Sponsors (2)
The bill raises and inflation-protects burial and funeral payments for veterans' survivors, improving immediate and long-term support while increasing federal costs and introducing year-to-year budget variability for the VA.
Surviving family members of deceased veterans will receive automatic annual inflation adjustments to burial and funeral payments, preserving the real value of the benefit over time.
Surviving family members of deceased veterans receive a higher flat burial and funeral payment (raised to $3,000), providing greater immediate financial assistance at the time of loss.
Taxpayers will face increased federal spending because the higher and inflation-indexed burial benefits increase long-term outlays.
Indexing benefits to the all-items CPI could produce year-to-year variability in benefit increases, complicating VA budgeting and forecasting.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Raises the VA burial/funeral payment for service-connected deaths to $3,000 and adds an annual CPI-based cost-of-living adjustment.
Introduced March 17, 2026 by James Risch · Last progress March 17, 2026
Increases the flat burial and funeral payment for deaths that are the result of service-connected disabilities to $3,000 and creates an automatic annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) tied to the Consumer Price Index. The VA must update the payment each fiscal year based on the year-over-year CPI change (12 months ending June 30), rounding to the nearest dollar. One section only provides the statute's short title.