ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the defense-growth literature to a post-service effect, termed here a veterans' effect. The defense-growth literature began with the seminal work of Benoit. The issue of economics within the Veterans Affairs (VA) may be understood as an economic growth effect, such as the effect pointed out in the defense-growth literature. The chapter provides a unique approach to understanding the relationship between veterans and society by investigating the social and economic spillovers of veterans' hospice care. Providing hospice care for veterans stems from a commitment by the VA to ensure quality of care, while maximizing the economic efficiency of the financial resources entrusted to the organization. According to a report from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, the number of patients in hospice care has grown from 25,000 in 1982 to 1.56 million in 2009. The economic and social impacts of the VA are not limited to the VA's educational and health benefits; two additional impacts exist.
