on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs for the House Committee
on Veterans’ Affairs, says the VA has
a new attitude regarding disabilities.
Under previous administrations, he
explains, VA evaluators were encouraged to reject all but the most serious cases involving service-related
disabilities. Today, led by Secretary
of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki (a
Purple Heart recipient with a prosthetic foot), the agency is reaching
out to vets with disabilities. This
means, says Hall, that World War II–,
Korea-, and Vietnam-era veterans who
may have been turned down by the VA
in the past should reapply—especially
because the agency is now much more
aware of (and sympathetic to) service-connected illnesses such as PTSD and
ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
care—over the past two decades and
has eased eligibility standards. This is
a vitally important development. For
many veterans, VA benefits could mean
the difference between a life of abject
poverty or a secure old age. For others
it can mean the difference between
suffering from an undiagnosed service-related illness or receiving treatment
from a specialist in war trauma.
So, what are the benefits
available to veterans?
Disability compensation
Misconceptions about this program
abound. First of all, a service-connected
disability need not be a combat injury. Any injury suffered or aggravated
while in uniform can be considered—
even injuries incurred while traveling
to or from National Guard duty.
Second, compensation payments
are unrelated to income, and they are
also available, at a reduced level, to
surviving spouses. Monthly payments
are based on the degree of disability,
which can range from 10 percent (for
tinnitus, for example) to 100 percent
(unable to work or function normally),
as determined by a doctor and subject
to appeal. A 30 percent disability rat-
ing currently merits $376 per month
in compensation ($421 if the veteran is
married); vets who are 100 percent dis-
abled receive $2,673 per month ($2,823
if married). To view compensation
levels for various disability ratings, visit
vba.va.gov/ bln/21/rates/ comp01.htm.
Pensions for war veterans
Although pensions were designed to
help low-income veterans, the big surprise here is how much vets are allowed
to deduct from income to determine if
they meet the qualifying threshold.
The Veterans Benefits Administration
allows veterans to subtract all care-related costs, including the costs of
assistance with activities of daily living,
nursing home care, and Medicare premiums. If the net income at that point
is below $11,830 for a single vet (or
$15,493 for a married one), the VA will
provide a pension to bring the veteran’s
income up to that level.
Another common misconception is
that pensions go only to people who
served in wars overseas. In fact, the
pensions are available to anyone (other
than those dishonorably discharged)
who served even a single day during
wartime, even if that service was state-
To register with the VA:
vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/about_vonapp.asp
For assistance in registering with the VA:
American Legion legion.org/veteransbenefits/links
Veterans of Foreign Wars vfw.org; click on “Veterans Services”
36 AARP
