Myth: I don’t have a disability.
It’s unfortunate that there is a stigma around the term “disability”. A better way to look at a VA disability claim is to say, “I have a medical condition that occurred during, or was caused by, my military service”.
Likewise, you can think about “disability compensation” as an insurance policy against those same medical conditions. An approved disability claim will give you access to VA medical care and a monthly disability compensation payment.
VA disability compensation provides monthly benefits to Veterans in recognition of the effects of disabilities, diseases, or injuries incurred or aggravated during active military service. The program also provides monthly payments to surviving spouses, dependent children, and dependent parents in recognition of the economic loss caused by a Veteran’s death during military service or, after discharge from military service, as a result of a service-connected disability. A summary of VA’s disability compensation programs is below.
A tax-free monetary benefit paid to Veterans with disabilities that are the result of a disease or injury incurred or aggravated during active military service. The benefit amount is graduated according to the degree of the Veteran’s disability on a scale from 10 percent to 100 percent (in increments of 10 percent). Compensation may also be paid for disabilities that are considered related or secondary to disabilities occurring in service and for disabilities presumed to be related to circumstances of military service, even though they may arise after service. Generally, the degrees of disability specified are also designed to compensate for considerable loss of working time from exacerbations or illness.
DIC is a tax-free monetary benefit generally payable to a surviving spouse, child or parent of Servicemembers who died while on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training, or to survivors of Veterans who died from their service-connected disabilities. Parents’ DIC is an income-based benefit for parents who were financially dependent on a Servicemember or Veteran who died from a service-related cause.
Special Monthly Compensation (SMC):
SMC is an additional tax-free benefit that can be paid to Veterans, their spouses, surviving spouses, and parents. For Veterans, Special Monthly Compensation is a higher rate of compensation paid due to special circumstances such as the need of aid and attendance by another person or by specific disability, such as loss of use of one hand or leg. For spouses and surviving spouses, this benefit is commonly referred to as aid and attendance and is paid based on the need for aid and attendance by another person.
Veterans may be eligible for other types of disability compensation once a disability has been determined to be service-connected.
Special VA disability compensation programs include:
If you are a Veteran or a spouse of a Veteran with a disability, please do not suffer alone. You have served our country and deserve the best care and compensation for your injuries. If you have any doubt or questions, please call us for a free consultation at 877.526.3457 or visit jandils.com.
