Veteran Benefits You May Not Know About

Federal VA Benefits for Veterans

• Certificate of Eligibility for Home Loan Guaranty – Veteran
• VA Health Care – Qualifiers
  • VA Priority medical treatment card – Veteran/NG/Reserve
  • VA medical outpatient treatment of any condition – See Requirements (NG/Combat/Low Income)
  • Preventive health care services
  • Hospital care and medical services in non-VA facilities under an authorized fee basis agreement
  • Urgent Care Visits
  • Prescriptions for all conditions (regardless of service connection) – 50%
  • Prescriptions Copay w non-service-connected conditions – 0% – 40%
  • Veterans’ employment preference for spouse – See Requirements
• Free entrance to State and National parks – Veteran

VA Disability Benefits by Rating

0% VA Disability Benefits

• Department of Defense Base-MWR-Commissary/Exchange privileges – 0%
•  Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (Max of $10,000 coverage) must be filed within 2 years of a new service connection. Plus, waiver of National Service Life Insurance premiums. – 0%
• Prescriptions Copay w non-service-connected conditions 0 – 40%.

10% VA Disability Benefits

• Vocational Rehabilitation and Counseling under Title 38 USC Chapter 31 – 10% or More
• 10-point Civil Service preference (10 points added to Civil Service test score), plus non-competitive Federal employment – 10% or more

30% VA Disability Benefits

• Additional Compensation for Dependents

50% VA Disability Benefits

• Retirees’ eligibility for Concurrent Receipt of retirement and VA benefits
• Prescriptions for all conditions (regardless of service connection)

100% VA Disability Benefits

• Death Indemnity Compensation for surviving spouse, child(ren) under age 18, or dependent parent if the veteran dies from a service-connected disability or from any condition if rated 100% for 10 or more years. – 100%
• Additional allowance for dependent (spouse, child(ren), stepchild(ren), helpless child(ren), full-time student(s) between the ages of 18 and 23, and parents – 100%
• Civilian Health and Medical Program for Dependents and Survivors (CHAMPVA) – 100%
• Survivors and dependents education assistance under Title 38 USC Chapter 35 – 100%
• Dental treatment – 100%
• Home Loan Guaranty fee exemption – 100%
• Waiver of Education debt – 100%

Special VA Compensation and Additional Benefits

Special Allowances for Specific Disabilities
Qualifying Service-Connected Disability

• Clothing Allowance for Veterans who wear a prosthetic or orthopedic appliance that tends to wear, tear, or soil clothing

• Additional allowance for a spouse who is a patient in a nursing home or helpless or blind or so nearly helpless or blind as to require the regular aid and attendance of another person

• Automobile grant and/or special adaptive equipment for an automobile provided there is loss or permanent loss of use of one or both feet, loss, or permanent loss of use of one or both hands, or permanent impaired vision of both eyes with central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in better eye

• Special adaptive equipment may also be applied if there are ankyloses of one or both knees or one or both hips

• Specially Adapted Housing for Veterans who have a loss of use of both lower extremities or blindness in both eyes, having light perception only plus loss or permanent loss of use of one extremity together with an organic disease which affects the function of balance and propulsion as to preclude locomotion without the aid of braces, crutches, cane or wheelchair

• Special Home Adaptation Grant (for Veterans who don’t qualify for Specially Adapted Housing) may be applied for if the Veteran is permanently and totally disabled due to blindness in both eyes with visual acuity of 5/200or less, or the loss or permanent lose of use of both hands

Additional Special Monthly Compensation/Aid and Attendance Benefits for Veteran and spouse/surviving spouse who require regular attendance of another person to assist in at least two of the daily activities of living such as eating, bathing, dressing, and undressing, transferring and needs of nature

Alabama Veteran Benefits and State Programs

The State of Alabama has Four Veterans’ Homes

1. The Bill Nichols State Veterans Home in Alexander City
2. The Floyd E. Tut Fann State Veterans Home in Huntsville
3. The William F. Green State Veterans Home in Bay Minette
4. The Col. Robert L Howard State Veterans Home in Pell City.

There is a monthly fee for the veterans’ homes, you must have an honorable discharge and at least one day of wartime service to qualify for admittance.

Alabama Tax Benefits for Veterans

Property Tax for Homes of Totally Disabled Persons Over Age 65:

• Any Alabama residents is exempt from ad valorem taxes on their home and adjacent 160 acres of land if they are permanently and totally disabled or 65 years of age or older and have a net annual income of $12,000.00 or less.

Property Tax for VA Specially Adapted Houses:

• Any veteran who has a home that was acquired under the VA’s specially adapted housing grant is tax exempt as long as it is owned and occupied by the veteran or their surviving spouse.

Income Tax

• Military retirement pay is exempt from Alabama state, county, and municipal income tax, as are qualifying survivor benefits.

Motor Vehicle Paid for by VA Grant

• Any disabled veteran who owns a vehicle which was paid for by the VA will pay no license fees or ad valorem taxes on it.

Alabama Veteran Employment Benefits

State Employment

All honorably discharged veterans can have 5 points added to any state employment examination scores. Those with a VA service-connected disability will get 10 points added to their score.

Spouses and surviving spouses of certain disabled or deceased veterans can have the 10-point preference extended to them and added to any test scores.

Veterans also get preference over non-veterans with the same ratings on the classified service employment registers.

Alabama Veteran Education Benefits

Tuition Waiver for Purple Heart Medal Recipients

Purple Heart recipients may be eligible for an undergraduate tuition and fee waiver at Alabama public institutions of higher education whether enrolled full-time, part-time, or in summer school, subject to program eligibility requirements. Check with your school to see if they participate in the program.

Alabama GI Dependents Scholarship Program

The program may provide tuition, textbook, and fee assistance at an eligible public college or university in Alabama, as well as qualifying technical schools.

Children and stepchildren of qualified Veterans may be eligible for education benefits through the Alabama G.I. Dependents Scholarship Program. Eligible dependents under 26 whose parent is, or was, an Alabama resident Veteran with a VA disability of at least 40% may qualify for up to five years of benefits (those whose parent has a VA disability of at least 20% may qualify through July 2023 if the VA rating was before Jul. 31, 2017.)

Spouses or un-remarried surviving spouses of veterans rated 100% permanently and totally disabled can also get five years of benefits. Spouses and un-remarried surviving spouses of veterans rated 20-90% disabled can get three years of benefits.

The veteran must have an honorable discharge and at least 90 continuous days of military service. There is also a residency requirement.

Alabama National Guard Education Assistance Program (ANGEAP)

The Alabama National Guard Education Assistance Program (ANGEAP) provides tuition assistance to eligible National Guard Service members.

For the 2019-2022 school year the maximum amount is $5,554 per semester. You can receive payment only for the costs you still owe after the federal GI Bill covers its portion. The program covers only tuition and fees, not books or living expenses.

You must be over 17, active in the AL Guard, an Alabama resident, show financial need and maintain at least a 2.0 GPA. Undergraduate degrees only.

Alabama Veteran Recreation Benefits

State Parks

Active duty and honorably discharged veterans who are residents of Alabama are granted free admission to state parks.

Discounted Fishing License

Alabama resident Veterans with at least a 20% disability rating from the VA may qualify for a discounted fishing license.

Disabled Veteran Special Hunting License

A special hunting license is available to 100% service-connected veterans at a cost of $2 plus the applicable issuance fee.

A special hunting license is available to 50% service-connected veterans at half of the usual cost plus the applicable issuance fee.

Non-Resident Licenses

Active-duty members stationed in Alabama or neighboring states as well as their families pay the in-state license rates.

Retired Military Pistol Permit

A pistol permit is available for free to individuals who are otherwise eligible for a pistol permit and who retired from active duty the Reserves, or National Guard.

Alabama State Veterans Cemetery

The Alabama State Veterans Cemetery is located in Spanish Fort. Eligibility for interment in the State Veterans Cemetery follows National Cemetery Administration eligibility requirements.

In general, veterans discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, and their spouses and dependent children are eligible. Residency requirements exist. 

For spouses or dependent children, a fee will be charged on the day of interment. For veterans, there is no cost. For eligible Veterans, this includes the burial plot or columbarium niche, opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care of the gravesite, an inscribed gravestone, and a committal service.

Spouses remain eligible even if they remarry.

Visit the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs website for more information on any of these programs.

Stay on Top of Your Veteran Benefits

Military benefits are always changing. Keep up with everything from pay to health care by subscribing to Military.com, and get access to up-to-date pay charts and more with all latest benefits delivered straight to your inbox.