VA Benefits Questions, Answered
The questions veterans and their spouses actually ask — about pay, ratings, spouses, children, retirement, what happens after death, healthcare, and shopping — answered briefly, with a link to the calculator or page that works the full answer. VA Pay IQ is independent, not VA or DoD. Your VA award letter and, for retirees, your DFAS statement govern.
Getting paid
How much VA disability pay do I get at 100%?
In 2026, a veteran alone at 100% receives $3,938.58 per month, from the official VA table effective December 1, 2025. Use the pay calculator for your household. Full answer →
How much do I get at 70%?
In 2026, a veteran alone at 70% receives $1,808.45 per month; with a spouse, $1,961.45 per month. Full answer →
How much do I get at 30%?
In 2026, a veteran alone at 30% receives $552.47 per month; with a spouse, $617.47 per month. Full answer →
Do dependents add anything at 10% or 20%?
No. Dependent additions begin at 30%. At 10% and 20%, the veteran-alone rate is the total. Full answer →
When do VA rates change each year?
On December 1, following the annual cost-of-living adjustment. The 2026 table took effect December 1, 2025. Full answer →
Are 2027 VA rates published yet?
No, as of October 29, 2026. VA Pay IQ shows 2027 only as a labeled projection: the 2026 amount × 1.036, from the Social Security Administration's 3.6% COLA announcement. Full answer →
Why don't my ratings add up to my combined rating?
VA uses the whole-person method in 38 CFR 4.25: each rating applies to the efficiency that remains, greatest first, with rounding once at the end. 50% and 30% combine to 70%, not 80%. Full answer →
What is the bilateral factor?
Under 38 CFR 4.26, paired extremities or paired muscles combine first, then 10% of that combined value is added — not 10% added to your final rating. Full answer →
Your spouse
Does my spouse get VA pay while I am alive?
Not as a separate payment. At 30% and above, your own monthly payment is higher because a spouse is included in it — for example $617.47 at 30% in 2026, versus $552.47 alone. Full answer →
Does my spouse get VA healthcare at 100%?
Only if your 100% rating is permanent and total (P&T), and your spouse is not eligible for TRICARE. Then CHAMPVA may apply. A 100% rating without a P&T designation does not by itself qualify a spouse for CHAMPVA. Full answer →
What is the difference between 100% and 100% permanent and total?
100% is the payment level. P&T is a separate VA designation that the disability is rated 100% disabling and is not expected to improve. CHAMPVA and Chapter 35 education key off P&T, not off 100% alone. Full answer →
Does my spouse get TRICARE or CHAMPVA?
If you are a military retiree, your family uses TRICARE. If you are P&T and not TRICARE-eligible, your spouse may use CHAMPVA. Never both — TRICARE eligibility ends CHAMPVA eligibility. Full answer →
Can my spouse use the commissary and PX?
Shopping access keys off the veteran's service-connected rating, not the spouse's status alone. Since January 1, 2020, any veteran with a service-connected rating, including 0%, can use commissaries and exchanges with a qualifying credential. Full answer →
Does my spouse get a VA home loan because of my rating?
A spouse does not get a VA home loan in their own right from your rating. A surviving spouse receiving DIC is a separate home-loan case, and a veteran receiving VA compensation is exempt from the VA funding fee. Full answer →
What happens to my spouse's benefits if they remarry after I die?
It depends on the benefit. DIC can continue if remarriage was on or after January 5, 2021, at age 55 or older; CHAMPVA can continue if remarriage was on or after age 55. Survivors Pension requires no remarriage. Full answer →
Does my spouse keep CHAMPVA if I was a retiree?
No — retiree families use TRICARE, and TRICARE eligibility means CHAMPVA does not apply, even at P&T. Full answer →
Your children
Do my children add to my VA pay?
At 30% and above, yes — children under 18 and children aged 18 to 23 in a qualifying school program add published amounts beyond the first child in the basic rate. Full answer →
How much does a second child under 18 add?
At 30% in 2026, $32.00 per month per additional child under 18; at 50%, $54.00; at 100%, the added amounts are higher — use the pay calculator for your rating. Full answer →
Do children aged 18 to 23 in school qualify?
Only if they are in a VA-approved school program. Not every child aged 18 to 23 qualifies, and the added amount differs from the under-18 amount. Full answer →
Can my child get education benefits from my rating?
Dependents' Educational Assistance (Chapter 35) applies to a spouse or child of a veteran rated permanently and totally disabled, or who died from a service-connected condition. A 100% rating without P&T does not qualify a child on its own. Full answer →
Do my children get CHAMPVA?
Dependent children of a P&T veteran may qualify for CHAMPVA if they are not TRICARE-eligible, under the same rules as a spouse, with age and school rules for children aged 18 to 23. Full answer →
Retirement
What is High-36 retirement pay?
Gross monthly retired pay is 2.5% times years of service times the average of your highest 36 months of basic pay. At 20 years, that is 50% of your High-36 average; at 30 years, 75%. Full answer →
What is the Blended Retirement System (BRS)?
BRS pays 2.0% per year of service times your High-36 average — 40% at 20 years — plus Thrift Savings Plan contributions. High-36 pays 2.5% per year with no TSP component in the annuity. Full answer →
If I retire and get VA pay, do I lose my retired pay?
You waive retired pay dollar-for-dollar by your VA amount, so your DFAS check drops by that amount and VA pays you instead. Your total gross cash does not fall, but part of it becomes tax-free VA pay. Full answer →
What is CRDP and who gets it?
Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay restores waived retired pay for length-of-service retirees with 20 or more years and a combined VA rating of 50% or higher. At 30%, a 20-year retiree does not qualify. Full answer →
What is CRSC?
Combat-Related Special Compensation restores waived retired pay for combat-related disabilities certified by your branch. It is tax-free, and it combines only the combat-related ratings, capped at the amount you waived. Full answer →
Can I get both CRDP and CRSC?
No. DFAS pays the greater of the two, never both. Because CRSC is tax-free and CRDP is taxable, the after-tax winner can differ from the gross winner. Full answer →
What if I was promoted inside my last 36 months?
Your High-36 mixes months at each rank you actually held. An E-6 for 24 months and E-7 for the last 12 months is priced at 24 months of E-6 pay plus 12 months of E-7 pay — not 36 months at E-7. Full answer →
Does BAH or BAS count toward my High-36?
No. High-36 uses basic pay only. Basic Allowance for Housing and Basic Allowance for Subsistence are never included in a retired-pay base. Full answer →
After a veteran dies
Does my spouse get my VA disability pay after I die?
No. VA disability compensation stops at death and does not transfer. A surviving spouse may instead qualify for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), a separate tax-free VA payment. Full answer →
How much is DIC for a surviving spouse?
In 2026, the basic DIC rate for a surviving spouse is $1,699.36 per month, tax-free, effective December 1, 2025, plus add-ons for children, the 8-year provision, Aid and Attendance, and a transitional benefit. Full answer →
When does a surviving spouse qualify for DIC if death was not service-connected?
If the veteran was rated totally disabled (100% or TDIU) for at least 10 years before death, or since discharge and at least 5 years before death, or at least 1 year before death as a former prisoner of war. Full answer →
What is SBP?
The Survivor Benefit Plan is a DoD annuity a military retiree elects at retirement, paying a surviving spouse up to 55% of the elected retired-pay base. If the retiree never elected SBP, there is no SBP annuity — a VA rating alone does not create one. Full answer →
Can a surviving spouse get both DIC and SBP?
Yes, in full, since January 1, 2023. The old SBP-DIC offset is eliminated; DIC comes from VA and SBP from DFAS, and neither reduces the other. Full answer →
Does a surviving spouse get CHAMPVA?
A surviving spouse may qualify for CHAMPVA if the veteran died from a service-connected disability or was rated P&T at death, and the survivor is not TRICARE-eligible, subject to the remarriage rules. Full answer →
Healthcare and shopping
Can I use the commissary and PX at 0%?
Yes, if the 0% condition is service-connected and documented by VA, with a qualifying credential such as a Veteran Health Identification Card showing service-connected status. The percentage does not matter for shopping access since January 1, 2020. Full answer →
Does commissary access mean Space-A travel?
No. Space-A travel is a separate privilege with its own, narrower eligibility rules. Do not assume shopping access means Space-A access. Full answer →
Am I exempt from the VA home loan funding fee?
Yes, if you receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability. Because compensation starts at 10%, that is effectively the threshold; a 0% rating alone, with no compensation, does not trigger it on its own. Full answer →