Table of Contents

2006 VA HEALTH, INCOME AND OTHER BENEFITS 
By Thomas McCormack
12/04/05
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VA Disability  “Pensions”  For Needy “Wartime” Veterans 

Income and Asset Rules For VA Pensions 

Disability Standards For VA Pensions 

Pensions For Surviving Spouses and Disabled Grown Children of Wartime Veterans 

Pension Add-ons If You Need “Aid & Attendance” or Are “Housebound”  

VA Pensions, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid.  

The VA Pension Doesn’t Count Income Spent on Unreimbursed Medical Expenses (UME) 

VA Medical Care Eligibility and Enrollment 

VA Health Care Priority Groups, Service-Connected Veterans and Co-Payment Rules 

Upgrading Bad Conduct, Dishonorable, Less-Than-Honorable & Undesirable Discharges; Having Discharges Reclassified To Being For Disability or Hardship 

More On VA Prescriptions 

Transportation To Distant VA Hospitals and VA Medical Travel Payments  

Case Management and Patient Advocacy for VA Patients 

Special Rules For VA-Paid Care at Non-VA Facilities 

Coverage of Eyeglasses, Hearing Aids & Related Exams and Dental Services 

Medical Care Rules For Priority Group 5 Income, Assets and Co-Payments 

Suspending All Prescription Co-pays for the Very Neediest Veterans  

“Space Available” Care With Added, Small Co-Pays For “Wealthier” Priority Group 7 Veterans 

“Space Available” Care with Even Bigger Co-pays for Even Wealthier Priority Group 8 Veterans 

The family-sized upper income limit for lower income housing assistance in a locality is now the maximum income allowed for Priority 7.

“Compensation” For Veterans with “Service-Connected” Full or Partial Disabilities   

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Alcoholism, Drug Addiction, HIV/AIDS and “Illegal” Activities  

Service-Connected Veterans’ Dependents & Survivors & Their Medical Coverage 

DIC Payments For Surviving Spouses and Children of 100% Service-Connected Disabled Veterans 

Compensation & DIC Are Tax-Free, Non-Garnishable, Non-Welfare Benefits 

Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI), Veterans’ Group Life Insurance (VGLI), Service-Disabled Veterans’ Life Insurance (SDVLI) and Other Active Duty Death Benefits for Survivors 

Vocational Rehabilitation, Education and Job Placement

Filing Applications for VA Benefits and Appealing Denials

VA’s Post-Vietnam Era Education Benefits for Veterans and Survivors of Those Dying in/from Service  

VA Death and Burial Benefits Other Than Income, Life Insurance, Education and Health Coverage

Additional State Benefits For Veterans, Dependents & Survivors 

Other Benefits for Veterans, War Zone Service Military and Activated Guardsmen and Reservists

VA and Related Information Numbers 

VA’s Unique and Different Income-Counting Principles and Methodology 

 2006 Amounts: Wartime Needy Disabled Veterans’ & Survivors’ Pension (The VA rounds benefit payments down to the next lower dollar in making payments

Calculating New Regional Priority Group 8 Minimum Income Levels

VA  Medical  Care  Income Levels and Co-Payments  (2006) for Low Income Veterans---Priority  Group 5    

VA   Co-Payments for Priority 7 Veterans   

VA Co-Payments for Priority 8 Veterans 

What Counts As “Wartime” and How Long Must One Have Served?

The VA’s Disability Rule for HIV: 

VA Pensions and Unreimbursed Medical Expenses: An Example [2006]

2006 UME Monthly Deduction Thresholds: 5% of  2005’s Pension Level by Family Size  

STATE  VETERANS BENEFITS ADVOCACY AGENCIES 

What Conditions Qualify as “Catastrophically Disabled”?