Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund (closed)

Section 1002 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5, created the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund. It is listed here because families still ask about it, and the answer is that the window has closed. Who was eligible. A person who served before July 1, 1946 in the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines while it was in the service of the U.S. armed forces, including recognized guerrilla forces, or who served in the New Philippine Scouts, and who was discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. What it paid. One payment per person: $15,000 to a U.S. citizen and $9,000 to anyone else. If the veteran filed and died before being paid, the payment went to the surviving spouse. The deadline. VA could pay only a claim submitted during the one-year period beginning February 17, 2009, the date of enactment, so the last day to file was February 16, 2010. The statute sets no other window, and a claim filed now cannot be paid from the fund. The release. Under section 1002(h)(1), accepting the payment was final and released any claim against the United States based on that service. Section 1002(h)(2) carved out what the person was already entitled to under the law in force on February 16, 2009, including health care, survivor and burial benefits, so accepting the payment did not cost anyone compensation, DIC or burial benefits they could already get. Tax and means tests. For U.S. tax purposes the payment is treated as damages for human suffering, and it is not counted as income or resources for any federal or federally assisted program, including Social Security's special veterans benefits under title VIII of the Social Security Act.