Here is the truth nobody handed you on your way out the door: you earned every one of these benefits, and the system still makes you fight for them. There are now more than 2.1 million women veterans in the United States, the fastest-growing group in the whole veteran population, and most of the machine that is supposed to serve you was built before you were even in it. From MST care under 38 U.S.C. §1720D to the PACT Act (Public Law 117-168) and VA's expanded fertility and IVF coverage, this site puts what you are owed in one plain-language place. I am Albert Thombs, a 100% disabled veteran and a VA-accredited claims agent, #45147, and I fight the denials and the low-ball ratings for a living.
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Let me say the quiet part out loud. Almost every part of the system you came home to was built around men, and it shows. The rating schedule predates women in the force. The medical centers were built without gynecology. The claims process still assumes a combat stressor somebody can pull out of a unit history. So here is what happens: women file at lower rates, get rated lower on identical evidence, and are far more likely to watch a mental-health condition get mislabeled into a lower-paying diagnostic code. I am not asking you to take my word for it. None of the numbers below are advocacy estimates, they come straight from the VA's own reporting and the statutes that govern your claim. That gap is exactly why this site exists, and why every page on it goes deeper than a summary.
of all U.S. veterans are women — a share climbing fast
Women make up about 11.3% of all U.S. veterans — roughly 2.1 million people, and the fastest-growing group in the veteran population. Growth that fast is exactly why so much of the system still runs on assumptions built for men — intake questions, exam templates, and rating criteria that were written before women filled these roles. It is not that the benefits exclude you; it is that nobody rebuilt the road to them.
Source: VA Women Veterans — population dataof women veterans receive VA disability compensation today
About 32.4% of women veterans — roughly 671,000 — receive VA disability compensation for service-connected disabilities today. That leaves roughly two thirds of women veterans with no compensation at all, and a meaningful share of them are not ineligible — they never filed, filed for one condition instead of six, or accepted a first low rating as final. Every unclaimed secondary condition is money that stays with the government.
Source: VA Women Veterans — population datawomen seen by VA screen positive for Military Sexual Trauma
About 1 in 3 women seen by the VA screen positive for Military Sexual Trauma. MST-related care is available whether or not you ever file a disability claim, under 38 U.S.C. §1720D, and regardless of your discharge status. The gap between how many women screen positive and how many hold an MST-related rating is the single widest gap on this page, and the most common reason is a denial that said there was no report in the service file. Marker evidence under 38 CFR §3.304(f) exists precisely because most MST was never reported.
Source: VA Military Sexual Trauma programwomen veterans are enrolled in VA health care
About 930,000 women veterans are enrolled in VA health care — equal to roughly 45% of the women veteran population. The other 55% include women who assumed enrollment required a disability rating, women told years ago that the VA had no women's health provider nearby, and women who never learned that toxic exposure and MST create their own eligibility paths. Enrollment and compensation are separate systems, and you can start the health-care side today.
Source: VA Women Veterans — population datawomen veterans receive VA medical care each year
About 650,000 women veterans receive VA medical care each year — roughly 70% of those enrolled in VA health care. That treatment record is also the evidence file for a claim: every documented visit, diagnosis, prescription and referral is what a rating decision is built from. Women who are being treated but have never filed are often sitting on a stronger record than they realize.
Source: VA Women Veterans — population datathe homelessness risk compared with women who did not serve
Women veterans are more than twice as likely to become homeless as women who did not serve. VA-cited research (Tsai & Rosenheck, Psychiatric Services, 2015, reinforced by later VA analyses) confirmed this gap. That is not a coincidence — it is the downstream result of under-rated claims, missed secondary conditions, and a system that was not built to recognize what women veterans actually carry out of service. HUD-VASH, SSVF and VA intimate-partner-violence support exist for exactly this, and you do not need a disability rating to ask for housing help.
Source: VA research — women veterans & homelessnessPut it all together and it tells one story: you earned the same benefits as everybody else, and the system rarely goes out of its way to explain them to you. Claims get under-rated. Gynecological conditions get waved off. MST survivors get told, flat wrong, that they need a police report. Here is where your part starts, and I am going to say this on every page because it is the truth: knowing what you are owed is the first step, but nobody files your claim for you. Learn it, then go get it.
Women's benefits, toxic exposure, PACT Act screening, maternity care, filing a disability claim, and how to reach a real person. Every one of these comes from an official source — the Department of Veterans Affairs or a recognized medical authority — so you are getting the system's own explanation of what it owes you, not somebody's opinion about it. Watch only what applies to you; nothing here is required reading, and none of it replaces the depth on the individual guides. What it will do is hand you the vocabulary the VA uses internally, which is the difference between being routed correctly on your first phone call and being transferred four times.
The VA's Women Veterans Call Center is staffed entirely by women who help you find the benefits, health care, and resources you have earned. Call 1-855-829-6636.
A short overview from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on the health care and benefits available to women who served — and how to start getting them.
The Department of Veterans Affairs explains expanded health care, presumptive conditions, and the toxic-exposure paths created by the PACT Act.
A short Veterans Health Administration guide to the free toxic-exposure screening available to enrolled veterans.
An official overview of maternity care, community providers, newborn coverage, and Maternity Care Coordinators.
The Veterans Benefits Administration walks through filing a disability compensation claim start to finish — the evidence that matters, how the intent-to-file date protects your back pay, and what happens after you submit.
Videos are shared for general education from official government sources. They are not legal advice, and watching them is never required to get help with your claim.
Monthly tax-free rates for a veteran alone. The 2026 rates reflect a 2.8% COLA and took effect December 1, 2025, and they are paid for life at whatever combined rating you hold — never taxed federally or by any state, never means-tested, never repaid. Two things move these figures upward and both are routinely missed. Dependent additions begin the moment your combined rating reaches 30%, but the VA does not add your spouse, children, or dependent parents automatically — you file the 21-686c and the increase runs from your filing date. And Special Monthly Compensation sits entirely outside this table: it pays on top of your regular check for things like loss of use or anatomical loss of a creative organ, and it is not reduced by your combined percentage. Also remember that ratings do not add — they combine under 38 CFR §4.25, which is why 50% plus 30% comes out at 70% and not 80%.
| Rating | 2025 monthly | 2026 monthly | Monthly increase | Annual increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | $175.51 | $180.42 | +$4.91 | +$58.92 |
| 20% | $346.95 | $356.66 | +$9.71 | +$116.52 |
| 30% | $537.42 | $552.47 | +$15.05 | +$180.60 |
| 40% | $774.16 | $795.84 | +$21.68 | +$260.16 |
| 50% | $1,102.04 | $1,132.90 | +$30.86 | +$370.32 |
| 60% | $1,395.93 | $1,435.02 | +$39.09 | +$469.08 |
| 70% | $1,759.19 | $1,808.45 | +$49.26 | +$591.12 |
| 80% | $2,044.89 | $2,102.15 | +$57.26 | +$687.12 |
| 90% | $2,297.96 | $2,362.30 | +$64.34 | +$772.08 |
| 100% | $3,831.30 | $3,938.58 | +$107.28 | +$1,287.36 |
Source: VA veteran-alone disability compensation tables effective December 1, 2024 (2025 column) and December 1, 2025 (2026 column, 2.8% COLA). Figures do not include dependents or SMC.
The table above shows what a rating pays each month. It does not show the two places where the real money often sits: the retroactive check the VA owes you back to your effective date, and the rule that can pay you at the 100 percent rate without a 100 percent rating. Both are routinely missed, and both are grounded in regulation you can cite by number.
When a claim is finally approved, the VA does not just start paying going forward — it owes you retroactively to your effective date, which is usually your Intent to File date under 38 CFR §3.400. That is why filing an Intent to File (VA Form 21-0966) early matters so much: it locks the date the money counts from while you gather evidence. A concrete example at 2026 rates: a 70% rating approved 18 months after the Intent to File date comes to roughly $32,552 in a single back-pay check ($1,808.45 × 18). Add dependents or a higher rating and that figure climbs. This is an estimate — your actual back pay depends on your effective date, rating, and dependents.
If your service-connected conditions keep you from holding substantially gainful work, you can be paid at the 100 percent rate even without a 100 percent combined rating. This is TDIU, under 38 CFR §4.16. There are two paths: the schedular path generally needs one condition at 60 percent, or a combined 70 percent with at least one condition at 40 percent; the extraschedular path exists for veterans who cannot meet those numbers but still cannot work. Women veterans whose PTSD or MST-related conditions make steady employment impossible are among the most common — and most overlooked — TDIU candidates.
Add each service-connected condition and its percentage. This shows your real combined rating using VA math — not a simple sum — and the 2026 monthly rate for a veteran alone. No account, no email.
Combined rating
70%
Est. 2026 monthly (veteran alone)
$1,808.45
Estimate only. Dependents (from 30%), the bilateral factor, and Special Monthly Compensation can raise this figure and are not included here.
See full estimate with dependents and SMCWomen veterans have specific, enforceable rights in a VA claim — and these six matter most. Each one of these is grounded in the actual regulations — not in rumor, not in what somebody heard at the VFW — and each one can change what you are owed by a rating step or more. They are here because they are the provisions veterans most often do not know exist: the ones that let a marker replace a police report, that force a minimum rating after a hospitalization, that stop the VA from rating the same disability twice under different names, and that turn one service-connected condition into a chain of compensable secondaries. Read the ones that touch your situation and then read the full guide behind them. A single regulation you can cite by number changes how a claim is handled, because it moves the conversation from what you feel to what the VA is required to do.
Reviewed by Albert L. Thombs Jr., VA-Accredited Claims Agent #45147 — accredited by the VA Office of General Counsel to represent veterans in claims and appeals.
The VA cannot deny a Military Sexual Trauma claim just because there is no police report and nothing in your service file. Under 38 CFR §3.304(f), the VA is required to consider *markers* — a sudden request for transfer, a drop in performance reviews, new anxiety or depression, a positive pregnancy or STD test, or simply a statement from someone you confided in. These markers can establish that the assault happened. And separately, free MST-related care under 38 U.S.C. §1720D is available regardless of your discharge status or whether you ever file a claim. Every VA facility also has a dedicated MST Coordinator who can help you start, and Vet Centers offer free, confidential counseling with no VA enrollment and no claim required.
Source: 38 CFR §3.304(f)Conditions the VA too often waves off — endometriosis, PCOS, uterine fibroids, cervical dysplasia, pelvic pain — are rated under 38 CFR §4.116 (diagnostic codes 7610–7629) exactly like any other disability. A hysterectomy carries its own rating, and qualifying loss or loss of use of a creative organ can add Special Monthly Compensation (SMC-K) — $139.87 per month in 2026 — *on top of* regular compensation. If a claims examiner treated these as minor, that is a reason for a second look.
Source: 38 CFR §4.116 and §3.350(a)The PACT Act (Public Law 117-168, signed August 10, 2022) added more than 20 presumptive conditions, including reproductive cancer of any type for veterans who meet the qualifying service rules. "Presumptive" means the VA presumes your service caused the condition once the diagnosis and qualifying service are established. Under TERA (Toxic Exposure Risk Activity), the VA must consider your exposure history. The exact presumption depends on where and when you served and the diagnosed cancer; a cancer should not be labeled presumptive from its name alone.
Source: VA PACT Act presumptive conditionsVA policy permits a veteran to request an examiner of a particular sex for a sensitive Compensation & Pension (C&P) exam. Make the request as early as possible, document it in writing, and ask that the examination be conducted using trauma-informed practices. The request is important, but scheduling and examiner availability can affect timing. If the examination is unsafe, dismissive, or medically inadequate, document what happened and challenge the examination.
Source: VA claim-exam guidanceUnder 38 CFR §3.310, a condition caused or aggravated by a service-connected disability is itself service-connected. Depression secondary to chronic pain, sleep apnea secondary to PTSD, a back or knee condition that changed your gait, migraines secondary to a mental-health condition — these secondary claims are some of the most overlooked and most valuable. Each one adds to your combined rating, and the combined rating is what sets your monthly payment.
Source: 38 CFR §3.310VA research found women veterans are more than twice as likely to become homeless as women who did not serve. HUD-VASH pairs a housing voucher with VA case management, SSVF provides rapid rehousing and prevention, and the VA provides intimate-partner-violence support. You do not need a disability rating to ask for housing help; eligibility depends on the specific program and your circumstances.
Source: VA research on women veterans and homelessnessHere is the problem in plain English: the information you need is scattered across dozens of VA pages that were never written for your situation, and you are expected to somehow find it while you are exhausted and hurting. This site fixes that. Every topic below is a full guide, not a summary, with the actual diagnostic codes, the current dollar figures, the regulations by number, the forms, the phone lines that reach an actual human being, and the specific ways the VA tends to lowball that condition. You should not have to leave this site to understand what you qualify for. Pick the topic that matches where you are right now and go deep. The rest will still be here when you get back.
Camp Lejeune exposure, bad-paper discharge, state-level benefits, and an old claim you gave up on are not footnotes — they are the places where veterans most often get told no by someone who is simply wrong. Camp Lejeune carries its own federal statute — the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, Division F of Public Law 117-168 — and its own presumptions, and it reaches dependents as well as service members. A bad-paper discharge does not automatically disqualify you: the VA runs a separate character-of-discharge determination, and discharge upgrade boards have granted relief specifically for MST, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury. State benefits sit entirely outside the VA and can be worth more than a rating step — property tax exemptions, tuition waivers for your children, license and registration relief. And a claim that was denied years ago is not necessarily closed — the Appeals Modernization Act (Public Law 115-55) opened a Supplemental Claim lane that reopens a decision on new and relevant evidence, and filing within one year of the decision protects your original effective date. Each can change eligibility, health care, monthly income, or family support.
Under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (Division F of Public Law 117-168), at least 30 cumulative days at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987 can open a contaminated-water path. Veterans may qualify for presumptive disability benefits for listed conditions, and family members have a separate health-care reimbursement route.
Read the Camp Lejeune guidance
An OTH, bad-conduct, uncharacterized, or incorrect discharge is not always the final benefits answer. A military board can change the record, while the VA can make its own character-of-discharge decision. MST, PTSD, TBI, and related trauma can trigger liberal consideration.
Open the discharge-upgrade guide
States can add property-tax relief, tuition waivers, vehicle or license benefits, employment preference, and veterans-home eligibility on top of federal benefits. The thresholds depend on residence, rating, wartime service, and family status, so the exact state rule controls.
See state benefits by category
A denial from years ago is not the final word. The Appeals Modernization Act created a Supplemental Claim lane that reopens a decision on new and relevant evidence, a Higher-Level Review by a senior adjudicator, and a Board appeal. Filing within one year of the decision protects your original effective date — and the back pay that rides on it.
Read the claims guidanceMost women file for one condition and quietly live with the other five, because nobody ever told them those were ratable too, or that one service-connected condition can drag a whole chain of secondaries behind it. Check every item below that sounds like you. It is not a diagnosis, nothing is stored, and nothing here files itself. What it does is show you fast how many claims you may be leaving on the table, so a free accredited review can put real numbers to them.
Check every one that sounds like you. Many women file for one condition and leave several ratable ones on the table. Nothing here is stored, and no account is needed.
Check the conditions above that apply to you to see how many you may be able to claim.
What it is: Female Sexual Arousal Disorder (FSAD) is a recognized medical condition in which a woman cannot reach or maintain the normal physical arousal response — lubrication, sensation, blood flow, the ability to become or stay aroused — or has persistently low sexual desire, in a way that causes distress. It is not “in your head” and it is not about willingness. For veterans it very often has a physical and neurological basis: the same trauma, depression, anxiety and psychiatric medications that the VA already compensates can directly blunt the body's arousal response. In the clinical manuals it sits alongside related diagnoses such as Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder and genito-pelvic pain / penetration disorder — all of which describe a body that has stopped responding the way it did before service.
Men file for erectile dysfunction constantly — as a condition secondary to PTSD, depression, or the psychiatric medications used to treat them — and on top of the rating they receive Special Monthly Compensation (SMC-K) for “loss of use of a creative organ.” Women have an exact counterpart the VA recognizes: Female Sexual Arousal Disorder (FSAD). It is the same statutory benefit — and almost no one tells women it exists.
FSAD is frequently service-connected on a secondary basis: to MST-related PTSD, to depression or anxiety, or to the SSRIs and SNRIs prescribed for those conditions, which list sexual dysfunction as a documented side effect. If the underlying mental-health condition is service-connected, the sexual dysfunction that flows from it — or from its treatment — can be too.
It is rarely raised at a C&P exam, and the examiner will almost never ask. You have to know to claim it. A free accredited review can tell you whether the secondary connection is there and whether SMC-K applies to your situation.
Amounts are estimates set by the VA and depend on your specific decision. This is not medical or legal advice.
This is the clearest example on the whole site of a benefit that is claimed routinely by men and quietly skipped for women, and the cost of skipping it is real money. At $139.87 a month, SMC-K is roughly $1,678 a year — and because SMC is paid for as long as the condition exists, that is tens of thousands of dollars over a lifetime, plus whatever back pay reaches to your effective date. A man being treated for PTSD is routinely asked about erectile dysfunction and walked into an ED claim; a woman with the identical trauma and the identical medications is usually asked nothing at all. That silence is not because the benefit does not apply to her — it applies exactly the same way. It is because no one raised it.
It matters for another reason, too: naming it out loud takes away the shame. Sexual dysfunction after military sexual trauma, after years on antidepressants, after chronic pain, is one of the most common things women veterans carry and one of the least often said. You are not the only one, you did nothing to cause it, and the VA already has a compensation category built for it. The only step left is claiming it — and you should not have to leave it on the table because the system never mentioned it was there.
Open any term for the short version. The full guides on this site explain how each one changes a real claim.
A VA-recognized VSO representative, claims agent, or attorney authorized to assist with benefit claims.
Retroactive benefits owed from the effective date through the date the award begins.
An added 10 percent of the combined value of qualifying disabilities affecting paired limbs or paired skeletal muscles, applied under 38 CFR §4.26.
A Compensation and Pension examination used to assess diagnosis, service connection, or severity.
The service characterization and the separate VA eligibility analysis that can affect access to benefits.
The rounded result of VA math across multiple service-connected disabilities; percentages are not simply added.
A Disability Benefits Questionnaire used to record medical findings that match a rating schedule.
The number in the VA rating schedule assigned to a condition and its percentage criteria.
The date from which approved benefits are payable, often tied to the claim or Intent to File.
A review by a more senior adjudicator using the existing record, with no new evidence.
The Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record that collects known military exposure information.
VA Form 21-0966 or an online claim start that can protect a potential effective date while evidence is gathered.
A review standard directing decision-makers to seriously weigh trauma and mental-health evidence in certain discharge cases.
Indirect evidence of MST, such as behavior changes, transfer requests, treatment, discipline, or statements to others.
Military Sexual Trauma: sexual assault or threatening sexual harassment experienced during military service.
The medical or legal connection between a current condition and military service or another service-connected disability.
Public Law 117-168, which expanded toxic-exposure health care, presumptions, screening, and claim duties.
A diagnosis the VA connects to qualifying service without requiring the veteran to prove individual causation.
A disability caused or aggravated by an already service-connected condition under 38 CFR §3.310.
Special Monthly Compensation paid for specific severe losses or needs beyond the regular rating table.
A review lane that requires new and relevant evidence.
Toxic Exposure Risk Activity; a facts-found review of total military exposure when a presumption does not decide the claim.
Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability, which can pay at the 100 percent rate when service-connected disabilities prevent substantially gainful work.
The whole-person formula that combines disabilities by applying each new percentage to the remaining efficiency.
There are more than 2.1 million women veterans in the United States, and they are the fastest-growing part of the veteran population. Many faced the same battles you did — in service and after: the exam that went nowhere, the claim rated as anxiety instead of PTSD, the clinic with no gynecologist, the assumption at the front desk that you were somebody's wife. Almost nothing that now exists for women in the VA system was offered voluntarily. MST care without a claim, women's health primary care providers, the Women Veterans Call Center, maternity coverage, the PACT Act presumptions — every one of them came from women veterans who filed, appealed, testified, and refused to go away. The resources on this site exist because they fought for them, and you are entitled to use every one.
Whether you're dealing with MST, navigating a disability claim, figuring out maternity benefits, or just trying to find a provider who understands — you've come to the right place.
Straight answers to the questions we hear again and again — with the law behind each one, cited by number so you can check it yourself. These are not general reassurances. They are the specific things that stop women from filing: whether treatment counts as reporting, whether a claim can be filed decades later, whether there is a deadline, whether a discharge disqualifies you, whether the VA will tell your command, and what representation actually costs. The short version of that last one: accredited help is free by law until a claim is denied and appealed, under 38 CFR §14.636. Open any question for the full answer, and follow it into the guide behind it if it applies to you.
Yes. Every VA medical center has a Women Veterans Program Manager whose job is to help you navigate care and benefits personally. You can also reach the Women Veterans Call Center — staffed entirely by women — at 1-855-829-6636.
No. The VA cannot deny a Military Sexual Trauma claim just because there is no police report and nothing in your service file. Under 38 CFR §3.304(f), the VA must consider marker evidence — a transfer request, a drop in performance reviews, new anxiety or depression, a positive pregnancy or STD test, or a statement to someone you confided in. Separately, free MST-related care under 38 U.S.C. §1720D is available regardless of your discharge status or whether you ever file a claim.
Yes. Endometriosis, PCOS, uterine fibroids, cervical dysplasia, and chronic pelvic pain are ratable under 38 CFR §4.116 (diagnostic codes 7610–7629) exactly like any other disability. A hysterectomy carries its own rating, and qualifying loss or loss of use of a creative organ can add Special Monthly Compensation (SMC-K) on top of your regular compensation.
Yes. Special Monthly Compensation (SMC-K) for loss of use of a creative organ applies to women, not only to men with erectile dysfunction. Female Sexual Arousal Disorder (FSAD) that is service-connected — most often secondary to MST-related PTSD, depression, anxiety, or the SSRIs and SNRIs used to treat them under 38 CFR §3.310 — can qualify for SMC-K, an added $139.87 per month in 2026 paid on top of your regular compensation. It is rarely raised at a C&P exam, so you usually have to claim it yourself.
Yes, when the qualifying service rules are met. The PACT Act (Public Law 117-168) added more than 20 presumptive conditions, including reproductive cancers, for veterans with qualifying toxic exposure. “Presumptive” means the VA presumes your service caused the condition once the diagnosis and qualifying service are established, so you do not have to prove individual causation. The exact presumption depends on where and when you served and the diagnosed cancer.
Back pay runs to your effective date, which is usually your Intent to File date under 38 CFR §3.400. Filing an Intent to File (VA Form 21-0966) early locks the date your money counts from while you gather evidence. When a claim is finally approved, the VA owes you retroactively to that date — often a single large check. The exact amount depends on your effective date, rating, and dependents, so any figure is an estimate.
A denial is not final. You generally have one year from the decision to file a Supplemental Claim (with new and relevant evidence) or a Higher-Level Review, or to appeal to the Board — and doing so within that year protects your original effective date, which can mean more back pay. An accredited claims agent can review the denial for free and tell you honestly whether it is worth challenging.
PTSD is rated from 0 to 100 percent, and women — especially MST survivors — are frequently rated too low. PTSD is rated under 38 CFR §4.130 on a scale of 0, 10, 30, 50, 70, and 100 percent, based on how much your symptoms limit your work and daily life. Thirty percent reflects occasional trouble at work with mild symptoms, 50 percent reflects reduced reliability and productivity, 70 percent reflects serious problems across most areas of life, and 100 percent reflects total occupational and social impairment. Women, and MST survivors in particular, are frequently rated too low because their symptoms get labeled as ordinary anxiety or depression rather than trauma, which is one of the most common reasons a claim is worth a second look.
It adds extra value to your rating when paired limbs are involved. When compensable disabilities affect paired arms, paired legs, or paired skeletal muscles, the VA combines those bilateral disabilities and adds 10 percent of their combined value before combining them with the rest (38 CFR §4.26). It can move the final rounded rating into a higher pay bracket.
No. SMC-K is generally an add-on for qualifying anatomical loss or loss of use, including loss of use of a creative organ. The 2026 SMC-K amount used by the calculator is $139.87 per month, added to eligible regular compensation subject to VA rules.
Yes, in defined circumstances. The VA covers infertility evaluation and several treatments, and IVF is available in defined circumstances when qualifying service-connected conditions cause infertility. Eligibility is specific, so the maternity and reproductive-health guides explain the medical, service-connection, and referral steps on-page.
Yes, in many cases. Children and spouses may qualify for DEA Chapter 35 when the veteran is permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition, or in certain survivor situations. The Fry Scholarship and transferred Post-9/11 GI Bill are different programs with different eligibility rules, so compare them before choosing.
Yes. TDIU (Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability) can pay you at the 100 percent rate even when your combined rating is lower, if your service-connected conditions keep you from holding substantially gainful work. Under 38 CFR §4.16, the schedular path generally needs one condition rated at 60 percent, or a combined rating of 70 percent with at least one condition at 40 percent; veterans who fall short of those numbers can still be considered on an extraschedular basis. Women veterans whose PTSD or MST-related conditions make steady work impossible are frequently strong TDIU candidates and never get told the option exists.
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Our accuracy safeguard — Every regulation, diagnostic code and program on this site is tied to its actual source: 38 CFR, 38 U.S.C., the PACT Act (Public Law 117-168), and official VA guidance. Dollar figures and rating percentages are estimates that change with your dependents, effective date and the VA's decision. Nothing here is legal or medical advice, and this site is not affiliated with the VA. Before you act on any number, confirm it with a free accredited review of your specific situation.
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This is for veterans who have already decided they want us working their claim. You complete our registration form and sign VA Form 21-22a, the power of attorney that appoints us as your accredited representative. Until that 21-22a is signed we cannot accept your claim, access your VA file, or perform any work on your case — that is federal law, not our policy. Registering itself costs you nothing.
This hub is built and maintained by Albert L. Thombs Jr., a U.S. Army veteran and VA-Accredited Claims Agent (#45147). Everything here is written in plain language so you can understand your benefits before you ever pick up the phone.
Our Office
Prefer to type? Ask Albert in the chat, bottom-right. Or call 702-209-5722. Guidance from a VA-accredited claims agent (#45147) — not legal or medical advice, and not the VA.
