Getting out, military retirement, military to civilian transition - Army Times

Retirement: Disability benefits

You do not have to be retired from the military to receive disability benefits from the Veterans Affairs department. There are two types of compensation, VA disability and VA pension.

VA disability. Former service members with injuries or diseases incurred or aggravated during active service can receive payments. These are separate from permanent and temporary disability Defense Department payments. However, VA and the Defense Department have begun a test program of a new, single system for rating the severity of disabilities both for people still in uniform and for veterans, with VA having the final word on payment levels.

The amount of tax-free monthly VA disability paid to veterans with no children ranges from $117 for a 10 percent disability rating to $2,527 for a 100 percent rating. Veterans with at least a 30 percent disability rating get more money for their spouse and for each child.

Veterans who do not qualify for military disability might qualify for VA disability and vice versa. VA disability pay is reduced by any amount received in Defense Department severance pay.

VA disability payments are tax-free; most military retirement pay is not. Any part of military retirement pay that is based on disability, however, usually is not taxed.

Veterans classified as 100 percent disabled are entitled to use military commissaries, exchanges and theaters, as are their spouses and any children living with them. However, they are not eligible for military medical care; VA assumes that responsibility.

In addition to general compensation benefits, veterans who served in Southwest Asia in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and have undiagnosed illnesses can apply for VA disability compensation, even if they cannot directly trace their illnesses or injuries to their experiences in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. Veterans who are sick for six months or more may be eligible for compensation for these chronic conditions.

Once VA grants disability compensation, veterans may have to undergo exams every few years to determine the status of their ailments. Their disability status, and their VA compensation, could change based on the exams.

Contact: https://mypay.dfas.mil

VA pension. VA offers a pension for wartime veterans with limited income and permanent disabilities that are not connected to military service. Payments can vary by a number of factors, including income, number of family members and capacity for self-care.

The annual basic pension for a single veteran with no dependents is $11,181. A veteran with one dependent would receive $14,643. For each additional dependent child, the pension increases by $1,909 per year.

Housebound veterans with no dependents get $13,664 per year ($17,126 with one dependent) and those requiring “aid and attendance” get $18,654 per year if they have no dependents and $22,113 with one dependent. Amounts paid to these categories of veterans also rise by $1,909 per year for each additional child.

The amount of pension to which a veteran is entitled is calculated by deducting any nonwelfare income the veteran and his family receives from these maximum limits. In most cases, the balance is then paid monthly.

For veterans receiving any income, an equivalent offset is subtracted from the payment.

Contact: VA’s “Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents” handbook is posted online and updated each year. Find it at http://www1.va.gov/opa/ feature/index.asp.