.
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