At 100 Percent — Everything That Comes With It

Three things that are not the same thing

Most charts blur these. The benefits are different.

• 100 percent schedular — VA has rated your service-connected conditions at a combined 100 percent under the rating schedule.
• Individual Unemployability (TDIU) — you are rated below 100 percent but VA pays you at the 100 percent rate, because your service-connected conditions keep you from holding steady work. The usual thresholds: one service-connected disability rated 60 percent or more, or two or more with at least one at 40 percent and a combined 70 percent. Below those numbers you can still be considered on an extraschedular basis — ask, do not assume you are out. VA's unemployability page.
• Permanent and Total (P&T) — a separate decision that your total rating is not expected to improve. A 100 percent rating is not automatically permanent. P&T is the hinge that opens CHAMPVA and Chapter 35 for your Family. Once you hold it, routine re-exams are generally not scheduled. Under 38 CFR 3.327(b)(2), VA does not schedule periodic re-examinations when the disability is permanent in character with no likelihood of improvement, when it has been static, or, except under unusual circumstances, for veterans over 55. VA can still look at a file where there is evidence of fraud, and P&T does not stop you from filing new claims for other conditions.

Applying for TDIU, and what "work" means

• The form is VA Form 21-8940, Veteran's Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability. You can fill it out online or on paper. VA Form 21-8940.
• Your most recent employer fills out VA Form 21-4192, Request for Employment Information in Connection with Claim for Disability Benefits. It goes with your application. VA Form 21-4192.
• Odd jobs do not count against you. VA's rule is that "marginal employment shall not be considered substantially gainful employment." Marginal employment exists when your earned annual income does not exceed the Census Bureau poverty threshold for one person. It can also be found, on the facts, when you earn more but work in a protected environment such as a family business or sheltered workshop. 38 CFR 4.16.

Compensation, and what moves it

• It is tax-free. You do not include VA disability compensation in your gross income. IRS guidance for veterans.
• It goes up most years — not every year. The VA increase matches the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. In years when that adjustment was zero there was no increase. That happened for 2009, 2010 and 2015.
• Dependents raise the payment. Eligible dependents are a spouse, unmarried children under 18 (or under 23 and in school, or permanently incapable of self-support), and a dependent parent.
• Aid and attendance for an eligible spouse adds more.

• Social Security Disability (SSDI) at the same time. VA compensation and SSDI are separate programs, and SSA says the monthly amount and eligibility for one are not affected by the other. But a high VA rating, even 100 percent, does not mean you will qualify for SSDI. SSA has its own work-history and disability rules, and you apply separately, through SSA and not VA. Call 800-772-1213. SSA veterans page.

Above 100 percent — and what housebound really requires

There is money above the 100 percent rate. It has its own name and its own test.

• Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) is the mechanism that pays above the 100 percent rate — for loss or loss of use, for housebound status, and for aid and attendance. If nobody ever said the letters SMC to you, that is the term to bring to VA.

What you pay at 100 percent — and the one exception

• You are placed in Priority Group 1. Priority groups.
• No copay for VA outpatient care, inpatient care, or medications. At 10 percent or higher there is no copay for outpatient or inpatient care. In Priority Group 1 there is no copay for any medication.
• No copay for extended or nursing-home care when you have a compensable service-connected disability.
• The exception — urgent care. Your first three urgent care visits in a calendar year are free. After that it is $30 a visit. Current figures are on VA's copay rates page.
• Community care when you meet VA's eligibility standards. Community care.

• Lodging and meals need preapproval. VA reimburses them only if it approves before you travel. The same goes for regular transportation (bus, taxi, rideshare, train, plane) and special-mode transportation. Mileage, parking and tolls do not need preapproval. Reimbursed travel expenses.
• Lodging for a vacation. Armed Forces Recreation Center lodging is space-available only, and MWR recreational lodging is included under the 2020 base-access expansion (see Base access below).

Class IV dental — who actually gets it

If you hold TDIU, this is yours — a page headed "100 percent" can make you think otherwise.

Class IV dental covers any needed treatment at schedular 100 percent or when you are paid at the 100 percent rate because of Individual Unemployability. It is not automatic, so you have to enroll in VA dental. The full rules, including the temporary-100 exclusion and the separate dental insurance program, are on the What a rating unlocks page. VA dental care: VA dental care, rule 38 CFR 17.161.

CHAMPVA and Chapter 35 turn on Permanent and Total

Not on 100 percent. This is where Families lose years.

• CHAMPVA — cost-shared health coverage for your spouse and dependent children, not for you. It requires VA to have rated you permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability. A 100 percent rating that is not permanent does not qualify your Family. Who else is excluded is on the What a rating unlocks page. CHAMPVA.
• Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA, Chapter 35) — school, trade school, certifications and apprenticeships for your spouse and children. Same gate: permanent and total. Other ways Chapter 35 opens, the entitlement months and the time limits are on the What a rating unlocks page. Chapter 35.
• Chapter 35 pays the student directly. The full-time rate is $1,621 a month for the 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027 rate period. VA rates reset each 1 October, so check the DEA rates page for the current figure. Apply with VA Form 22-5490, then tell your school's certifying official.
• Special restorative training — a real, current part of Chapter 35 that almost nobody names. VA may prescribe it where it is needed to overcome or lessen the effects of a physical or mental disability, so that an eligible child, spouse or surviving spouse can pursue a program of education. The rule is 38 CFR 21.3300 (38 U.S.C. 3540–3543). If your dependent has a disability of their own, ask for it by that name.

Federal hiring and VR&E

The 10-point preference, the 30 Percent or More Disabled Veteran noncompetitive appointing authority (not "direct hire authority"), and Veteran Readiness and Employment (Chapter 31), including the removed time limit, are on the What a rating unlocks page.

Your rating can be reduced. Here is what protects it.

• VA cannot reduce a total rating, absent clear error, without an examination showing material improvement in your physical or mental condition under ordinary working conditions. 38 CFR 3.343.
• If your rating is based on Individual Unemployability, going back to work does not by itself cost you the rating unless you hold the job 12 consecutive months.
• Any evaluation continuously in effect for 20 years or more cannot be dropped below that level except on a showing that it was obtained by fraud. 38 CFR 3.951(b).

The ones people never hear about

• VALife — the clock starts when you apply. Guaranteed-acceptance whole life, up to $40,000 in $10,000 increments, for any veteran with a service-connected rating, even 0 percent. Full coverage begins 2 years after you apply. If you die inside those two years your beneficiaries get the premiums you paid plus interest, not the face amount. Under 81 there is no deadline to apply — but every month you wait is a month the clock is not running. At 81 or older you must have applied for compensation before turning 81 and must apply within 2 years of being notified of your rating. VALife.
• Annual clothing allowance — reimburses clothing damaged by a service-connected device or skin medication. Who qualifies, the August 1 rule and VA Form 10-8678 are on the ten benefits people miss page. Clothing allowance.
• Student loan discharge. Total and Permanent Disability discharge of federal student loans and TEACH Grant service obligations, on a VA determination that your service-connected disability is 100 percent disabling or that you are totally disabled based on individual unemployability. Federal Student Aid matches records with VA quarterly and mails a letter — most veterans do not need to apply. If no letter comes, apply directly. A discharge for total and permanent disability does not create a federal tax liability. Student loan discharge. How to apply: go to StudentAid.gov, open the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge application, log in with your FSA ID, and upload your VA documentation showing a 100 percent service-connected rating or a TDIU determination. You can also mail an application to U.S. Department of Education, P.O. Box 300010, Greenville, TX 75403, or fax it to 540-212-2415. Track it under "My Activity" on StudentAid.gov. Only federal loans are covered; private loans are not. Refunds: loan payments you made after Education received your VA documentation are refunded. If you are denied, you can ask for a re-evaluation within 12 months without filing a whole new application. Some states may still count a discharged loan as income for state tax. Questions: Federal Student Aid, 800-433-3243. How to qualify and apply.
• Automobile allowance — VA Form 21-4502, for certain qualifying losses. Ask about it.

Home loan fee and the adaptation grants

• VA funding fee exemption. The exemption turns on receiving (or being eligible for) compensation, not on a percentage. The full list of who is exempt is on the What a rating unlocks page.
• Refund — and its limit. You may be eligible for a refund of a funding fee you already paid if you are later awarded compensation, and the effective date is retroactive to before your loan closing date. If the proposed or memorandum rating comes after closing, you still pay the fee and there is no refund on that basis. Funding fee and closing costs.
• A 100 percent rating by itself does not qualify you for a housing grant. These require specific losses. Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) — loss or loss of use of more than one limb; loss or loss of use of a lower leg with residuals of an organic disease or injury; blindness in both eyes with 20/200 acuity or less, by itself, with no limb loss required; certain severe burns; or loss or loss of use of one lower extremity after September 11, 2001 that prevents walking without assistive devices (capped at 120 veterans a fiscal year).
• Special Home Adaptation (SHA) is the separate, smaller grant — loss or loss of use of both hands, certain severe burns, or certain respiratory or breathing injuries. Temporary Residence Adaptation helps if you live in a Family member's home.
• Apply on VA Form 26-4555. The grant can be used up to 6 times over your lifetime. Ceilings change every October 1 — current amounts are here.

Two concurrent-receipt programs, not one

If you retired from the military, this is money that may be sitting there.

• CRDP — Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay. It needs a VA rating of 50 percent or more and military retired pay, and it is automatic in most cases. The full rules are on the What a rating unlocks page. CRDP at DFAS.
• CRSC — Combat-Related Special Compensation. Requires military retired pay and a VA rating of at least 10 percent, but the disability must be combat-related: armed conflict, hazardous duty, an instrumentality of war, or simulated war. It is tax-free, and you must apply through your service branch — it does not come to you. CRSC at DFAS. DFAS: 800-321-1080.
• If you never retired from the military, neither program applies to you. That is not the end of the road — your compensation is unaffected, and the rest of this page still stands.

Commissary, exchange and MWR

• These privileges go to any veteran with a VA service-connected disability rating who was honorably discharged, not only at 100 percent. What to bring to the gate is on the What a 10 percent rating gets you page. VA's page on these privileges.
• Family access is limited. A living disabled veteran's spouse and children are not granted access on his status. The Family categories that do qualify are unmarried surviving spouses, a veteran's VA-designated primary Family caregiver with a VA caregiver patronage letter, and dependents or survivors of eligible service members.

Parks and state programs

• America the Beautiful — free Military Lifetime Pass. A free lifetime pass for veterans and Gold Star Family members, not an annual one. Accepted proof: a DoD ID (DD Form 2, DD Form 2765 or Next Generation USID), your VHIC, the digital Veteran ID Card, or a veteran designation on your state driver's license or ID. Gold Star Families use a printable voucher. A separate free Access Pass exists for permanent disability. Run by the National Park Service. NPS: military passes.
• State programs vary by state. Ask your state veterans office about disabled-veteran license plates, vehicle registration discounts, a free driver's license designation, free or discounted hunting and fishing licenses, state park passes, state tuition assistance and local business discounts. State veterans affairs offices.
• State Veterans Homes are owned and run by state governments. Each state sets its own eligibility, and residents pay a cost that varies by state. VA only recognizes, surveys and pays a per diem.
• Property tax is often the largest dollar benefit of all and changes at the state line. See the State benefits note below.

DIC and burial — the rules that decide the money

• Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) does not flow automatically from a 100 percent rating. A surviving spouse qualifies if the veteran died from a service-connected illness or injury, or if the veteran held a totally disabling service-connected rating (including individual unemployability) for at least 10 continuous years before death, or since discharge and at least 5 years before death, or at least 1 year before death if a former prisoner of war. That 10-year clock is why survivors get denied. DIC.
• DIC adds an amount for each eligible child under 18, an amount if the veteran was rated totally disabling for the 8 full years before death and you were married those same 8 years, and a transitional benefit for the first 2 years after death. Current amounts: survivor rate table.

Deadlines, and who is allowed to charge you

• Higher-Level Review — one year from the decision.
• Board Appeal — one year from the decision.
• Supplemental Claim — no deadline.
• Contested claim — 60 days, Board only.