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NYC Council meetings, chaptered and linked by time.

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Q&A

Wong asks about surviving spouses of LGBTQ veterans' benefits

New York City Council · Jun 22, 2026 · starts 0:57:41 · 53 sec

Wong asks about surviving spouses of LGBTQ veterans' eligibility for benefits and outreach. Noah Bray says they are creating subject matter experts for surviving spouse claims and that eligibility is typically yes but very nuanced based on individual circumstances.

Phil Wong

I have a follow-up.

Phil Wong

You have a...

Phil Wong

For surviving spouses of LGBTQ veterans, are they eligible for benefits?

Phil Wong

And how are you going to outreach to this particular population?

Phil Wong

Please talk about it.

Noah Bray

Sure.

Noah Bray

Thank you for that question.

Noah Bray

We do have two claims benefits that we are creating like a subject matter expert in that realm and the surviving spouse realm.

Noah Bray

So that would fall under their purview.

Noah Bray

So it's a similar thing where we send them out into the communities or with the nonprofit organizations that tend to have a higher population of potential surviving spouses.

Noah Bray

And then from the beginnings of those conversations, it's very similar in that once we have that general benefit conversation, it will lead.

Noah Bray

Again, that's the magic, and it speaks to the claims agent's abilities to be able to connect with those veterans or their surviving spouses to get them to those benefits.