VA denied Black veterans health benefits more often than white vets, data shows

• White veterans had a higher grant rate for every year between 2017 and 2023, according to the data the VA shared with Axios.
• Black veterans apply for disability benefits at higher rates than their white counterparts (43% versus 31.7%), the VA added.
• "We recognize that in the past there has been institutional discrimination that may have played a role in the adjudication of benefits," VA press secretary Terrence Hayes told Axios.

Driving the news: The VA announced a new initiative Friday that will aim to address disparities in who receives health benefits.

• The Agency Equity Team will be responsible for helping the VA improve access and care for historically underserved veterans.
• It will also aim to identify and eliminate disparities beyond race, including age, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability or sexual identity, the VA said.

Of note: The team was not created solely as a result of the data findings, Hayes said.

• It's been a key area of focus for VA Secretary Denis McDonough since he took office in 2021, per Hayes.

What's next: Hayes said the new initiative is "unique opportunity" to go directly to veterans of different communities and demographics to inform them of their benefits and encourage them to apply — especially for those who may have been denied in the past.

• But with the creation of the team, the VA hopes to "figure out a way to eliminate those barriers, eliminate those concerns so every single veteran" who requests benefits "gets it equally across the board," Hayes said.

Go deeper: Study finds Hispanic veterans wait longer for specialists