Every VA benefit, explained
Each guide starts with what the VA calls it and what it actually means, then covers who qualifies and how to apply.
Getting Started
Filing Your Claim: BDD, Intent to File, Exams and Appeals
VA calls it: Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) and Intent to FileFile before you get out so your disability pay can start right after you leave.
State Veteran Benefits: Taxes, Property and More
VA calls it: State veterans benefitsExtra perks from your state, like property tax breaks and free tuition.
Moving and Your VA Benefits
VA calls it: Change of address and transfer of careWhat to update with the VA when you move so nothing gets lost.
Disagree With a VA Decision? Your 3 Ways to Fight It
VA calls it: Decision reviews under the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA): Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review, and Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement)If VA says no or rates you too low, you can add new evidence, ask a senior reviewer to look again, or take it to a judge.
Discharge Upgrades and Character of Discharge
VA calls it: Discharge upgrade (Discharge Review Board / Board for Correction of Military Records) and VA Character of Discharge (COD) determinationIf your discharge isn't honorable, you may be able to get it changed by the military, or VA may still decide you can get benefits.
The VA Claim Exam (C&P Exam): What to Expect
VA calls it: Compensation and Pension (C&P) examination; VA claim examAfter you file a disability claim, VA sends you to a doctor who checks your condition and reports back. That report weighs heavily on your rating.
VA Solid Start: Your First Year After the Military
VA calls it: VA Solid Start (VASS)In your first year out, VA calls you up to three times to check in and help you use your benefits.
VA Benefits for National Guard and Reserve Members
VA calls it: Veteran status for Reserve Component members; active duty (Title 10), active duty for training (ACDUTRA), inactive duty training (INACDUTRA), Title 32Guard and Reserve members can get many VA benefits, but which ones depend on the type of duty you served and whether you were hurt during it.
Money & Disability
VA Disability Compensation and Ratings
VA calls it: Service-connected disability compensationTax-free monthly pay for health problems your service caused or made worse.
VA Pension for Wartime Veterans
VA calls it: Veterans Pension (needs-based)Monthly money for wartime veterans with low income who are older or disabled.
TDIU: Get Paid at 100% When You Can't Work
VA calls it: Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU, or IU)If your service-connected conditions keep you from holding a steady job, VA can pay you at the 100% rate even if your combined rating is lower.
Special Monthly Compensation (SMC): Extra Pay for Serious Losses
VA calls it: Special Monthly Compensation (SMC), with levels like SMC-K, SMC-L, SMC-S and SMC-RSMC is extra money on top of (or instead of) your regular disability pay when your service-connected conditions cause a serious loss, like losing use of a limb or needing daily help.
Add Your Spouse and Kids to Your VA Disability Pay
VA calls it: Dependency claim (VA Form 21-686c, Application Request to Add and/or Remove Dependents)If you're rated 30% or higher, VA pays you more each month for a spouse, children and certain parents, but only after you tell VA about them.
Secondary Service Connection: When One Condition Causes Another
VA calls it: Secondary service connection (38 CFR 3.310), including service connection by aggravationIf a condition you're already rated for causes or worsens a new health problem, that new problem can be rated too.
PACT Act and Toxic Exposure: Burn Pits, Agent Orange and Camp Lejeune
VA calls it: Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act; presumptive conditionsIf you served in certain places and times, VA assumes some illnesses came from toxic exposure, so you don't have to prove the link.
Automobile Allowance and Adaptive Equipment
VA calls it: Automobile allowance and Automobile Adaptive Equipment (AAE) grantVA can give you a one-time payment toward a car and pay for changes like hand controls or lifts if a service-connected disability affects how you drive or get in and out.
VA Clothing Allowance: Money for Clothes Damaged by Devices or Medicine
VA calls it: Annual clothing allowance (VA Form 10-8678)If a brace, prosthetic or skin medicine for a service-connected condition wears out or stains your clothes, VA pays you once a year to replace them.
Free Tax Filing and Money Help for Veterans
VA calls it: MilTax (Military OneSource), VITA, IRS Free File, and VA Beneficiary Financial Counseling Service (BFCS)VA disability pay isn't taxed, and veterans can often file taxes and get money advice for free through government programs.
Health Care
VA Health Care: Enrolling, Priority Groups and Community Care
VA calls it: VA health care enrollment and priority groupsSign up for VA doctors; your group decides what you pay.
VA Mental Health Care and Vet Centers
VA calls it: VA mental health services; Readjustment Counseling Service (Vet Centers); Veterans Crisis LineVA offers free and low-cost counseling, therapy and crisis help, and community Vet Centers give private counseling without needing VA health care enrollment.
VA Dental Care: Who Gets It and How
VA calls it: VA dental benefits by eligibility class (Class I through VI); VA Dental Insurance Program (VADIP)Most veterans don't get free VA dental care, but some groups get full care, others get one-time or limited care, and anyone in VA health care can buy discounted dental insurance.
Community Care: Seeing a Non-VA Doctor on VA's Dime
VA calls it: Veteran Community Care Program (created by the VA MISSION Act of 2018)If VA can't see you quickly or close to home, or doesn't offer the care you need, VA can send you to a local doctor and pay for it.
VA Travel Pay: Get Paid for Driving to Appointments
VA calls it: Beneficiary Travel (BT) reimbursement; Beneficiary Travel Self-Service System (BTSSS); special mode transportationIf you qualify, VA pays you back for mileage and some other costs when you travel to VA health care or a claim exam.
Hearing Aids, Eyeglasses and Prosthetics From VA
VA calls it: Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service (PSAS); audiology and eye care; Denver Logistics Center suppliesVA provides hearing aids, glasses (for some), artificial limbs, braces, wheelchairs and other devices to veterans in VA health care, often at no cost.
Health Care for Women Veterans
VA calls it: Women Veterans Health Care; Women Veteran Program Manager (WVPM); Women Veterans Call Center (WVCC)VA has primary care, reproductive care, maternity support, mental health and more designed for women, plus a call center and a local advocate at every VA medical center.
Home & Housing
VA Home Loan: Buy With No Down Payment
VA calls it: VA-guaranteed home loan (Chapter 37)A mortgage with no down payment, because the VA backs part of it for the lender.
Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) and SHA Grants
VA calls it: Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) and Special Housing Adaptation (SHA) grantsMoney to build or change a home so you can live in it with a serious disability.
Help for Homeless Veterans: HUD-VASH and SSVF
VA calls it: HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH); Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF); National Call Center for Homeless VeteransIf you're homeless or about to lose your home, VA programs can help pay rent, find housing, and connect you with a case manager.
HISA Grants: Make Your Home Safer and Easier to Use
VA calls it: Home Improvements and Structural Alterations (HISA) grantHISA is a lifetime grant from VA health care that helps pay for medically needed home changes, like a roll-in shower or a ramp.
Native American Direct Loan (NADL): A VA Home Loan on Trust Land
VA calls it: Native American Direct Loan (NADL) programVA itself lends money to Native American veterans, or veterans married to Native Americans, to buy, build or improve a home on federal trust land.
Education & Careers
Post-9/11 GI Bill and Other Education Benefits
VA calls it: Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33)The VA pays your tuition, a housing allowance and books while you go to school.
Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E, Chapter 31)
VA calls it: Veteran Readiness and Employment (Chapter 31)Paid training and job help if a service-connected condition makes work harder.
Fry Scholarship and DEA (Chapter 35): School for Survivors and Families
VA calls it: Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship; Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA, Chapter 35)These two programs pay for college or job training for the children and spouses of service members who died or veterans who are permanently and totally disabled from service.
Work & Business
Veterans' Preference and Getting a Federal Job
VA calls it: Veterans' preference (5-point TP, 10-point CP/CPS/XP); special hiring authorities like VRA, VEOA and 30% or More Disabled VeteranWhen you apply for many federal jobs, your service can give you extra points or a spot ahead of other applicants, and some programs let agencies hire you directly.
VetCert: Certify Your Veteran-Owned Small Business
VA calls it: SBA Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert); VOSB and SDVOSBVetCert is a free certification from the Small Business Administration that lets veteran-owned businesses compete for set-aside government contracts.
Family & Survivors
VA Life Insurance: VGLI and VALife
VA calls it: VGLI and VALifeLife insurance you can keep or buy after you leave the military.
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and Survivor Benefits
VA calls it: Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC)Monthly pay for a spouse or children when a veteran dies from a service-related cause.
Burial and Memorial Benefits
VA calls it: Burial allowances and memorial benefitsHelp paying for a funeral, plus a free headstone and burial in a national cemetery.
Support for Family Caregivers (PCAFC)
VA calls it: Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC)A monthly stipend, training and health coverage for family who care for a disabled veteran.
CHAMPVA: Health Insurance for Veterans' Families
VA calls it: Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA)CHAMPVA is a VA health plan that helps pay medical bills for the spouse and kids of a veteran who is permanently and totally disabled, or who died from service.