VETERAN’S DISABILITY COMPENSATION
Congress through Title 38 of the United States Code, has taken excellent measures in dealing with veterans’ disability compensation benefits. These grants are tax-free paid to service members and/or veteran’s family members, as a result of death, injury, or sickness incurred during active soldierly service. The sum of these benefits varies depending on the degree of the service member’s disability, which is calculated on a scale of 10 to 100%.
1) The Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC)
The DIC is a tax-free financial grant generally allocated to a surviving parent, spouse, or child of a veteran who died while in active military duty. Other causes of death may include; active duty for training, inactive duty training, or survivor of service members who died from a service-connected injury or illness. For a person to be eligible for the DIC benefits, they must fulfill the following credentials.
Surviving Parent
- Must be a biological or foster parent of the service member,
- Your total income must be lower at a certain sum as prescribed by Congress.
Surviving Spouse
- Must be married to the veteran before January 1, 1957, or
- Was married to a veteran for at least one year, or
- Is not presently married, and had a kid with the veteran with no break during their active service.
Surviving Child
- Must not be married,
- Is not included in a surviving spouse compensation,
- Must be under the age of 18, except for being up to 23 if attending college.
2) Special Monthly Compensation (SMC)
The SMC is additional tax-free payment grants, given to service members, their parents, spouses, and surviving spouses. This type of veteran’s compensation is paid to service members due to exceptional circumstances. These circumstances may include the need for Aid and Assistance, to which an individual may need another person’s support due to specific disability conditions. Conditions may be the loss of use of one limb or hand by a service member.
For service members to be eligible for this benefit, one of the following assertions needs to be true about him or her.
- The ex-service member needs the regular aid of another individual, to perform daily living tasks. These tasks may include; attending to want of nature, bathing, eating, adjusting prosthetic devices, dressing, feeding, and or even needs protection,
- The veteran is a patient and requires the care of a nursing facility due to physical or mental helplessness related to disability,
- He or she spends a greater percentage of the day in bed or has to stay in bed because of sickness,
- The veteran is almost blind or completely blind.
3) The Disability Housing Grant for Veterans
This type of compensation is offered to service members with specific service-connected disabilities, so they can change or purchase a house that will meet their needs, enabling them to live more independently. Changing a house may involve doorway widening and ramp installations. For service members to be eligible for this disability compensation, they must meet the following conditions.
- Have a considerable service-connected disability,
- Will own or live in the house for the housing grant,
- Loss of the use of both limbs,
- Is completely blind along with loss of use of a limb,
- Loss of use of a leg along with a residual organic injury or disease.
4) Veterans’ Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI)
The VMLI is a compensation grant which offers mortgage security insurance to families of service members, with severe service-connected disabilities who have adapted houses to fit their daily needs. To be qualified for this disability compensation, all of these statements must be true.
- Had acquired a SAH grant to purchase or make modifications to a house so they may live more independently,
- Have a persisting disability condition approved by VA, to be caused or made worse during active duty,
- Are under the age of 70,
- Possess a title of a house,
- Have a mortgage on the house.
5) Veterans Life Insurance (S-DVI)
The S-DVI is life insurance for service members who have acquired a service-connected disability rating as prescribed by the VA Department. The service-disabled veteran’s insurance is also commonly known as RH Insurance, which provides service members with an eligibility compensation of $10,000 coverage. Service members who have RH insurance coverage and are completely incapacitated, are qualified to request their premium waived. If a waiver is issued, completely incapacitated veterans may apply for extra coverage of up to $30,000 under the Supplemental S-DVI Program. However, the Supplemental S-DVI coverage premium can’t be waived.
For a service member to be qualified for an S-DVI, must be a veteran who meets these prescribed criteria:
- Was discharged honorably from active duty on or after April 25, 1951
- Is rated a service-connected disability as prescribed by the VA department
Eligible Persons for VA Disability Compensation
Individuals may qualify to obtain VA disability grants or compensations if they have persisting injuries or illnesses that affect their minds and body. Also, they should meet at least two of the requirements as outlined below.
- Is incapacitated rated for a service-connected condition
- Was injured or got sick during active service which can be linked to your injury or illness
- Was already injured or sick before joining the military, to which serving aggravated the condition
- Is incapacitated due to military service that didn’t surface until discharge.
The sum of benefits paid to veterans or qualified independents varies, depending on how incapacitated you may be. The Department of Veterans Affairs determines the severity of disability on proof tabled to them, or from soldierly records. Persons may be paid extra benefits only in specific circumstances, which may be as a result of loss of limbs, having an extremely incapacitated spouse, or have dependent children and parents. With priority given to veterans by Congress, thanks to their services, respect, and sacrifice for their nation, will always remain an excellent facet of persons in American society.