l. meda the veteran population is aging.n 1975 there were about 2 million veterans 65 years or older. in 2017, the role be 10 million veterans 65 years or older. 46% of all veterans will be 65 or older. simultaneously the number of claims and medical issues has soared. completed almost 980,000 claims. in fiscal year 2017 the project we will complete over 1.4 million claims. a 47% increase. there has been more genetic growth in the number of medical issues in claims and you would expect that with an aging population. 2.7 million in 2009 and a projected 5.9 million in 2017. a 115% increase over just eight years. these increases were company by dramatic rise in the average degree of veteran's disability compensation. to 1995,ars, from 1950 the average degree of disability was 30%. since 2000, the average degree has risen 47.7%. the percentage of veterans receiving v.a. compensation follows the same pattern. from 1960 to 2000, it was stable at about 8.5%. in just 14 years, since 2001, it is more than doubled to 19%. while it is