H.R. 2721 would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide headstones or burial markers for veterans who died after December 7, 1941, and were buried in a private cemetery with a privately provided headstone or marker. The bill also would extend the reduction of VA pension payments for veterans and survivors who reside in Medicaid nursing homes. In total, enacting H.R. 2721 would reduce net direct spending by $1 million over the 2025-2035 period. The costs of the legislation fall within budget functions 550 (health) and 700 (veterans benefits and services).

Headstones and Markers. Section 2 would make veterans who died and were buried in a private cemetery after December 7, 1941, eligible to receive a headstone from VA regardless of whether a privately provided headstone or burial marker was placed at the grave site. Under current law, only veterans who died and were buried in private cemeteries after November 1, 1990, are eligible for VA-provided headstones. That change would expire seven years after the bill’s enactment. Using information on the number of headstones and burial markers VA has provided for currently eligible burials, CBO estimates that the department would provide an additional 42,000 headstones or burial markers at an average cost of $280 per item. Costs for headstones and burial markers are paid from mandatory appropriations. CBO estimates section 2 would increase direct spending by $11 million over the 2025-2035 period.

Pensions and Medicaid. Under current law, VA reduces pension payments to veterans and survivors who reside in Medicaid nursing homes to $90 per month. That required reduction expires November 30, 2031. Section 3 would extend that reduction for three months, through February 29, 2032. CBO estimates that extending that requirement would reduce VA benefits by $10 million per month. As a result of that reduction in beneficiaries’ income, Medicaid would pay more of the cost of their care, increasing spending for that program by $6 million per month. Thus, enacting section 3 would reduce net direct spending by $12 million over the 2025-2035 period.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Logan Smith. The estimate was reviewed by Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.