You may be eligible for protected rates if you began receiving VA disability or death pension payments before December 31, 1978, and you haven’t elected to change to the current, improved pension program. This means you’ll be able to continue receiving payments at the rates under the old program as well as a cost-of-living increase. Find out if you’re eligible, and review 2024 rates.
You can choose to receive improved pension benefits
Learn more about changing your pension benefits program
How we determine if you’re eligible for protected rates
To qualify for protected rates, your yearly income for 2023 must be at or below a certain amount. This is called the income limit. We count as income any money you earn in a year, including your salary, investment and retirement payments, and any income from your dependents. Some expenses, like non-reimbursable medical expenses (paid medical expenses not covered by your insurance provider), may work in your favor to reduce your countable income.
We base your income limit on:
The specific pension benefits you’re eligible to receive (including added amounts for Aid and Attendance), and
Whether or not you have eligible dependents, and
Your yearly income
Eligible dependents
Eligible dependents may include your spouse. We recognize same-sex and common-law marriages.
Dependents may also include any biological, step, or adopted children you may have who are unmarried and meet at least one of the requirements listed below.
At least one of these must be true for a dependent child:
The child is unmarried and is under 18 years old, or
The child is unmarried and is between 18 and 23 years old and enrolled in a qualifying school full time, or
The child is unmarried and was seriously disabled before age 18 and is unable to care for themselves
Section 306 disability pension rates
Effective December 1, 2023
Thisnon-service-connected pension program wasavailable from July 1, 1960, through December 31, 1978.
Pension benefit2023 yearly income limitBasic monthly payment for a Veteran only (no spouse or dependent children) Your yearly income must be $18,824 or less to continue receiving this benefit. Special Aid and Attendance allowance, if your income is more than $18,824 Your yearly income must be $19,502 or less to continue receiving this benefit. Hospital reduction rate for Special Aid and Attendance, if you’re hospitalized on or after January 1, 2023 Your yearly income must be $19,502 or less to continue receiving this benefit.
Pension benefit2023 yearly income limitBasic monthly payment for a Veteran with a spouse or one or more dependent children Your yearly income must be $25,303 or less to continue receiving this benefit. Special Aid and Attendance allowance, if your income is more than $24,518 Your yearly income must be $25,978 or less to continue receiving this benefit. Hospital reduction rates for Special Aid and Attendance, if you’re hospitalized on or after January 1, 2023 Your yearly income must be $25,978 or less to continue receiving this benefit.
If you’re married, we also include some of your spouse’s income when we determine if your yearly income is at or below the income limit. The current Section 306 disability pension spouse income exclusion limit is $6,013. This means that we won’t include the first $6,013of your spouse’s yearly income, but we’ll include any amount above this unless you provide evidence that you don’t have access to this income or that including it would cause you financial hardship. Read the full Title 38 regulations for the spouse income exclusion
Section 306 disability pension monthly payments
If you qualify for a protected rate, we’ll pay you the monthly payment amount you were entitled to on December 31, 1978, plus a cost-of-living increase each year. The cost-of-living increase for this year is 3.2%.
Section 306 death pension rates
Effective December 1, 2023
Thisnon-service-connected pension program wasavailable from July 1, 1960, through December 31, 1978.
Survivor status2023 yearly income limitSurviving spouse alone (no dependent children) Your yearly income must be $18,824 or less to continue receiving this benefit. Surviving spouse with one or more dependent children Your yearly income must be $25,303 or less to continue receiving this benefit. Each surviving dependent child, if the Veteran has no surviving spouse Your yearly income must be $15,393 or less to continue receiving this benefit.
Section 306 death pension monthly payments
If you qualify for aprotected rate, we’ll pay you the monthly payment amount you were entitled to on December 31, 1978, plus a cost-of-living increase each year. The cost-of-living increase for this year is 3.2%.
Section 306 survivor benefit plan annuity limitation
Effective December 1, 2023
An annuity is a fixed sum of money paid to the plan’s beneficiary each year. If you’re part of a Section 306 survivor benefit plan (also called the “minimum income widow” provision), we’ll pay you up to $11,102this year. This rate includes a 3.2% cost-of-living increase.
Old law disability pensionrates
Effective December 1, 2023
Thisnon-service-connected pension program wasavailable before July 1, 1960.
Veteran status2023 yearly income limitVeteran alone (no spouse or dependent children) Your yearly income must be $16,485 or less to continue receiving this benefit. Veteran with a spouse or one or more dependent children Your yearly income must be $23,757 or less to continue receiving this benefit.
Note:These income limits include a 3.2% cost-of-living increase for this year.
Pension benefitMonthly payment (in U.S. $)Basic Veteran pension 66.15 Pension for Veteran with 10 years of service or who is at least 65 years old 78.75 Aid and Attendance (if entitled) 135.45 Housebound allowance (if entitled) 100.00
Old law death pension rates
Effective December 1, 2023
Thisnon-service-connected pension program wasavailable before July 1, 1960.
Survivor status2023 income limitSurviving spouse alone (no children) Your yearly income must be $16,485 or less to continue receiving this benefit. Each surviving dependent child, when the Veteran has no surviving spouse Your yearly income must be $16,485 or less to continue receiving this benefit. Surviving spouse with one or more children Your yearly income must be $23,757 or less to continue receiving this benefit.
Old law death pension monthly payments
If you’re eligible for the protected rate for the old law death pension, we’ll pay the rate you were entitled to on December 31, 1978, plus a cost-of-living increase each year. The cost-of-living increase for this year is 3.2%.
Old law survivor benefit plan annuity limitation
Effective December 1, 2023
An annuity is a fixed sum of money paid to the plan’s beneficiary each year. If you’re the beneficiary of an old law death pension survivor benefit plan (also called the “minimum income widow” provision), we’ll pay you up to $11,102for the year. This includes a 3.2% cost-of-living increase for this year.
Past rates
Review protected pension rates from past years:
2023 rates (effective December 1, 2022) 2022 rates (effective December 1, 2021) 2021 rates (effective December 1, 2020) 2020 rates (effective December 1, 2019) 2019 rates (effective December 1, 2018) 2018 rates (effective December 1, 2017)
After two years of record cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) surges, disabled veterans and military retirees will see an additional 3.2% increase in 2024 in their monthly compensation benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
1, 2023. Veterans pension increase factor: 3.2%. Net worth/income limit: $155,356. Standard Medicare deduction: Actual amount will be determined by the Social Security Administration based on individual income.
VA Disability Rates 2024 will increase by 3.2% starting January 2024 as announced by the Social Security Administration. Disabled veterans with a 10% VA rating or higher can use the official 2024 VA Disability Pay Chart below to determine their new monthly pay rate with dependents.
Unfortunately, your spouse cannot receive your VA disability compensation after you die. However, they may get a monthly allowance if they qualify for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. If you lived in government housing, VA might also allow them to stay in residence for up to a year.
The amount with respect to which the 2.5 percent factor of the SBP premium (cost) is applied will be increased *5.2 percent effective January 1, 2024, from $961 to $1,011.
This refers to tax-free monthly benefits sent to the surviving spouses of disabled veterans. Per VA, the base compensation you can receive in 2022 is $1,437.66 per month. However, your monthly check may read a higher amount due to various factors.
For every additional $2 above gross household income, disability would decrease by $1. Veterans with a gross household income of $170,000 or higher in the calendar year 2023 would no longer receive any disability compensation from the VA in 2024.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pays a benefit called Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) to your surviving spouse and dependent children if you die of service-connected causes.
For qualified surviving spouses with at least 1 dependent:
The Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP)/Minimum Income Annuity (MIW) limitation is $11,102. If you have more than 1 child, add $2,831 to your MAPR amount for each additional child. If you have a child who works, you may exclude their wages up to $14,600.
In 2024, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is planning to change how it rates the condition of tinnitus. Tinnitus, commonly experienced as a ringing in the ears, currently receives a standalone rating of 10% under VA regulations.
The VA is proposing an adjustment to the current VA ratings for service-connected sleep apnea – and the changes could be coming as soon as the summer of 2024. The new ratings, if approved, would be: A 0% rating – you are asymptomatic with or without treatment.
VA's 10-year rule states that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs cannot terminate service connection for a disability that has been in place for at least 10 years unless there was evidence of fraud at the time of the grant.
The period of entitlement for a surviving spouse extends for 10 years from the date of the veteran's death. For surviving spouses of veterans who died on active duty, benefits end 20 years from the date of death. A surviving child must generally be between 18 and 26 years of age.
If at the time of the Veteran's death, the Veteran was in receipt of or entitled to receive compensation for a service-connected disability rated totally disabling (including a rating based on individual unemployability) for a continuous period of at least 8 years immediately preceding death and the surviving spouse ...
Under the current regulations, VA pays for burial and funeral expenses on a reimbursem*nt basis, which requires survivors to submit receipts for relatively small one-time payments that VA generally pays at the maximum amount permitted by law.
No one, including veterans, is getting a federal stimulus payment in 2024, the Internal Revenue Service told VERIFY. Effective Jan. 1, 2024, eligible veterans' monthly benefits increased by 3.2% because of the COLA adjustment.
VA COLA benefits for surviving spouses will increase in 2024 as the VA COLA is a cost-of-living adjustment that is applied to VA benefits each year to keep pace with inflation. The exact percentage increase for 2024 will not be known until October 2023, but it is estimated to be between 2.8% and 3.1%.
Introduction: My name is Rueben Jacobs, I am a cooperative, beautiful, kind, comfortable, glamorous, open, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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