Service Connected VA Disability Benefits For Veterans

Specific veterans with VA disabilities are eligible for service-connected disability compensation. It includes certain diseases and major injuries aggravated during their military service.

Veterans who got any disabilities post-service are also compensated only if that disability has occurred during their service and for disabilities related to the circumstances of service, even though they may appear after their service.

Eligibility For Service-Connected Disability

Service connection for a disability may be awarded based on the following criteria:

• A presumption of service connection can be permitted for some chronic and tropical diseases under some conditions, despite if the conditions weren't identified during the service.
• Establishing a service connection can also apply to a secondary disability or disease caused by a service-connected illness or injury.
• A service-connected disability may make you eligible for supplementary benefits, including VA medical care, vocational rehabilitation, and adaptive equipment.

Individual Unemployability

Individual unemployability can only be applied when there is an extraordinary disability case that substantially doesn't let the veterans get themselves employed. A veteran must satisfy one of the following criteria:

• Have one service-connected disability rated at 60% or more; or
• Have at least two or more service-connected disabilities having a total of 70% altogether, with one at least 40% rating, and unable to follow gainful employment because of the disability caused to veterans during their service.

Total Disability

Total disability will be determined when a permanent impairment of mental or physical health is continued for a veteran's lifetime, making it impracticable for them to pursue a significantly remunerative profession. It applies to a single disability or a combination of disabilities that warrants a 100 percent rating.

Note: Exclusive benefits apply to cases classified as total and permanent disabilities.

Special Monthly Compensation (SMC)

Following SMC is awarded to deserving veterans:

Housebound Benefits

Housebound refers to an augmented monthly pension granted to an individual significantly restricted to residence due to a permanent disability. Moreover, as a veteran, you may be eligible for the increased housebound pension if:

• You are only diagnosed with a single permanent disability rated as 100-percent disabling AND, due to such disability, you have permanent and substantial confinement with your immediate premises;
• You have a single permanent disability rated as 100 percent and an extra disability rated as 60 percent disability or higher;
• You will not receive any additional or special monthly pension without first proving yourself eligible for a VA pension. Although, an enhanced pension is based upon a higher income limit.

Before receiving an enhanced or special monthly pension, it is essential to establish eligibility for a VA pension.

However, because the increased pension is based upon a higher income limit, an applicant might not qualify for the basic pension due to high income but could still be eligible for increased pension benefits.

Also, you cannot simultaneously receive any pension at the Attendance and Housebound rates.

Loss Of Use

An additional monthly compensation known as special monthly compensation is granted alongside basic compensation for anatomical loss or loss of function due to a service-connected disability. Examples include hand, foot, eyes, paired organs or extremities, reproductive organs, buttocks, kidney, loss of speech (aphonia), and deafness.

Aid And Attendance

Aid and attendance are assessed solely when the veteran is in a state of near helplessness, unable to independently perform tasks such as dressing, undressing, personal hygiene, eating, attending to bodily needs, making frequent adjustments to specialized prosthetic or orthopedic devices, or safeguarding themselves against daily hazards and risks.

These conditions necessitating care must be service-connected. In cases where a veteran requires elevated care, like hospitalization or nursing home due to service-connected disabilities, a higher monthly aid and attendance allowance may be granted.