What You May Be Owed

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Disability Compensation

Tax-free monthly payments for illnesses or injuries connected to military service - or conditions that service made worse.

Free tool: estimate your monthly disability payment

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TDIU: Individual Unemployability

Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) pays you the same as a 100% rating when service-connected conditions keep you from holding steady, gainful work - even if your rating is well below 100%. One condition at 60% opens the door, or a combined 70% with at least one condition rated 40% or higher.

Free tool: check if you could be paid at the 100% rate

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Special Monthly Compensation (SMC)

Special Monthly Compensation is higher-rate, tax-free money for severe service-connected losses - the loss or loss of use of a limb, blindness or deafness, the need for daily aid and attendance, or being housebound. The VA is supposed to grant it automatically, but often does not - so it is one of the biggest sources of money veterans are owed and never receive.

Free tool: see which SMC level fits and its monthly rate

Concurrent Receipt (CRDP & CRSC)

Concurrent receipt lets eligible military retirees collect their full retired pay and their VA disability compensation at the same time - instead of trading one for the other. There are two programs: CRDP (Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay) and CRSC (Combat-Related Special Compensation). Many retirees do not realize they qualify - especially for the tax-free CRSC.

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Veterans Pension

A tax-free monthly payment for wartime veterans with limited or no income who are age 65 or older, or who have a qualifying disability.

Free tool: estimate your monthly pension

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Aid & Attendance / Housebound

An increased monthly pension for those who need help with daily activities, live in a care facility, or are largely confined to home.

Free tool: estimate your Aid & Attendance benefit

Secondary Service Connection

A secondary service-connected condition is a health problem that grew out of a disability the VA already pays you for. Because the original condition is service-connected, the new one can be too - even though it did not begin in the military. For aging veterans whose conditions have branched and worsened over decades, this is one of the most common ways to raise a rating that is being left on the table.

Temporary 100% Ratings

A temporary 100% rating pays you at the full disability rate for a limited time while you recover from surgery or a long hospital stay tied to a service-connected condition - even if your everyday rating is far lower. It is money the VA owes for the weeks you are laid up, and it is very easy to miss because you have to point it out.

Annual Clothing Allowance

The annual clothing allowance is a small but real tax-free payment for veterans whose service-connected equipment or medication is hard on their clothes - a wheelchair that frays trouser legs, a rigid brace that wears through fabric, or a skin cream that stains and ruins garments. Many veterans who qualify have never heard of it.

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VA Health Care

Enrolled VA health care is the largest integrated health system in the country - primary care, hospital care, surgery, specialists, mental health, and a pharmacy - and for most older veterans it costs far less than they assume. Service-connected care is free, a 10% rating ends inpatient and outpatient care copays while a 50% rating (Priority Group 1) ends medication copays too, and even the veterans who do pay are capped at real, published dollar amounts rather than the open-ended bills that come with private insurance.

Free tool: find your health-care priority group

Community Care (Care Outside VA)

Community Care lets you get VA-paid health care from a local provider outside the VA when the VA cannot see you close enough to home or quickly enough. It is built on clear drive-time and wait-time standards - so you are not stuck driving hours or waiting months for care you need.

VA Dental Care

Many veterans assume dental care comes with VA health care - it usually does not. Free VA dental is reserved for specific groups defined by law, but there is also a low-cost private dental insurance program (VADIP) open to nearly every enrolled veteran and to CHAMPVA family members.

Mental Health Care & Vet Centers

The VA provides mental health care for the wounds that do not show - PTSD, depression, grief, and the lasting effects of military sexual trauma. Alongside the medical system, Vet Centers offer free, confidential counseling in the community, with records kept separate from your VA file so you can speak freely.

Long-Term Care & Nursing Home Care

Long-term care is the help a veteran needs when everyday tasks - bathing, dressing, cooking, managing medicine - become too much to handle alone. The VA can provide or arrange it in your own home, in the community, or in a nursing home, and there are real ways to help pay for care the VA does not run directly.

Beneficiary Travel (Mileage Reimbursement)

Beneficiary travel pay reimburses eligible veterans for the cost of getting to and from VA health care - mileage, tolls, parking, and sometimes public transportation, meals, and lodging. For veterans on a fixed income making regular trips to the VA, it adds up to real money over a year.

Hearing Aids & Medical Devices

Enrolled veterans can receive hearing aids, eyeglasses, prosthetics and home medical equipment at no cost - batteries, repairs and replacements included. The exam is open to everyone enrolled; the devices follow a specific eligibility rule, and a 0 percent hearing rating is enough to satisfy it.

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Housing Assistance

VA-backed home loans to buy, build, improve, or refinance a home - plus adapted-housing grants (SAH, SHA, and HISA) that pay for ramps, roll-in showers, and wider doorways so you can age safely in place.

Free tool: estimate your VA home-loan payment

Adaptive Housing Grants (SAH, SHA & HISA)

Adaptive housing grants pay to modify a home so a disabled veteran can live in it safely and independently - roll-in showers, widened doorways, ramps, and lowered counters. This is money you never repay, and it is a completely different benefit from the VA home loan. For an aging veteran who wants to stay in their own home instead of moving to a facility, it can be life-changing.

Automobile Allowance & Adaptive Equipment

The VA can help you get back on the road. If a service-connected disability makes it impossible to drive a normal vehicle, a one-time allowance helps pay for the car itself, and a separate grant pays for the equipment that makes it drivable - hand controls, lifts, and more. For many older veterans this is the difference between independence and being stuck at home.

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Life Insurance

VA life insurance options and online tools to manage an existing policy - including guaranteed-acceptance coverage for veterans with service-connected conditions.

Free tool: estimate your monthly premium

Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI)

VGLI lets you convert the SGLI coverage you had in uniform into renewable term life insurance you can keep for life - up to $500,000. If you apply within 240 days of separating, no health questions are asked, which makes it a lifeline for veterans whose health would disqualify them from civilian policies. The premiums rise with age, but the coverage never gets cancelled as long as you pay. The mistake that costs families everything: letting the enrollment window close.

Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI)

If a severely disabled veteran received a grant to buy or adapt a home, VMLI makes sure that home is never lost to a mortgage after the veteran dies. It is up to $200,000 of mortgage life insurance, paid straight to the lender, with no medical exam and premiums taken out of monthly VA compensation. The catch that costs families dearly: you must apply before age 70, and many never return the paperwork.

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Veteran Readiness & Employment (VR&E, Chapter 31)

Veteran Readiness and Employment - once called Vocational Rehabilitation, or "Voc Rehab" - helps veterans whose service-connected disabilities get in the way of work. It can pay for schooling, training, or the tools to start a business, and for the most severely disabled it offers an Independent Living track focused on living more fully at home. It often covers more of your education costs than the GI Bill.

Free tool: estimate your monthly VR&E subsistence allowance

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GI Bill Education Benefits (Post-9/11, Montgomery & Transfer to Family)

The GI Bill helps veterans and their families pay for college, trade school, certifications, apprenticeships, and more. The Post-9/11 GI Bill is the most-used version, covering tuition, housing, and books. Many older veterans still have unused entitlement they can use themselves for a second career - or transfer to a spouse or child.

Free tool: estimate your GI Bill tuition, housing & book benefits

Veterans' Preference in Federal Hiring

Veterans' preference is a legal advantage in hiring for federal government jobs. Depending on your service and disability, you receive 5 or 10 extra points on a rated exam - or top placement in the "best qualified" group - and disabled veterans get real protection against being passed over. It is one of the clearest paths for veterans into a stable second career.

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PACT Act & Toxic Exposure

The 2022 PACT Act is the largest expansion of VA benefits in decades. It makes it far easier for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxins to get health care and disability compensation.

Free tool: screen your service for toxic exposure

Discharge Upgrades & Character-of-Discharge Review

A discharge that is not "Honorable" can block the VA benefits you earned - but it is not always the final word. Veterans can ask a military review board to upgrade the character of their discharge or correct the record, and the VA can separately decide that your service still qualifies you for benefits. Trauma-related conduct now gets special, sympathetic consideration.

Correcting Your Military Records (BCMR / DD Form 149)

Mistakes in a military record - a wrong discharge reason, a missing award, an unfair evaluation, a denied medical retirement, or a pay error - can cost real money and benefits for years. Each branch has a Board for Correction of Military Records that can fix these errors or injustices. It is a powerful, no-cost remedy that many veterans never know exists.

State & Local Veterans Benefits (Property Tax & More)

Federal VA benefits are only half the picture. Every state - and often your county and town - adds its own benefits for veterans, and for aging and disabled veterans the property-tax exemption alone can be worth thousands of dollars a year. Because these benefits are run locally and are rarely automatic, many veterans miss them simply because no one told them to apply.

VA Disability & Social Security (SSDI/SSI) Together

Two of the largest benefits an older or disabled veteran can hold are VA disability compensation and Social Security - and you are allowed to receive both. But they follow completely different rulebooks: one looks at your service-connected conditions, the other at your work history and your ability to work at all. Knowing how they fit together - and where SSI is different - can protect thousands of dollars a year.

Veteran ID Card & Commissary, Exchange & MWR Access

Your service earned you more than health care. Since 2020, veterans with any service-connected rating - plus Purple Heart recipients, former POWs, and Medal of Honor recipients - can shop tax-free at military commissaries and exchanges and use base recreation. The key that unlocks the door in person is the free Veteran Health Identification Card, and online shopping is open even more widely.

Spina Bifida & Birth-Defect Benefits for Children

This is one of the least-known and most important benefits an aging Vietnam- or Korea-era veteran can pass to their family. If a veteran was exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides, a biological child born with spina bifida can receive a lifetime monthly allowance, full VA-funded health care, and vocational training - regardless of the veteran's discharge or how long they served. The benefit belongs to the child.

Housing Help for Homeless & At-Risk Veterans

No veteran should be without a safe place to live. The VA runs a connected set of programs - a 24/7 call center, permanent housing vouchers, rapid re-housing grants, and transitional housing - to move veterans off the street and keep at-risk veterans in their homes. Help is available whether the crisis is tonight or a few months away.

Presidential Memorial Certificate & Military Funeral Honors

Beyond a headstone and burial, the nation offers three lasting honors for a veteran: a Presidential Memorial Certificate signed by the President, military funeral honors with the folding and presentation of the flag and the playing of Taps, and a burial flag for the family to keep. These are free, they are earned, and a family that knows to ask will not miss them in the rush of grief.

How to File a VA Claim

The plain, start-to-finish sequence for filing a VA disability claim - the forms, the evidence, the C&P exam, and the timeline - so you file it once and file it right.

The VA Appeals Process

What to do when the VA says no. The three review lanes - Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review, and a Board Appeal to a Veterans Law Judge - explained plainly, so a denial becomes a starting point instead of a dead end.

Medicare & VA Health Care

Turning 65 does not cancel your VA health care - but it does force a real decision about Medicare. Because VA and Medicare do not coordinate the way private insurance does, the smart move for most veterans is to keep both. This page explains what Part B costs in 2026, why skipping it can trigger a lifelong penalty, and why your VA pharmacy already protects you on the drug side.

Blue Water Navy Veterans (Agent Orange Offshore)

The Blue Water Navy Veterans Act of 2019 (Public Law 116-23) extended Agent Orange presumptive service connection to veterans who served in the offshore waters of Vietnam and never set foot on land. Before this law, only "boots on the ground" veterans and those who served on inland or coastal ("brown water") vessels were covered. Now, if your ship operated within 12 nautical miles of the demarcation line of the waters of Vietnam and Cambodia between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975, you are presumed exposed to herbicides and can claim any condition on the Agent Orange presumptive list without proving the exposure caused it. The VA maintains a list of qualifying ships. Secondary conditions arising from a presumptive primary are also claimable.

VA Claims Myths vs. Facts - What Veterans Get Wrong

Misinformation about VA disability claims is everywhere - some of it decades old, some of it born out of real frustration with a slow system. This page takes the most common myths veterans believe and sets the record straight with the actual rules, the actual law, and the actual process. Nothing here is opinion - it is how the system works right now, verified against current 38 CFR regulations and VA policy.

How to Talk to Your Doctor About Your VA Claim

This page explains why talking to your doctor about your VA claim is not optional - it is the foundation of every successful claim. The VA requires a current diagnosis and a documented history of care. Without those two things, your claim will almost certainly be denied, no matter how real your condition is. We cover what to say, what to bring, how to keep a symptom diary, and how to make sure your medical records actually support your case.

Mental Health VA Claims - Rating Ladder, C&P Exams & MST

The VA rates mental health conditions - PTSD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety, bipolar disorder, and others - on a single scale from 0% to 100% based on how severely your symptoms impair your ability to work and function socially. This page provides the full rating ladder with the exact criteria at each level, explains the C&P examination process specific to mental health, covers military sexual trauma (MST) and personal assault claims and the special evidence rules that apply, and gives practical guidance on how to prepare so the exam captures the truth of your condition.

How to Write a Statement in Support of Your VA Claim

A Statement in Support of Claim is a written document in which you - or a witness who knows your situation - describe in your own words what happened during your service, what condition resulted, and how it affects your daily life. It is one of the most powerful and most overlooked tools in the VA claims process. This page walks you through the structure section by section, explains what to include and what to avoid, provides a real sample letter, and covers the VA forms you will use. Whether you are writing your own personal statement or asking a family member to write a lay witness statement, the goal is the same: give the VA a clear, honest, dated account that connects your service to your condition.

Nexus Letters: What Makes One Actually Work

This guide explains what a nexus letter is, what the VA actually requires, the exact language that must appear, how to work with your doctor, and common mistakes that sink otherwise solid claims.

Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQs): The VA Forms That Define Your Rating

This guide explains what DBQs are, how they work, which ones cover your condition, why the VA may still schedule a C&P exam even after you submit one, and how combining a DBQ with a nexus letter builds the strongest possible case.

Family Benefits, Direct Deposit, VA Life Insurance & Debt Management

This guide covers four critical financial topics most veterans overlook: adding dependents for extra monthly compensation, setting up direct deposit, VA life insurance (VALife), and managing VA debts through the Debt Management Center.

Gathering VA Medical Evidence: Build the Case Before You File

This guide covers every type of evidence the VA accepts, how to get each one, the forms involved, and the strategy behind assembling a case file that leaves the rater no room to deny your claim.