FAQ

You may be eligible for VA disability benefits or compensation if you have a current illness or injury (known as a condition) that affects your body or mind and you meet at least one of the requirements listed below.

Both of these must be true. You:

• Served on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training, and
• Have a disability rating for your service-connected condition

And at least one of these must be true. You:

• Got sick or injured while serving in the military—and can link this condition to your illness or injury (called an inservice disability claim), or
• Had an illness or injury before you joined the military—and serving made it worse (called a preservice disability claim), or
• Have a disability related to your active-duty service that didn’t appear until after you ended your service (called a postservice disability claim)

Presumed disabilities

• A chronic (long-lasting) illness that appears within one year after discharge, or
• An illness caused by contact with contaminants (toxic chemicals) or other hazardous materials, or
• An illness caused by your time spent as a prisoner of war (POW)

Who’s covered?

• Veterans
• Qualified dependents

Only “current” disabilities are considered service-connected disabilities eligible for compensation. For example, if you injured your knee during physical training in the military and have since fully recovered without any complications related to the injury, that injury is not a service-connected disability.

Can You Receive VA Disability Benefits for Life? Yes, it is possible to receive VA disability benefits for life.

You can only recover VA disability compensation benefits for a service–connected medical condition. Service connection means there is a direct link between your type 2 diabetes and an event, injury, or illness you suffered during your military service.

If you’re in one of the lower priority groups, you could lose your VA health care benefits in the future. If you don’t keep your private insurance, this would leave you without health coverage.

Yes, your PTSD rating can be reduced. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) can lower your disability rating and reduce your monthly benefits for PTSD if it finds evidence that your condition has improved.

The claim status tool won’t provide an exact date. But if the status of your claim is “complete,” you can estimate when you’ll receive your decision letter. This status means we’ve already mailed your letter, and it will take 7 to 10 business days to arrive from the date we mailed it. Note: The tool will show this message just below the status of the claim: “We sent you a decision letter.” If you don’t receive your letter within 10 days, please call the VA at 800-827-1000. We’re here Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET. 

The drug use must be the direct and proximate cause of the disability for the VA to deny disability benefits. The VA defines drug abuse as using drugs to enjoy getting intoxicated.

VA Disability benefits are tax-free. Veterans may be eligible for disability compensation if they have a service-related disability and they were discharged under other than dishonorable conditions. Notice that there aren’t any income restrictions for VA Disability!

VA will provide health care insurance coverage for the spouses of certain totally disabled (whether rated 100 percent or receiving TDIU benefits) veterans under the Civilian Health and Medical Program, or CHAMPVA. 

No.  You can still file a claim for service-connected disability compensation even though you did not serve on active duty during a period of war.  

Yes. To be eligible for most veterans benefits and programs you must have been discharged or released from military service under conditions other than dishonorable. You will always be eligible for veterans benefits and programs when the character of your military service is Honorable.

You may still be eligible for service-connected disability compensation if the character of your military service is listed as a Discharge Under Honorable Conditions or a General Discharge.

If your character of military service is listed as Discharge Under Other Than Honorable Conditions, Undesirable Discharge, Bad Conduct Discharge or Dishonorable Discharge, in most cases you will be barred from receiving benefits.

Yes, it does.  Even if you can prove that you have a service-connected disability you will not receive compensation for the disability if you have been discharged or released from military service under conditions other than honorable.

You can check the status of your VA claim, appeal, or decision review on VA.gov. You’ll need to sign in first with DS Logon, My HealtheVet, or ID.me. If you don’t have any of these accounts, you can get one now. If you need help, please call the VA at 800-827-1000. We’re here Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET.

If you’re past the 12-month window to appeal, you can simply start a new claim inside eBenefits or VA.gov, and upload the new medical evidence showing that you do, in fact, have a diagnosis of the disability.

If you need help filing a disability claim, you can contact a VA regional office and ask to speak to a counselor. To find the nearest regional office, please call 800-827-1000. An accredited representative, like a Veterans Service Officer (VSO), can help you fill out your claim. Get help filing your claim.

If you served on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training and you have a current illness or injury that occurred, was aggravated by, or was caused by another service-connected condition, you may have a service-connected disability.

If you meet these requirements, you may file a claim with the Department of Veterans Affairs requesting compensation for your disability. Free application assistance may be obtained through your county Veterans Service Office, the Texas Veterans Commission, or other veterans organizations in the state.

You can check the status of your VA claim, appeal, or decision review on VA.gov. You’ll need to sign in first with DS Logon, My HealtheVet, or ID.me. If you don’t have any of these accounts, you can get one now. If you need help, please call the VA at 800-827-1000.

You prove service connection of your disability by showing what is called “continuity of symptomatology“: that you have had continuous symptoms of your disability from service to diagnosis.

If your decision notice shows at least a 10% disability rating, you’ll get your first payment within 15 days. We’ll pay you either by direct deposit or check. If you don’t get a payment after 15 days, please call the Veterans help line at 800-827-1000, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET.

There is no time limit.  A service-connected disability may occur anytime while you are on active duty. 

Anyone who has reached 20 years of service, even if they were never activated on a [federal] order for more than 180 days outside of training, will now be considered a veteran.”

Generally, 12 years of separation from service or within 12 years of being awarded service–connected VA disability compensation.

The amount of compensation is based on the disability rating percentage.  Once the Department of Veterans Affairs makes the decision that your injury or illness is a service-connected disability, your disability will be assigned a disability rating between 0% and 100%.

The Department of Veterans Affairs begins paying compensation at the 10% rating level.  In 2021, a 10% rating is equivalent to $144.14 per month while a 100% rating is equivalent to $3,146.42.*

*Ratings depicted reflect the amounts received by single, childless veterans. Additional compensation may be received for veterans who are married as well as veterans with children or dependent parents.

As of December 2018, 100% VA disability is $3,057.13 per month. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adjusts this amount each year, typically raising it to account for increases in the cost of living.

Veterans may apply for VA health care enrollment at any time. No enrollment fee, monthly premiums, or deductibles. Most Veterans have no out-of-pocket costs. Some Veterans may have to pay small copayments for health care or prescription drugs.

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ rating system is based on how severe your disability is and how it impacts your earning capacity. When assigning disability ratings, the VA raters review a schedule of over 800 diagnostic codes, each relating to a specific medical condition or set of conditions. Each diagnostic code contains different criteria which correspond to disability percentage ratings. For example, a veteran with symptom A may receive a 10% rating, while a veteran with symptoms A, B, and C may receive a 50% rating.

You may be able to get VA disability benefits for conditions such as:

• Chronic (long-lasting) back pain resulting in a current diagnosed back disability
• Breathing problems resulting from a current lung condition or lung disease
• Severe hearing loss
• Scar tissue
• Loss of range of motion (problems moving your body)
• Ulcers
• Cancers caused by contact with toxic chemicals or other dangers

You may also be able to get VA disability benefits for:

• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Depression
• Anxiety

Any injury or illness that occurred or was aggravated during the time you were on active duty is an injury or illness that occurred “in the line of duty”.  For example, injuries you sustained in a Humvee accident while training are considered injuries that occurred in the line of duty.

However, any injury or illness that resulted from your own misconduct or abuse of alcohol or drugs will not be considered “in the line of duty.” In most cases, your claim for service-connected disability will be denied if the disability was a result of your own misconduct or abuse of alcohol or drugs.

To be 100% disabled by VA standards means that you are totally disabled. Veterans awarded disability at this level receive the maximum in scheduler monthly compensation. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has stringent criteria veterans must meet in order to receive this rating.

Disability compensation is a monetary benefit paid to Veterans who are determined by VA to be disabled by an injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated during active military service. These disabilities are considered to be service-connected.

Generally speaking, service connection is the way that VA recognizes that a disability is related to a veteran’s military service in some way. Once service connection is granted, then a veteran is eligible to receive VA disability compensation benefits for that condition.

A service-connect disability is an injury or illness that was directly caused by military service, sustained while in the military (both on duty and off duty injuries may be service connected, i.e. knee injury playing basketball off duty), was aggravated by military service, or was caused by conditions that are themselves service-connected.

Service-connected means that the veteran is disabled due to injury or illness that was incurred in or aggravated by military service. Non–service connected means that the veteran is disabled due to injury or illness not related to military service. … Compensation is paid to a veteran with service–connected disabilities.

The most common VA Disability Claim is tinnitus. According to 2018-2019 VA disability claims statistics, Tinnitus was the most common VA disability claim. In total, there were 57,152 compensation recipients. Tinnitus involves the sensation of hearing sound when no external sound is present.

The VA can’t reduce your disability if it has been paid for five years unless the condition has improved and is shown to remain so. A similar rule, the “10–Year Rule” says a condition cannot be reduced after being compensated for a full decade unless there is medical evidence of improvement of the condition.

The VA disability 5–year rule says that a Veteran cannot have their rating reduced if their condition has not improved in the first 5 years after they received their initial rating for the condition.

In 2020, the VA National Income Thresholds are as follows: $34,171 or less if you have no dependents. $41,005 or less if you have one dependent. $43,356 or less if you have two dependents.

You can find out:

• Where your claim, appeal, or decision review is in the review process, and 
• Which documents and forms (called evidence) we need from you, and
• Which documents we’ve already received from health care providers, government agencies, and other sources, and
• Details like your claim type, the date we received your claim, and the name of your representative 

Note: The claim status tool won’t show documents you brought to us in person or sent by mail or fax. You also won’t find documents online that we protect because they have private information. 

If you served in the active military, naval or air service and are separated under any condition other than dishonorable, you may qualify for VA health care benefits.

If you’re a current or former member of the Reserves or National Guard, you must have been called to active duty by a federal order and completed the full period for which you were called or ordered to active duty. If you had or have active-duty status for training purposes only, you don’t qualify for VA health care.

If a Veteran does not submit enough proof about their disability in their VA claim , the VA will likely deny their claim. The VA has strict guidelines about what types of medical conditions qualify as disabilities and what level of compensation each veteran can receive based on the impact of the condition.

An injury or illness that results from honorable service to our country may impact your ability to earn a future living for yourself and your family.  Service-connected disability compensation provides monthly tax-free payments to disabled veterans to assist financially with the reduced employment capability or opportunities related to service-connected disabilities.

No, a veteran’s disability compensation payments are not continued for a surviving spouse after death. However, survivors may be entitled to a different type of benefit called Dependency and Indemnity Compensation.

2021 VA Disability Rates saw 1.3% cost-of-living increase based on the COLA calculations. For a 50% disabled veteran with a spouse and one child who currently receives $1,056.04 per month, this amounts to about $29.68 more per month. … VA Disability payments are monthly.