I just received my direct deposit notice for my Jan. little VA check for my minimal disability (hearing loss). Received the same % as the SS increase, .3% a whopping .40 cents. I'm not complaining, at least i received it, my SS increase went to pay the increase in the Part B premium, resulting in zero actual increase. I'm glad my cost of living must not have gone up any. It's just a figment of my imagination that gas prices haven't just gone up over .24 cents per gal. and my grocery bill must not have gone up at all, yah right.

At least it is still a free country and we are looking forward to it remaining that way.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I've learned to live on my fixed income even tho everything seems to cost more the SSA said it doesn't I must be gettin feeble minded cause every year I have to do with less
But I'm very grateful for everything I have and mostly for this country I live in

Sent from my SM-S975L using Tapatalk

Now I can get those pork rinds out of layaway.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

I got 2 bucks more a month, but Im not complaining.
I would be dead or homeless with my physical problems if I was not an American Vet.
Jim

Got a 0.3% increase in my Social Security benefit.... of course what they are deducting for Medicare magically increased by the same dollar amount resulting in a total wash. Gee, thanks guys.

My VA Disability payment did go up a whopping 50 cents a month though !!!

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A closed mouth gathers no foot

Mine went up less than a dollar, I can't remember exactly what it was and I threw the letter away.

Funny, at least to me, that some of you seem a bit angry with either the VA or the government itself because your VA disability check went up only a little bit.

Perhaps I misread the motivation for your posts and, if I did, then I apologize.

As for me-I'm grateful to receive the check at all. It arrives in my checking account the first of every month (sooner if the first day falls on a Saturday or Sunday). Mine has never been late, never didn't show up, is completely tax free and is not what I consider an insignificant amount.

I thank Him for living in a country which cares enough about Vets to try to compensate, at least to some degree, the men and women who have a service-connected disability.

I remember my Dad getting $15.00 per month. As far as I can recall, the amount never changed from the time he was awarded that percentage of disability, until the day he died. I also recall that he and my mom were very happy when that check came every month.

Bob

I got $4.00 more from SS

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NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

H Richard, does an additional .4 cents equaling .3% mean your hearing loss disability check is up to $1.33?

As an aside, someone told me hearing loss qualified for disability, but what I read about it online stated that it had to keep you from working at all, and had to have been the cause of earning less than ~$1,000 over the last year. Of course selling off guns & stuff made more than that. (The gummint calls that "self-employed".) Heck the VA told me I didn't even need a hearing aid, because my friends and family knew to only talk to one side of me, right? I didn't pursue it cuz I figure beggars can't be choosers.

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TEAM DNF

Hearing loss can be a disability but not always. Been in the VA system going on 4 years trying to establish a service connected hearing lose. Finally gave up this spring. Just happy I still have my health and was able to retire from a pretty good job with a pension. I actually retired a few years early because of the hearing lose. I just wish all vets would get a fair shake instead of a bums rush. The system was overwhelmed by Vietnam vets and it's getting worse not better.

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That's just somebody talkin.

My SSA and VA disability both increased 0.03 % as did my Air Force retirement. I haven't done the math to see what the dollar amount is. Just glad that I am able to have an income.

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Carpriver.

Not to go off topic (benefits) but I'm constantly amazed when people thank me for my USAF service. Forty-something years too late to make a difference in my life but feels good anyhow.

I never pursued my hearing loss for an increase in my disability, as "they" told me they weren't gonna give me any money for the loss, but said I could get care for the loss, including hearing aids.

The VA gives everyone hearing aids, at least at the VA Hospitals here in TampaBay. One doesn't need to be service-connected for them, either.

As a matter of fact, after my chemo, I noticed my hearing was worse. I walked in to the Audiology section with a request to reprogram my hearing aids as I was having trouble hearing some folks and especially hearing on the phone.

They rechecked my hearing and suggested a new set of hearing aids which they promptly ordered for me and which work better than the old ones (only two years old at the time).

The best part is they let you try them out. I have till Mid-Jamuary to decide if I like them. If not, they'll get me a different pair from another manufacturer.

I was told, and don't know if it is true or not, that the problem with trying to get service connected for the hearing loss requires something in one's records showing the loss while still in the military-medical records, for example. Or some complaint relatively soon after discharge (rather than 50 years later as in my case).

I have talked to "internet friends" who say they got a hearing loss service connection but had nothing in their records to show the loss happened in the service.

I don't know the truth, and all I really know is that the VA here has taken very good care of me and I would far rather go to them for medical problems than an outside doctor or hospital (and I have Medicare and BC/BS so I could go to a "civilian" facility).

And I know there are folks here who have had the opposite experiences from mine.

My "pay raise" was a $2.51 increase in my benefits. But, at least I have benefits.

Bob

Bob, I can't speak for him, nor do I collect VA benefits, but I want to chime into say that the way the government arrives at the figure for cost of living increase raises does not mirror the real cost of living increase. The most ludicrous omission is the increase in the cost of health care, which has outpaced inflation every year since the early 60's. Health care increases are typically double digit in nature, which directly impacts the very people who are receiving VA (and SS) benefits. Yet the government doesn't include these costs when it computes benefit raises. Please don't look at this as "biting the hand that feeds you" because we all pay for these benefits with our taxes, and even though I don't collect VA benefits, I have no problem with my tax dollars being spent to increase them over the money being wasted in something stupid like a grant to study the mating habits of May flies. Veterans on the other hand paid for these benefits with their losses, some more severe than others, but losses nevertheless.

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

VA comps "acoustic trauma", or Tinnitus at 10%. I was the first U.S. Veteran to receive it, and establish it as a commensurable disability, many years ago, thanks to the tireless efforts of my Dear Mother.

Thanks flapjack, I retired in 1990, Ive had tinnitus since 1973. I got it connected along with a back surgery in 1989. Thank you for your input from all the ear ringing veterans!
SEMPAR PARATUS
Always ready

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NRA Life Member
CPO

My SS up $3
VA up $10
Just got new hearing aids about a week ago

I wonder if Congress and the Senators will get 0.03% raise..?

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US Army 71-73 USMC 75-78

Thanks for all the info, guys.

Thanks for getting the VA to establish it, and thanks to your mom and tireless service moms everywhere, they get things done. I actually heard about the hearing loss disability thing from a woman who's had several sons, and now a grandson, in the Marines.

The audiologist said the records of my hearing loss were a bit strange, it was listed as service-connected but there wasn't any other mention of it in the records.

Anybody know what the charts mean in terms of percentage? The left ear is the worse one. Looks to me that this is more than 10%:

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TEAM DNF

Golly, thanks to my VA increase, I can buy my own tacos at Taco Bell next time. On my once a month dining out

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Slim, U.S. Army, Ret.

I got out in 1984, got 10% for my tinnitus in 2012.
My brother got out in 1971, got 40% for his hearing lose in 2016.

Neither of us had anything in our records about hearing lose while in the Army.

The max compensation is 10%-the chart seems to show what you said-left ear is always worse on a right hand shooter, and vise versa. Join VFW and claim through them. Follow up!

The max for tinnitus is 10%, hearing lose can be much higher.

Thanks again, I'll look into it! The left ear damage wasn't from small arms, we were settling the baseplate on a 4.2" mortar, and I forgot I didn't have a plug on my used-to-be good side (had been using it for a radio handset). So I had a heavy-charge round come out of the muzzle about a foot and a half from my unprotected ear.

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TEAM DNF

After reading the OP, I went and looked at the VA deposits for my wife (90%) and me (50%). Total increase for the two of us is $10...

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USAF 1981 - 2001

Well at least it is a positive payment..........

Heck I am reading this because I can't sleep from my neck
surgery, even after a 9pm pain pill!!

Ain't life great.
Carry on.

Just deposited my first VA check in the bank a few days ago and I am very grateful to have it. Didn't apply for it before because I was raised to not take and provide for myself,friends convinced me I should get it and I am glad they did! I earned my benefits and have paid into Social Security for over 50 years so the "government" is not giving me anything I haven't paid for but I am still grateful to receive it.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

Very few people would what a GI would do or did for country. the hours the conditions, the time away from family and friends, knowing that at any time the could be called to fight and die for there family, friends and strangers. Those that have and are making that sacrifice are the best of there generations. For Me It was and an honor to serve my country.

When I retired I did not think I would apply for VA comp, until I started college, I need the GI bill to help pay the bills. Then my back started bothering me again and my military doctor suggested I apply for benefits based on my injuries.

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Carpriver.

At the risk of going off on a tangent a bit, and will say at the outset that I am certainly thankful for the assistance from the VA, the first set of hearing aids the VA provided were Siemens brand and they did not help much and seemed to even make the tinnitus worse, so I stopped using them. As the VA provides a new set every few years, I then received a set of Phonak hearing aids which actually seem to alleviate the tinnitus a little, so recommend Phonak brand if anyone is dealing with tinnitus.

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DAV Life Member