Hello and welcome to another episode of the SITREP. If you are a Veteran who is receiving thirty percent service-connected disability from the Department of Veterans Affairs, I am going to cover ten different benefits that you can take advantage of, but before I begin, do me a favor and hit that like button and subscribe, which will help the SITREP in its mission to connect Veterans with the benefits they have earned and deserve. Now, you may not know this, but of the ten benefits I am going to mention, there are two benefits that only become available once a Veteran is rated thirty percent or higher. The first is a Veteran’s ability to receive extra compensation for their dependents. That’s right, if you look at VA’s disability pay tables, you will notice that ten percent and twenty percent disability is pretty straight forward. However, once a Veteran reaches thirty percent, they have the ability to add a qualified spouse, children or even parents, which could increase the amount of tax-free compensation you receive each month. For many Veterans, this is no small chunk of change either – it could be hundreds of dollars.
To learn more and apply for this benefit, visit the video description below. The second benefit that starts at thirty percent disability is the option for direct hire – which basically means that a Federal agency or organization could potentially hire you for a position without you having to compete for it. For instance, say a local VA hospital is looking to hire a new HVAC employee, and you, as a Veteran who is receiving thirty percent disability, has submitted the necessary paperwork to VA’s HR, and is qualified for the position: the VA hospital has the option to hire you on the spot. Now, there are two factors to keep in mind here, first of all, a Federal agency or organization is not required to use this option; and secondly, you need to be fully qualified. Just because I am a Veteran with thirty percent disability, that does not mean that I can walk into a VA hospital and they have to hire me to do their HVAC – I would still need the education, training and experience required for that position.
To find out if an organization that you would like to work for utilizes this option, I would recommend contacting their HR department. The remaining eight benefits are essentially offered to all Veterans who receive VA disability – with those being (3) monthly compensation for injuries and illnesses incurred in the military, (4) a waiver for VA home loan funding fees, (5) ten point preference in federal hiring, (6) access to the Veteran Readiness and Employment program which will soon be in a future episode of the SITREP, (7) burial and plot allowance which we will also soon be covering, (8) access to military commissary’s and exchanges, (9) VA health care, and (10) travel allowance for going to VA health care appointments. To learn more about any of these benefits, visit the links in the video description below and, as always, thanks for tuning in and be sure to hit that like button and subscribe, so you don’t miss out on future episodes of the SITREP.
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