What Benefits Do Veterans Get at Each VA Disability Rating?
For the veteran, for their spouse, and — after death — for their surviving spouse. This page answers the questions veterans actually ask: what does my spouse get, when do we get healthcare, when can we shop at the commissary and PX, and what happens to my spouse if I die?
At a glance: what changes at each rating
Monthly pay figures below are 2026, official VA table effective December 1, 2025. Full tables for every household are on the pay rates page and in the pay calculator.
| Rating | Monthly VA pay (veteran alone, 2026) | What your spouse / family gets | Healthcare for your spouse | Commissary, PX & MWR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0% — service-connected, no pay | $0 | No monthly pay, and no dependent pay. The condition is recognised as service-connected. | No CHAMPVA from this rating alone. | Yes — any VA-documented service-connected rating, including 0%, qualifies for commissary, exchange, and MWR shopping since January 1, 2020, with a qualifying credential (see below). |
| 10–20% | 10%: $180.42 20%: $356.66 | No additional pay for a spouse, children, or dependent parents at these ratings. You do receive monthly pay yourself. | No CHAMPVA from this rating alone. | Yes — same as 0% above. |
| 30–40% | 30%: $552.47 40%: $795.84 | Dependent pay starts here. At 30%, a spouse adds pay (2026: $617.47 with a spouse vs $552.47 alone). Dependent parents and children add pay too, at the published amounts for your rating. A spouse receiving Aid and Attendance adds a further published amount. | No CHAMPVA from this rating alone. | Yes. |
| 50–60% | 50%: $1,132.90 60%: $1,435.02 | Dependent pay continues, at higher amounts. If you are also a military retiree with 20+ years: 50% is the CRDP threshold — Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay can restore waived retired pay at 50% and above (see the VA vs retirement section). This is a retiree benefit, not a VA-rating benefit on its own. | No CHAMPVA from this rating alone. | Yes. |
| 60–90% — and TDIU | 70%: $1,808.45 90%: $2,362.30 | Dependent pay continues. TDIU: Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability can pay at the 100% rate even when the combined rating is below 100%, if VA finds the veteran cannot work because of service-connected conditions. The schedular route is generally a single 60% rating, or a 70% combined rating with at least one 40% rating — VA decides TDIU, it is not automatic at a percentage. TDIU counts as “totally disabled” for the DIC 10-year survivor rule below, but TDIU alone does not automatically mean P&T for CHAMPVA or education benefits unless VA designates it permanent. | No CHAMPVA from this rating alone, unless VA has designated the veteran P&T. | Yes. |
| 100% — not P&T | $3,938.58 | Full dependent pay at the 100% amounts (2026: $4,158.17 with a spouse). | Not automatically. This is the most common misunderstanding on this page: a 100% schedular rating without a P&T designation does not by itself qualify a spouse for CHAMPVA or for Chapter 35 education benefits. Check the letter. | Yes, and a veteran rated 100% (or TDIU) may qualify for a DoD identification card with broader installation access — the credential and its privileges are set by DoD, so confirm at a RAPIDS/ID card office. |
| 100% permanent and total (P&T) | $3,938.58 | Full dependent pay, plus the family benefits that key off P&T: CHAMPVA healthcare for a spouse and children (if not TRICARE-eligible), Dependents' Educational Assistance (Chapter 35) for a spouse and children, and, in many states, state-level benefits that key off the P&T finding — state benefits vary by state and are not listed here as federal benefits. | Yes — CHAMPVA, if not TRICARE-eligible (see the healthcare section). No premium; cost-sharing applies. | Yes. |
Sources for the pay figures: VA.gov current rates, effective December 1, 2025, verified October 29, 2026. The 2026 with-spouse figure at 100% is $4,158.17. Dependent pay at 30% and above is built from the basic rate plus published added amounts — use the pay calculator for your exact household.
Your spouse's healthcare: CHAMPVA or TRICARE — never both
This is the question spouses ask most, and the answer is a fork, not a rating ladder:
- If the veteran is a military retiree, the family uses TRICARE. TRICARE is the Department of Defense program for active-duty, retired, and Guard/Reserve families. A retiree family's healthcare comes from TRICARE whatever the VA rating is.
- If the veteran is rated permanently and totally disabled and the family is not TRICARE-eligible, the spouse and dependent children may qualify for CHAMPVA — the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA's rule, in its own words: if you are eligible for or enrolled in TRICARE, you cannot get CHAMPVA benefits.
- CHAMPVA is cost-sharing, not free care and not a premium plan. There is no monthly premium. The spouse pays a deductible ($50 per person, $100 per family, per calendar year, as described in VA's CHAMPVA guidance) and then a share of the CHAMPVA allowable amount, up to a yearly catastrophic cap. If the spouse is eligible for Medicare, they must keep Medicare Part A and Part B (or a Medicare Advantage plan); Medicare pays first and CHAMPVA pays second, and dropping Part B ends CHAMPVA.
- Remarriage changes CHAMPVA for a surviving spouse. A surviving spouse who remarries on or after their 55th birthday can keep CHAMPVA after remarriage. Remarriage before age 55 ends CHAMPVA on the date of remarriage, though eligibility may be restored if that remarriage later ends.
- What CHAMPVA is not: it does not make the spouse a VA patient, it does not cover a spouse at 70% or 90% without a P&T designation, and it does not stack on top of TRICARE. If you are not sure which fork you are on, the fork is retiree status first, P&T second — not the percentage alone.
Source: VA.gov — CHAMPVA Benefits.
Commissary, PX (exchange), and MWR: the rating does not matter
Since January 1, 2020, under the Purple Heart and Disabled Veterans Equal Access Act of 2018, any veteran with a VA-documented service-connected disability rating — 0% through 100% — plus Purple Heart recipients and former prisoners of war, can use commissaries, military exchanges, and MWR retail facilities, in person and, where the exchange program allows it, online under its own rules.
- The credential matters more than the percentage: a Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC) showing service-connected status (or Purple Heart / former POW status) is the usual way in. A standard Veteran ID Card (VIC) alone does not open a base gate or prove shopping eligibility. Installation entry and shopping eligibility are separate checks — confirm local entry requirements at the installation visitor center.
- Eligible family members and primary family caregivers in VA's caregiver program may also qualify on their own terms — do not assume a spouse shops on the veteran's rating alone without their own credential or dependent status.
- Space-A travel is not the same thing as shopping access. It has its own, narrower eligibility rules. Do not assume commissary access means Space-A access.
Other benefits that do not wait for 100%
- VA home loan funding fee exemption — from 10% up. A veteran receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability does not pay the VA funding fee on a VA home loan. Because compensation starts at 10%, that is effectively the threshold; a 0% rating alone, with no compensation, does not trigger it on its own. A surviving spouse receiving DIC is also exempt. Source: VA.gov — VA funding fee and loan closing costs.
- Education for a spouse or child — only at P&T (or a service-connected death). Dependents' Educational Assistance (Chapter 35) pays a monthly stipend to a spouse or child of a veteran rated permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition, or who died from a service-connected condition. The dollar rate changes by school year and is not stated here, because published third-party rates for the current year conflict — check VA.gov for the current Chapter 35 rate before relying on a figure. A 100% rating without P&T does not qualify a dependent for Chapter 35 on its own.
- State benefits vary. Property-tax relief, state tuition help, hunting/fishing licences, and state veterans-home care often key off a VA rating or a P&T finding, but the thresholds and amounts are set state by state. This page does not list them as federal benefits.
What happens to your spouse after you die?
Your VA disability pay stops at death. It does not transfer to your spouse. What may replace it is a different benefit, with its own eligibility — and, for a retiree, a second, separate benefit from DFAS. Do not plan on the monthly VA check continuing.
1. VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) — from VA, tax-free
DIC is VA's monthly payment to a surviving spouse (and, in some cases, children or parents) because of a service-connected death. A surviving spouse may qualify if any of these is true:
- the veteran died from a service-connected illness or injury, or died on active duty or training, or
- the veteran was rated totally disabled (100% schedular or TDIU) for at least 10 years continuously before death — even if the cause of death was unrelated to service, or
- the veteran was rated totally disabled continuously since release from active duty and for at least 5 years immediately before death, or
- the veteran was a former prisoner of war who died after September 30, 1999, and was rated totally disabled for at least 1 year before death.
Marriage rules also apply: generally, the spouse lived with the veteran without a break until death (or was not at fault for a separation), and was married at least 1 year, or had a child with the veteran, or married within 15 years of the discharge from the period of service in which the qualifying condition started. DIC has no income test for a spouse or child.
2026 DIC amounts (effective December 1, 2025, for survivors of veterans who died on or after January 1, 1993): basic surviving-spouse rate $1,699.36 per month, tax-free; 8-year provision add-on $360.85 (veteran totally disabled for 8 years before death and married to the spouse for those same 8 years — claim it, it is easy to miss); each child under 18 $421.00; Aid and Attendance add-on $421.00; housebound add-on $197.22; transitional benefit $359.00 per month for the first 2 years if there is a child under 18. Source: VA.gov — DIC survivor rates.
Remarriage and DIC: a surviving spouse who remarries on or after January 5, 2021, and was 55 or older at remarriage, or who remarried on or after December 16, 2003, and was 57 or older, can continue to receive DIC. Remarriage before those ages generally ends DIC, though eligibility can be restored if that later marriage ends.
2. Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) — from DFAS, for retirees only
SBP is not a VA benefit. It is a DoD annuity a military retiree elects at retirement, paying a surviving spouse up to 55% of the retired-pay base amount the retiree elected, in exchange for premiums deducted from retired pay during the retiree's lifetime. If the retiree never elected SBP, there is no SBP annuity to receive — VA rating alone does not create one. Retirement pay itself stops at death; SBP, where elected, is what continues in its place.
Since January 1, 2023, there is no SBP-DIC offset. A surviving spouse eligible for both receives full SBP from DFAS and full DIC from VA. The old “widow's tax” reduction is gone. Source: DFAS — Understanding SBP, DIC, and SSIA.
3. Other survivor benefits, briefly
- CHAMPVA for a surviving spouse — if the veteran died from a service-connected disability, or was rated P&T at death, and the survivor is not TRICARE-eligible (see the healthcare section for the remarriage rules).
- Chapter 35 education for a surviving spouse or child, where the death was service-connected or the veteran was P&T at death.
- Survivors Pension (Death Pension) — a different, income-tested VA benefit for a low-income surviving spouse of a wartime veteran who has not remarried. It is not DIC, and it is not based on the veteran's rating alone.
- Burial and memorial benefits — including burial in a national cemetery and a headstone/marker, under VA's burial rules. Dollar allowances, where they apply, depend on the circumstances and are not stated here.
- Keep the rating letter. CHAMPVA, Chapter 35, and many state survivor benefits key off a P&T finding or a total-disability history. A surviving spouse who cannot show that history may have to prove it later, when it is hardest to do.
VA benefits vs military retirement benefits — side by side
| VA disability benefits (VA) | Military retirement benefits (DoD / DFAS) | |
|---|---|---|
| Based on | Service-connected rating, 0–100% | Years served and pay base (Final Pay, High-36, or BRS); generally 20 years, except medical (Chapter 61) retirement |
| Paid by | VA | DFAS |
| Tax | Tax-free | Taxable (retired pay and SBP annuity) |
| Family healthcare | CHAMPVA, only at P&T and only if not TRICARE-eligible | TRICARE, for retiree families |
| At death | Pay stops; DIC may replace it (see above) | Retired pay stops; SBP annuity may replace it, only if elected at retirement |
| When both apply | A retiree receiving VA pay normally waives retired pay dollar-for-dollar to receive it. CRDP (50%+ rating, 20+ years) can restore waived retired pay, and CRSC can restore the combat-related portion — both are DFAS retirement questions, covered in detail only after their rules are verified against DFAS and the DoD Financial Management Regulation. Do not assume VA pay is simply added on top of full retired pay. | |
A 100% VA rating does not make someone a military retiree. Twenty years of service does not give someone a VA rating. Either system can be the one a family is actually entitled to — check both, separately.
What a rating does not do
- It does not make a spouse a veteran, and it does not give a spouse VA healthcare, VA disability pay of their own, or a VA home loan in their own right (a surviving spouse receiving DIC is a separate home-loan case — see above).
- It does not guarantee a state benefit, a job preference in every case, or a school benefit — those have their own rules and, for states, their own thresholds.
- It does not decide a future claim. A higher combined rating, a P&T designation, and TDIU are all VA decisions, not calculator outputs. Use the combined rating calculator and the pay calculator to price a rating you already have — not to predict one you might get.
Frequently asked questions
Does my spouse get VA pay while I am alive?
Not as a separate payment. At 30% and above, your own monthly VA payment is higher because a spouse (and other dependents) are included in it. The money is paid to you, the veteran, at the with-spouse rate — for example $617.47 at 30% in 2026, vs $552.47 alone. At 10% and 20%, there is no spouse addition at all.
Does my spouse get healthcare at 70% or 90%?
Not from the VA rating alone. Spouse healthcare through VA (CHAMPVA) requires a P&T designation, or a service-connected death, and no TRICARE eligibility. If you are a military retiree, your family healthcare is TRICARE, at any VA rating.
Can we use the commissary and PX at 0%?
Yes, if the 0% condition is service-connected and documented by VA, and you hold a qualifying credential such as a VHIC showing service-connected status. The percentage does not matter for shopping access since January 1, 2020.
What does my spouse get if I die from something unrelated to service?
Possibly DIC, if you were rated totally disabled (100% or TDIU) for at least 10 years before death, or since discharge and at least 5 years before death, or 1 year before death as a former POW — even though the death itself was unrelated. Otherwise, a non-service-connected death does not by itself create DIC. Survivors Pension, CHAMPVA, and SBP (for retirees) have their own, separate tests.
Can my spouse get both DIC and SBP?
Yes, in full, since January 1, 2023. The old offset that reduced SBP by DIC is eliminated. DIC comes from VA and SBP comes from DFAS, and neither reduces the other now.
Does my spouse keep benefits if they remarry?
It depends on the benefit and the age at remarriage. DIC can continue if remarriage was on or after January 5, 2021, at age 55 or older (or December 16, 2003, at 57 or older). CHAMPVA can continue if remarriage was on or after age 55. Remarriage before those ages generally ends those benefits, with possible restoration if the later marriage ends. Survivors Pension requires no remarriage. Check the specific benefit — do not assume one rule covers all of them.
Is my spouse's CHAMPVA the same as TRICARE?
No. TRICARE is DoD coverage for active-duty, retired, and Guard/Reserve families. CHAMPVA is VA cost-sharing coverage for spouses and children of P&T veterans and certain survivors, only when TRICARE does not apply. They never overlap.
Where do I check my own case?
Your VA award/rating letter (for P&T and TDIU status), VA.gov for CHAMPVA, DIC, and Chapter 35, and DFAS for retired pay, CRDP/CRSC, and SBP. This page gives the rules; only those sources can confirm your eligibility.
Sources
- VA.gov — Current veterans disability compensation rates (2026, effective December 1, 2025)
- VA.gov — CHAMPVA Benefits
- VA.gov — DIC survivor rates (effective December 1, 2025)
- VA.gov — VA funding fee and loan closing costs
- DFAS — Understanding SBP, DIC, and SSIA (offset eliminated January 1, 2023)
- 38 CFR 4.16 (TDIU schedular criteria), 38 CFR 4.25 (combined ratings), 38 CFR 4.26 (bilateral factor), 38 U.S.C. 1310 and 1318 (DIC), 10 U.S.C. 1065 (commissary/MWR access), 10 U.S.C. 1414 (CRDP) — cited as the governing rules; VA.gov and DFAS pages above are the readable sources for the thresholds on this page.
Rates and thresholds on this page were checked October 29, 2026, against the sources above. DIC and pay rates change each December with the COLA. If a figure here and VA.gov disagree, VA.gov governs. State benefits are not covered in detail because they vary by state.