If you have become seriously ill or disabled because of your time in the service of the country, you may qualify for disability payments. If your sacrifice has resulted in you not being able to resume working or resume an expected quality of life, you deserve some compensation. But the VA disability rates are determined on an individual basis, depending on your circumstances.
Even if there is no question that you qualify for VA disability, the rates you are paid will are based on three basic factors:
• Marital status
• Children
• Level of disability
Disability payments are essentially calculated by economic need. It is not the amount of bills you owe, but rather the persons that are affected by your ability/non-ability to earn and income.
Single or Married
The first factor in determine your benefit status is whether you are single or married. Naturally, the amount of your monthly check will increase if you have a spouse. If you are still single, it stands to reason that your financial obligations are not as needy. The amount doesn’t exactly double, but it does make a significant financial difference.
Dependents
Whether you are a single or married parent, you VA disability rates will increase if you have children. The biggest difference is simply having a child. There is a minimal increase for each additional child in the family. However, if you sons or daughters are college age, the amount per child actually increases a little bit more; the government assumes you have additional expenses related to a secondary education.
Injuries or Illness
Finally, the major factor in determining you VA disability rates is your level of actual disability. Of course, this could be somewhat subjective, so there are specific criteria they use to figure out how sick or handicapped you really are, and your ability to live in the future.
For example, if you lost a limb in battle, the percentage of your disability will be greater than the individual that will have a chronic limp for the rest of his/her life. Your disability payment will be calculated on a percentage of your disability from 10-100 percent.
Even though it may be very obvious that you or a loved one suffers from a permanent disability, it will take time to work through the financial and medical process of being granted a specific disability payment. Determining disability status will likely require more tests, in addition to going through current records. How the disability will ultimately affect future employment may also be a factor.
However, after all is said and done, determining your individual disability rates will be financially worth the effort. In addition to the medical services you will be eligible to receive, it will be money to help support your living expenses, and hopefully help you have a better quality of life.